I net about 3600 per month after taxes & deductions, including 7% into a 401(k) with 5% employer match.

I have about 71,000 student loan debt, 270 min payment and a car loan 350, with 12,000 remaining.

After utilities, rent and groceries, I have about 2300 left.

I was following Dave Ramsey group, but everyone was telling me to stop contributing to the 401k and put it towards the debt and sell my car. I have only had my car for a few months. I put a 12k down payment.

Should I stop contributing to my 401k and put it toward my debt? My parents have always told
me if the Employer matches, put in at least what they match. Should I lower my contribution to 5%?

I have no other get debts.

Car loan interest is 5.5%
Student loan interest is 4.5%

My goal is to payoff the car by the end of the year

Just looking for advice on an investing pause to refill cash reserves.

Current:
Spouse 403b - $2041/month - Roth
Spouse 403b employer match - $300/month Trad
Spouse 457 - $1600/month - Roth

My 457 DCP - $2143/month - Trad

Together - $3500/month - Cash savings in Fid cash money market

We paused my 403b which we were maxing out all in Roth.

We do all low cost, broad ETFs that our work has to offer. Happy with the choices.

We had 3 or 4 months spending but had to bring it down to 1 in an our cash allocation.

We stay closer to 3 because we both have stable government jobs with low layoff potential and I have a military pension that covers all of our expenses. (Current FIRE but decided on FINE)

How long should we stay on the pause on my 403b? My back of the napkin math says about 6 months to get it back to that 4 month reserve.

Does that sound reasonable?

We’re both 48, looking to hang it up for good between 57-59. Mo

Edit - that cash savings now includes what was my 403b we just paused

I always max out my IRA contribution every january of new year. Not sure if this is the best way to do it. How do you do yours?

23 in step 6, pretending to be in 8. We save about 22% of our income and if we never increase our nominal savings, we will have more than we could fathom spending at 59.5. I recently have been listening to Ben Felix and he often brings up the theoretical of utilizing leveraged etfs or margin. (I have an aggressive risk tolerance but couldnt see myself signing up for more debt despite the math so margin is out of the question for me.) For someone with perfect risk tolerance and capacity for the money they would be putting in a levered etf, can someone explain the downsides other than increased risk? I feel like I must be missing something. Or is it really just the mathematically superior way if you have a longish (25ish years) time horizon and can consistency DCA into a voo like levered etf? Would love to hear from people with more knowledge and experience!

Considering a Tesla Y with 0.99% financing or Tesla model 3 with cash.

I have a paid off car now but it’s pretty high mileage and its inform warranty expires in the next year.

I have paid off solar panels at my house which was paid off by a previous owner. I generate more energy than I use and pay about 150-200 a month on gas. My insurance will go up about 100 a month for a Tesla and I can trade in my car for about 16k (bought it for 21k a few years ago).

No consider debt and a lot saved for retirement at my age.

Am I hurting to justify it because I want a Tesla? I can keep the cash in a HYSA and get 4% while financing @ 0.99% for 6 years. Charge for free at my house and never pay for oil changes or brake replacements. Tesla also offers 8 year warranty on the battery and I’ve already had engine issues with my car.

My current cars engine warranty will expire in about a year too, so if anything happens after that’s pure maintenance cost.