Hey all,
Long story short, after 10ish years of a paycheck-to-paycheck existence, I (31M) finally find myself in a position where my monthly income is going to start being reasonably more than my monthly expenses.
For background: I have about $1,700 in credit "debt". It's not late or delinquent or anything, and usually $1,000 a month gets paid. So I guess maybe about ~$700 of it is carried over month to month. Basically, I use this card for everyday living just for the cash back points.
I do not own a car as I am fortunate enough to be in a walkable neighborhood so that is an expense I get to avoid. I currently rent. My student loans ($61K) are still on forbearance until 2028, but eventually those will be in the picture. My monthly take home is about to start being roughly $600/month more than my current total expenses.
My question is, what should I be prioritizing first with this savings potential? Long term I'd love to own a small condo someday, take very infrequent vacations, and being able to one day retire and not work seems appealing (lofty goal I know).
How would you guys approach savings that places me in the best spot for the future? My current inclination is that I should make sure 100% of my credit is paid off every month instead of that small balance remaining, but after that, should I prioritize putting all of it towards a down payment fund to start building equity instead of renting? Should I put it all into the retirement account I have at work? Some sort of split savings? Something else?
Sorry if this is super basic, but not being 1 accident away from complete devastation is a brand new experience in my life, even while growing up, and I've never had the opportunity to think about things like this as if they were remotely possible. I just want to make sure I do the right things so I don't end up back where I was.
Advice on planning for the future
byu/AZORxAHAI inpersonalfinance
Posted by AZORxAHAI
2 Comments
I would be willing to have an indepth conversation with you to weight your options moving forward.
Pay off any debt, create a $10k emergency fund, max out your Roth 401k or Roth IRA contributions in this order