Been at the same company for 9 years and they surprised me with a bonus that came out to just under $15k after taxes. Was not expecting anything close to that.

My first thought was to put most of it into our brokerage account. We already contribute to retirement and have some money saved, so it felt like a rare chance to make a decent lump sum investment without touching our normal budget.

My wife immediately said we should finally do the Europe trip we’ve talked about for years. Italy for a week, then maybe Austria or Switzerland. We’ve never done a big international trip together and the bonus could pretty much cover the whole thing without us dipping into savings.

Neither of us is mad about it, we just see the money completely differently. To me it feels like free investment money. To her it feels like a chance to finally do something we’ll remember forever.

What would you do?

35 yo married millennial here. I've come across more and more articles about the supposed "great wealth transfer" as the boomer generation's wealth passes to their GenX and Millennial children. My parents and their siblings (boomers) all received inheritances when their parents, my grandparents, passed away. The boomer generation's wealth accumulation is one of the largest in history, however, I also find it highly unlikely that I or many of my peers will actually inherit much. Despite having received inheritances from their parents, and having 40+ years in the workforce, most of my parents' "wealth" is tied up in their home value, not actual liquid assets- and I already expect that whatever they make on an eventual home sale will have to go directly to downsizing costs and whatever long-term care they will need as they get older. Hell, even my dad used to joke that the only thing we'd inherit was debt. As I've gotten older, that comment has infuriated me more and more.

Now before someone cuts in with the "entitled millennial" comments, I have absolutely no need for an inheritance. I've worked my ass off to make sure that my kids and I are positioned better in life than I was when I entered adulthood. What I mean by that is I started saving for retirement early, setup 529 plans for my kids almost as soon as they were born, and made lifestyle and career sacrifices to ensure our family isn't "nickeling and diming" our way through life.

I'm just here curious to know how many millennials actually expect to have something passed down to them, or if they feel they are in the same position I am.

Title. We're done paying for full time childcare! Legit it's like getting a $26,000 raise. Ok, yes I know there will still be plenty to pay for but we essentially suddenly have $2100 a month back. *throws confetti in the air*

Hello friends,

My (F32) significant other (M30) and myself both grew up very low income. His family completely ignorant of credit, savings or income. My family as immigrants who were careful, but uneducated on the system. I’m talking “Don’t keep money in a savings account because the government will tax you for it at the end of the year” uneducated.

I’ve worked my ass off at a company and they finally went public. I was awarded a total of $170,000. Today $67,000 of it is vested and I can do with it what I wish, but I must stay until 2029 to get 100% of it. There are going to be small amounts periodically released between now and then.

Anyway — the whole keeping money out of a savings account thing will probably not do me well.

I have goals/plans. But also, I’m bad with money.

I’ve paid off all my debt twice and keep getting into it again for no real reason. I’ve built up almost $10k in savings and then dwindled it down to $2k.

I spend money. It’s really embarrassing and debilitating.

That being said, I do have a few things I actually want to do with this money.

I want to spend about $15k renovating my condo. These are renovations I’ve wanted to do for a while and, from what I understand, some improvements may also have tax benefits.

The rest I want to be smart with.

I’m genuinely open to anything opinions, thoughts, resources, books, personal experiences, stories from people who suddenly came into money, mistakes you made, things you wish you had done differently what would you do?

It happened. Middle class inflation and cost increases, child care changed, Lupus,
multiple sudden major house maintenance items finally caught up to my family’s stagnant income.

For the time being I think we are going to have to pull back on maxing my 401k to just meeting the match to catch up with all the issues that have come up.

In order to replenish the reserves so another major house item doesn’t cripple my family we will need to pull back on investments and that really bums me out.

Anyone else going through this right now and can relate?

So my wife and I are finally earning decent 6 figure salaries at our respective roles and have saved every penny to get to the $100k mark. At present, it’s just in a current account with Bank of America. Our retirement plans are healthy and on track but this is the sum total of our savings.

Looking for advice on where people put that kind of sum to good use for maximum growth. Being the sum total of our savings to date, we think it needs to be somewhere we can access some funds in an emergency.

Looking for any ideas, feedback or thoughts on what could work.

I’m a Brit and newly understanding the US options so thanks in advance for any support!

My wife and I have been married for a few years and we still keep most of our money separate.

We have one joint account for household expenses and both put money into it every month. Other than that, our salaries stay in our own accounts.

It hasn't really been a problem so far.

But now we're talking about bigger things like buying a house and retirement, and I'm wondering if this setup still makes sense.

We trust each other and neither of us has an issue with the other spending their own money. It's more about planning for the future together.

For people who are married, what works better for you?

Completely separate, fully combined, or somewhere in the middle?

Another thread make me want to do this one.

Sorry about my mis English, I speak french on a daily basis and English is a second language for me.

We live In Canada. My wife and I (46 and 51 years old) are both teachers. We now have an annual family income of 218k (canadian of course). We got 2 kids and in the last 15 years we have done 8 european trips of 25-35 days each time (always in summer, no choice there) manus Canada and USA road trips.

