Hey /biz/, first time poster here.
I've been lurking the board for awhile now. I was hoping you all could give me some general financial advice.
After reading for awhile, I understand there is no get rich quick scheme, which I already knew that. And that's not what I'm looking for.
I'm just looking to pad for my retirement mostly. But extra cash would nice too.
My assets :
IT job 40 hours a week with a lot of down time to possibly do other things?
37K in retirement funds
4K spending
House
No kids
No wife or ex wives
No drug habits other than nice coffee :)
I plan on selling my home since it's too big and I dont need the room. And that would be extra couple of hundred a month.
And I'm planning on putting 30% of my income toward retirement (currently 10%)
And I thought on taking another job for extra income. I don't need need it because I'm not living check to check, but thats when a 2nd job would be better....when you dont have to have it. But that's just a thought as well.
Is there anything I can do during the week during down time for extra?
Any general advice you can give for my situation?
>>1035134
How much do you have in your emergency fund?
Do you have any outstanding debts?
Does everyone in your family have health insurance? Life?
Is your retirement in taxable/non-taxed funds? Do you have both a personal IRA and 401k for example? HSAs?
How much discretionary income do you have?
>>1035162
>How much do you have in your emergency fund?
I dont have one yet. One of the goals I plan to fix this year.
>Do you have any outstanding debts?
My home, which is why I'm going to sell it.
Does everyone in your family have health insurance? Life?
I have no family. I have health and life insurance. My mom/dad/sibling all have insurance.
>Is your retirement in taxable/non-taxed funds?
In both, but the overwhelming part is in a traditional account. But I have been building a roth account.
>Do you have both a personal IRA and 401k for example? HSAs?
Personal IRA. No HSA or 401k
How much discretionary income do you have?
Good question, I haven't really done a budget. My home payment is 20% of my monthly income. Other than utilities, I don't pay anything.
I would say 300-400 a month, but I plan on increasing the percentage I contribute a month.
>>1035175
As far as getting an extra job, that is based on your work life balance, so however you want to do that.
Your investment goals right now:
Priority #1: Creating an emergency fund. An online high-interest savings account would be pretty decent. You can get up to 1% interest which is low, but these are times we're living in.
Most people would recommend you keep a minimum of 3-6 months of total living expenses. Being solo however, you might want more.
I have enough in my emergency fund for one full year of living expenses plus the full amount of my health insurance out-of-pocket maximum. That way if anything went sideways, I'd be covered. You can always put some of your money in short-term CDs, but it isn't really worth it right now due to their low rates.
If you are selling your home, then I'd recommend renting. Yeah, you don't grow home equity, but you also aren't tied down. You also don't have recurring taxes, repairs, etc. which you are always on the hook for. This also depends on you as a person, as having been in college loan debt before, I won't buy anything on credit, even vehicles or housing.
Really, it seems like you are on the right path. Just do the match for any business IRA, fill your emergency fund, then determine what kind of investor you are.
I'm quite conservative, so I split money between stock/bond indexes and secure investments like CDs/interest-annuities etc., so that I'll have a million to retire regardless, stocks being gravy
>>1035206
I was gonna make an emergency fund in VMMXX. Does that work?
I will figure out my living expense and try to get that much money in.
Yah I fell for the buying a house meme. I actually got a good deal on it as it appraised for more than what I paid. But I have 2 extra rooms and 1 extra bathroom not being used and I'm spending 200 more than I was when I rented. So whats the point you know? I have a nice big yard but I'm responsible for the upkeep etc.
The main reason I got it was to add to what I thought would make women more interested, but my manlet genes will keep me from ever scoring a family.
Thus, I think it's probably smarter to just save money and invest then to have a home for a hypothetical family I may never have.
Good news is my realtor thinks I can sell for 20-30K than I gave for it.
How old are you? What you should do with the money depends on how old you are, how much risk you should take.
>>1035249
You could use Vanguard for money market, though as far as I know you aren't getting any appreciable interest.
I used ING, now Capital One online bank, and I think I make an extra $30 bucks or so a month off of the .75% interest (which was the highest when I did it). Ally bank and some others offer 1% or 1.05%.
ING back in the day had something like 4.5% interest on savings...
>>1035319
32
Anything I can do online during the down time at work to make money?
I keep hearing that Robinhood is a scam.
