Hello! Posting from an anon account as it has to do with finances.
I am 25F and have very excitedly hit over a 100k net worth now with having worked as a teacher making between 76-80k over the past three years. The breakdown is as follows:
Personal Savings in HYSA ~ $10,000
House Savings Fund in HYSA ~ $12,000
Emergency Fund in HYSA = $10,000
Personal Brokerage ~ $12,000
Roth IRA ~ $27,000
TRS ~ $18,000
Paid off Vehicle ~ $22,000
I couldn’t be more happy to have reached this milestone sooner than I was anticipating!! With that being said, I’ve decided to leave teaching at the end of this school year in hopes of transitioning into a corporate role. Knowing this, I want to make sure I am optimizing my current finances to set me up for a potential pay cut given that I’ll likely be receiving an entry level position to start.
I know I could be doing more investment wise with the money in my Emergency Fund and House Down Payment fund, yet I am hesitant to throw that money into the market. I would love to know what others think. I’ll be withdrawing my TRS at the end of the school year and am considering using that to max out my Roth for 2026 and then put the rest into my brokerage. I would appreciate any and all advice!
I was grateful to receive a full ride to college, thus leaving me with no debt whatsoever. I travel as much as I can and have really enjoyed life over the past 3 years since graduation! Just hoping now to optimize what I have going on for hopefully exponential growth into my 30s 🙂
Any help is appreciated!
How Can I Optimize My Finances Best?
byu/Pale-Perception-3385 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Pale-Perception-3385
2 Comments
Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics.
Don’t invest the emergency fund. It needs to be liquid and safe. That means a HYSA or a CD. If you plan on buying a house within 5 years, or anything else that you need to save for, the same info applies.
Unless you’re living at home, I’d also suggest that $10k for an emergency fund is a bit light.
Don’t withdraw the TRS. Open an IRA with whatever mutual fund company you like and set up a direct transfer of the TRS balance. Note, this is not your 2026 contribution. This is a transfer to a traditional IRA which you can then convert to a Roth, paying taxes on the conversion. The plan you came up with makes no sense. Transfer, don’t withdraw.
Finally, it might be easy to find a corporate job. Hiring is down right now and layoffs are happening. All the cash you have might have to fund your expenses for several months, that means they stay out of the market until you get a job and get through any probationary period.