24M, after tax I take home $3,000 per month. My expenses are as follows:

Car: $0 (paid off)

Car insurance: $800 per year (paid in full)

Roth IRA: $150/week until maxed out

Gas: $35 every 2 weeks

Gym Membership: $10 per month

Date night/entertainment: $75-100 per week

Savings: $10,100

Roth IRA/401k: $30,000 total

I currently live at home for free with my mom. I enjoy living with her but I am really yearning for a space with my girlfriend and to have a sense of independence.

I am receiving a raise by the end of the year, and anticipating a promotion by next spring.

I've been looking into sharing an apartment with my girlfriend and friend which would cost $800/person. Is that reasonable or would I be making myself poor.

Hi there, I want to pay off the remainder of my kid(and her LT partner ) car note. They have been together for 10 years, note is in both of their names. There's 6k left. I read that I shouldn't do the full amount in one fell swoop as it'll ding their-very young-credit.

I was thinking to pay off 5k immediately and then set up an autopay for them to pay off the rest. WDYT?

If my chase checking account gets charged off over $5,000 will it get reported to the major credit bureaus? Has this happened to anyone?

Every few months I'll transfer left over money from my bank account to my Capital one HYSA. I've been thinking what if I just have my paycheck go into there and have all my bills, investments, etc. taken out, that way I'm gaining interest while my paycheck and extra money is sitting there instead of in a regular bank account. It feels risky for some reason? I don't have any real thought to back that up though. Anyone else do this?

A few years ago, my wife and I were making over $150k combined. I had a great paying sales job, and in 2022 we bought a new house that made sense financially based on our income at the time.
Then in 2024, the company I worked for closed.
I found another job pretty quickly, but the pay wasn’t the same. 2025 and 2026 have been tough financially. I recently started another sales job with a large company, and I’m hopeful it works out, but as we all know, sales can be unpredictable.
The biggest problem is our house payment. It’s very high compared to our current income. We’ve accumulated some credit card debt and I’ve burned through about half of my savings trying to keep everything going.
The difficult part is I absolutely love my house. I don’t want to sell it. But I also don’t want to keep making a bad financial decision just because I love the house.
The cars aren’t really the issue. One is paid off, and the other has about three years left at only 1.9% APR, so I don’t think it makes sense to get rid of it.
So I’m trying to decide:
1. Sell the house, take the loss from selling costs, and buy something smaller and cheaper.
2. Keep the house and hope my new sales job takes off over the next couple of years.
3. Keep the house but get a temporary second job/side job to create some breathing room while I rebuild my income and pay down the credit cards.
I know the obvious answer is “the house is too expensive,” but I’m wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation where their income dropped significantly after buying a house.
Would you sell and downsize, or temporarily sacrifice and try to increase income until things turn around?
Thanks

I turn 39 in a few weeks and am kind of bummed out about where I am financially. I have about $83,000 across a 403b, Roth IRA, and cash, with about $35,000 (estimated) in a cash balance pension through work.

While I’m doing okay now (I make about $105,000 annually in a HCOLA, single, no kids) I definitely had a stretch through my middle-to-late 30s where I made some bad investments, lived beyond my means, and took some financial risks that didn’t exactly pan out with a side business I have. I had some struggles with alcohol that are thankfully behind me (I’m about 3.5 years sober). I was in debt for a while (a few years) but am finally essentially above water. I also might see a periodic windfall of around $10k-$20k from my side business over the next few years - hopefully recouping some of the investments there that have been slow and unsteady in paying back.

Looking ahead to the next year, I want to build some financial momentum. I’m hopeful that I might be able to get some kind of raise in the next couple of years, and I’d really like to set aside money for a down payment on a place. But at the same time I want to make sure I continue to invest in myself - continue having hobbies, hopefully dating more, and building out my life (things that also suffered during my mid-30s slump).

Fingers crossed.

I’m not familiar with it at all and do not understand it. Im starting an HSA through my new job.
My questions are,
How much am I supposed to put into this thing? The IRS maximum is $4400, and my employer contributes $131 to it per month. I get paid monthly.
I’m 25m, recently married, and don’t have kids yet but would like them in the near future.
The page I’m supposed to fill out is asking how much my contribution should be per pay period. The max I could possibly do is $1335 per month.
One of my coworkers said there are some years where he hasn’t put in any extra and some years where he’s put in an extra $30. He also told me once my HSA hits $2500, I can start investing it.
I don’t really have a benchmark idea on what I should put in.
My wife and I are also trying to save right now so we can buy a house. Not sure if that changes anything, but to give an idea. My salary will be around 55k and I get paid monthly.
I never go to the doctor and I’m a very healthy individual. If I were to not have to pay for anything medical, and I have all this free money lying around, how would I access it so I can invest it?
Thanks in advance!

