Financial advice for young professional, “I don’t know what to do with my money now…”
Okay… headline makes it seem like the sky is falling, but not a bad problem to have here. My question is, what do I do now?? I feel comfortable with where I’m at, do I just coast? (Until there’s a possible bump in the road: economy, lay off, etc)
Few stats for you to give you an idea of where I’m at:
- 24 year old professional
- $160,000 a year for myself, $40,000 for my wife
- $50,000 in traditional 401k
- $30,000 in Roth IRAs (between both of us)
- wife has a very very small pension plan (talking like $50,000 total over the course of her working there 30 ish years if she stayed that long… so literally nothing)
- own a nice house that we plan on living in forever (3.7% interest, 2 years into 30 yr) (2,300 square feet with 2,300 square foot basement that’s unfinished, updated, 1 acre with a nice heated barn around 50’x25’)
- $10,000 in loans for college
- own two great cars (no payments)
- I max out my 401k, my Roth IRA, and her Roth IRA
- $100 each month in a 529 plan for future kids and will up that to $100 for each kid as we have them (I paid for all of my college and I feel like it’s important for kids to work towards scholarships and summer jobs, so this would just be a bit to help cover some expenses).
- Consistent $40,000 in emergency fund
I’ve always been a planner and wanting to do things the right way to set myself and my family up for success. The hard thing is that we’re living a very very comfortable lifestyle with vacations, spending for personal, etc.
The real question is… what do I do now?
I feel like I just need to keep the train on the tracks and keep working hard at what I do, but my brain keeps telling me there has to be more.
I don’t have a CFP, but feel like my returns have been great self managed and don’t feel like they would make a huge difference there. I don’t want to buy extra life insurance beyond what I have at work. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s to not over insure myself. The only thing I think the CFP would really save me with is additional tax shelters and I don’t think it’s that necessary with how many taxes have been coming out. (we tithe to our church at 10%, have mortgage interest, and other deductions so we don’t take the standard deduction). So I really don’t think I need to go the CFP route.
I don’t know it all, which is why I’m here, but I feel like I know enough to just keep pace and retire with $10+ million at 60 and live a very comfortable lifestyle which is all I really want.
I’ve never just coasted in life (I have the drive to stay working hard at my career and would never coast there), which is why I believe I’m in the position I am, but am I in a good place financially to just keep things the way they are/set it and forget it?
Posted Jan 20, 2024, 11:45 PM UTC · edited