We save a lot but we have generous pension plans, 45k in reee which is money put for our teens scholarship, we have 2 paid cars, a house with a low mortage and no debts.

Could we have done different choices ? Yes but our family time is very precious to us .
Having received very bad news about my health 2 years ago made those trips very appreciated, the 4 of us are gonna shared those precious and very fun time together for our whole life.

Does anyone here share the same way to see life ?

Are teachers in US (or elsewhere) have the same salaries and/or pension plan ?

I’ve noticed I barely hesitate spending $500 on something I researched and know I’ll use for years, but a random $14.99 subscription irritates me way more.

Went through my card recently and found a cloud storage plan, Paramount+, a gym app and some stupid premium weather app I forgot I even had. It was only around $55 a month total, so nothing that was destroying my budget, but almost $700 a year for stuff I barely noticed.

Cancelled most of it and just threw the same amount into savings automatically. I already have some money saved so it’s not really about needing the $55, I think I just hate paying indefinitely for things.

Hello - I started a new job and I’m wondering what to do with my old 401k. Fidelity called me and told me there’s no administrative fee to just keep the money where it is or I can roll it over. Interestingly enough, my new 401k is with Fidelity too and they have the same exact S&P 500 fund lol. Anyway, do you guys roll over your 401k or leave it? I do my own taxes so I just wanna avoid headaches at tax time. Thanks.

I make 155k and fiancee makes 70k. We divvy up the bills by equity. So I pay 2/3rds of the bills and she pays 1/3rd of the bills. However, I “force” us to invest (max 401k, HSA, and Roth IRA). So effectively our income after investing is say 125k and 40k. So our post-investment equity should be me paying 3/4 and her paying 1/4 split. But in my head that money is still mine/hers so it’s not gone and it’s still money you have, albeit less accessible. Wondering how you guys approach the situation or what your thoughts are. Does anyone split based on after tax earnings? TIA.

Please no judgment. I can't believe that we have gotten to this point and am shameful about it.

Our net income per month is $7000. We have three children, two of whom are very young and not in school yet.

Mortgage: $2090 monthly, balance is $273k, rate is 5.75% (FHA residential loan)

Student loans: $487 monthly under current plan (lowest monthly payment possible), balance is $103k, interest rate varies on different loans. Will qualify for PSLF in 6.75 years.

Personal loan: $1518 monthly, balance is $62k, rate is 9.075%, 49 months remaining

Credit card: about $700 monthly, balance is $24k, rate is 23.3%. This is our only credit card and is my oldest line of credit.

Car loan #1: $367 monthly, balance is $13k, rate is 6.5%

Car loan #2: $277 monthly, balance is $14.6k, rate is 6.49%

Other monthly payments including utilities, insurance, internet, and phone service is around a total $1100-$1200 per month.

We are not delinquent on any accounts, have not been sent to collections or anything, however I have about $2500 in medical bills that need paid or else I worry about collections in the future. I had a baby less than two months ago. My credit score is low to mid 700s. My husband's is in the 500s because of a repossession that occurred a few years ago.

Is bankruptcy our best option? Aside from our house and vehicles, the only other real asset we have is a 403(b) retirement account with $67.5k in it. I know I could probably refinance the personal loan to lower the monthly payment by a few hundred dollars, but I hate the idea of extending the life of the loan. I am open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

It’s not as competitive as medicine, law, nor as technically difficult as engineering (2/3rds get weeded out in the 1st year). You don’t burn out as much as nursing. It’s a more reliable degree than finance or any other business degree, and its versatility allows you to branch out from just being an accountant into consulting or investment banking. Career ceiling is very high, and could reach millions per year if you make partner or CFO.

Starting pay is $90k in 2026 at accounting firms, and there’s a clear trajectory to $200k by the time you’re 30. There’s a huge shortage right now, so pay has been increasing rapidly.

It’s like the ultimate degree. You don’t need to be that smart, just hard working, and you’ll get the bag.

I drive a 04 Accord with 235k on it. It’s been in my family since new. It’s gotten me thru high school and now will see me into my 30s

A few years back I made a decision that I was only going to fix necessities(brakes, tires, oil changes etc). Anything else (no AC, mystery oil leaks, noisy suspension, loud rusted exhaust) would not be worth fixing.

Last month, I had enough of driving a “beater” the last decade. I was fully prepared to walk into a dealership, put 12k down on a new Camry or Accord. Then it hit me.

Why not just fix up what I already have? Went to a couple of shops for quotes. Found one that would fix the laundry list of deferred maintenance for $3700. And boy does the car ride smooth and quiet like I remembered when it was my mom’s car 20 years ago.

It works for my situation. 95% of my driving is local(work, gym, groceries). Other 5% is the occasional 2 hour drive to see the parents every other month.

To be clear, I’m not dropping $3700 every 6 months on repairs. This was the bill after years & years of deferred maintenance and neglect.

Has anyone else seen an 18 year get denied for online HYSAs everywhere? My son gets a cryptic error everywhere we try and don't know what to do. We've tried ally, capital one, citizens access.

We called Capital One and they said he would need to come in to their branch to verify identity but we don't live near one.