So my county decided my very normal 3 bed house is apparently the crown jewel of the neighborhood and jacked the assessment again. Cool cool.

For context, I make a decent income, I pay my bills, and then once a year the property tax bill shows up and reminds me that the true owner of my home is the county treasurer. Love that for me.

I stumbled on this site called Owlue that checks if you are overpaying on property taxes and files the appeal for you. Supposedly I just upload some info and they do the "20 to 30 page evidence packet" thing while I continue pretending I understand escrow. On paper it sounds great, in my head I am picturing some AI arguing with a bored appraiser who has already decided my roof is made of gold.

Has anyone here actually gone through a property tax appeal like this, with a service or on your own, and felt like it was worth the hassle and the paperwork and the mild existential crisis about your house value? I am tired enough that the idea of fighting city hall from my couch is kinda appealing, but part of me feels like this is just another adult side quest with no loot drop. Any stories would help, good or bad, tbh. Appreciate any thoughts

I’m a self-employed worker, and I need to rollover a $100k traditional 401k divorce settlement into a new account.

Is a solo 401k the best place to put this money? I want to avoid tax ramifications where possible.

Hello, I’m a 21 year old living at home with about $25,000 in my savings. I just wanted to come on here and get some advice/ ideas on what to do with my money. My bank account right now doesn’t have any sort of interest or return and I don’t know who to ask or where to go for advice. I have a Roth IRA through my work, but I would really like to do something with the money that I have. Any comments are greatly appreciated!

Are HYSA a good idea?

Hi everyone, my mom and I are looking to work with a financial advisor as we've been saving up our money and would like to learn how/where to invest. She's great with money but there's a big language barrier and if we were to consult with a professional, they would need to speak both english and japanese so we could both understand. I've reached out to some people that I was able to track down on google but if anyone knows of anyone specific - please send them my way, would really appreciate it. thanks!

Hey yall, so im new to this whole investing thing and want to start putting money into a brokerage account on fidelity. I bring home 4k a month after taxes and have no debts. I already have a Roth IRA with 5k and I contribute monthly 626 and have 20k in my hysa emergency fund. Which leaves me with 30k to play around with. With my limited resreach I have seen people talk about SCHD, VTI and VXUS being good options but i still want more opinions on that and any other things i should be looking at. I really want to retire early ( 4 to 5 years)in the Philippines specifically in the province area and not work at all. If not then I dont mind working till im in my retirement age. For context i live in nyc and I just turned 28 years old, and im going to be investing 1,700 a month into the brokerage starting next month. Thank you in advance

Hey there, quick TL:DR of situation:
Debt free (paid off car loan in full 3 months ago, paid of 5 year personal loan in january)
Rent covered by company I work for (I plan to separate and start my own business) - CCA 450euros/month - Living in 3rd World country average wage around 800euros a month.
30.000 euros +- in 4.3% savings account.
21.000 USD - around 15.000 euros in VWRP and 3000 euros in BTC (This is built since 2025 january thats when i started investing)
Car G20 2021 - 30.000 worth
Secure payments (these I am getting on monthly basis for another year or so) total of 30.000euros (around 2-4k a month)
D2d Salesman 8 years, manager at the current moment of 5 man team.
Online reselling business (which i cannot scale further, gaming niche depends on popularity of certain games) 208.000 euros revenue in last year (around 40.000 profit) - been running for 2.5 years however didnt really track much in first.
Thats the breakdown.

Heres the question, since I work as d2d salesman and we dont have any actual wage but work off % of profit aka comission, other than upcoming payments from my d2d place and another online reselling business I own I dont have a fixed yearly income, as Im planing in starting my own Business with Godfather of mine which will be same business different product, I still wont have secure income, and ill get an extra personal expense of rent (not including business expenses).
Now im constantly under pressure and this feeling that its not enough, that I have to work harder, have been doing do for 9 years now "grinding" it out, and im feeling a bit tired at this point.
I live comfortable life, but I started getting tad bit lazy, what would you suggest approach should be to start building more wealth and by that I mean to have more free time while remaining financially stable, where else and how much aproximately would you invest more/less into what?
I also have this urge of constantly trying to find new ways to earn more money, online/offline doesnt matter.

I am only shopping for Japanese vehicles, primarily Toyota then Honda. Looking at getting a 2026 Corolla for 24k. Although I have been wanting a 2015-2017 Camry for 16-19k but they have 70-90k miles. Is it worth saving a few thousand in this instance or just go with the new car?

I can afford both of these vehicles in cash, so financing isn’t my only path. If I were to buy these outright, I would be left with about 35-60% of my HYSA emergency fund.

Yes I know keeping what I have and driving it is cheaper because it’s paid off, but it’s 25 years old and isn’t the best on fuel/safety. It is a rebuilt salvage from getting T boned last Christmas.

What makes the most sense in this situation -
Financing at 5% for 60 months on the 2026 and pay it off ASAP within a 1-2 years? Or pay cash outright and liquidate about 30-40% of my savings?

I recently graduated and got my first job, and I had to choose between a Roth 401k vs a Traditional 401k. I’m only making around 67.5k a year, so I just chose Roth because I’m expecting to make more than that within a year or two. I also have no idea what the 401k contributions are being put into. But I really don’t know if that’s a good idea or if I should switch to a traditional? I’m also lost on what else I should be doing in terms of savings and investments. I have some money in a savings account doing nothing, and I’ve read that you want an emergency fund, a certain percentage in 401k and then try to max a Roth IRA. Then you go on to invest through brokerage? It’s just so much to learn and try to understand and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Forced to list the house for sale when my divorce finalized in June. The value and rates had increased significantly since our 2016 purchase, so I couldn't afford to buy her out, meanwhile she didn't want the place.

The good news is that when the sale closed last week, I deposited a check for nearly $300k which is the most liquid cash I've ever had (to myself) in 43 years of life.

Earn about $180k in vhcola, 16 years at a stable job, managed to lump sum out of alimony, and child support is quite manageable. I do have $35k divorce lawyer bills on a credit card at 0% until May. Obviously I won't pay a cent of interest on that balance.

Another $350k in retirement, 2 young children, and approximately $0 liquid assets besides this check.

I just moved into a modest apartment and can leave the $300k untouched except for what's left of the cc balance in May (probably $25k). I do want to upgrade my living space in the next 18 months though.

I know all about HYSAs, index funds, compounding, SGOV, eating cheap sardines, and how money works. So yeah.. I just need to not be stupid with this.

But what specifically would you do? What other factors might make you decide?

Note: Some of this seems like house money (an absurd real estate market) to me, and I have other support if a catastrophe were to occur. My risk tolerance is at the higher end of the spectrum suggested by the above.

I currently turned 19 and looking to invest for long-term goals. I am not sure where to start, I opened a TFSA account when I turned 18 for short-term savings (a car) but I would like to invest and grow my money, just not sure which franchise to choose or where to start. I would appreciate any advice!

Hello everyone!

I have an issue that id like to solve regarding a car takeover. My sister currently is paying off a car that is financed through her bank account so she doesn’t have the title yet. I’ve basically taken over her car payments as in the one driving it but I haven’t switched over the financing to my name. How easily would this process go? If I’m doing a takeover and my bank takes the loan, will my bank have to pay back the money it has already paid off? Or will doing a takeover be as simple as a switch with no extra clauses?

My monthly expenses come out to about $4k a month, I have an extra $3k to spend on my credit card(Using rewards) What could I do with excess $3k a month on a credit card to increase my own wealth?
Really need some advice on what to do with $3k a month to increase my wealth in the future. It’s credit though, not hard cash I can physically invest. Please help. 🙏

Context: 150k going to HYSA, 25k Emergency fund. 11K Roth IRA.

My fiancé and I (29 and 26 years old) are working on a plan to pay off our debt ASAP so we can start a family after our wedding. The high interest stuff is my main concern. Currently debating opening a new credit card with 0% APR for 18 months or taking a 401k loan since the interest goes back to us anyway. For reference, we have about $10,000 in credit card debt and my 401k has a little over $53,000.

Is it better to take the hit to my credit score for opening a new line of credit? Or is there benefit to a 401k loan here?

ETA: We do have an emergency fund as well of $10,000. I don’t really want to drain it just to pay off credit cards, but would it be worth it to maybe use half? 3 months of rent for us is $5,850. We also both have car payments. I do get an annual bonus in the spring as well that typically comes out to around $8,000, though I did get bumped into a higher bonus bracket with my promotion this year so not sure what that’ll look like in 6 months.

So I have around 125k @ 4% left on my mortgage of the house we live in.
We have 6months savings. Own all vehicles. No CCd. No student loans. Just another mortgage (330k @6.5%) on a property we rent out and has a negative cash flow of around 400 a month
It’s good for taxes and still gains equity each year on the value…

I have 6 months of expenses in savings.
Max my 401k (~225k) to irs limit. And max out a Roth IRA (~50k)every year
And I have ~180k in a separate cash account.
I’m 34, wife is 32

I really really like the idea of being mortgage free but I feel like investing the cash we have is better idea. I have started to use some money to put into our home, roof, deck, front door. And eventually we will outgrow this home with our family size.

I feel like the best option is to buy another house that we will retire in, then rent the other 2 out with a positive cash flow OR sell everything and try to squeeze together as much extra money to buy another house outright.

Which one are you guys using?

And why a MMF over a HYSA?

We own and live in a duplex, don’t make any money from it recently because my mom needed a place to live

I’m 41, wife 36. I have 207k in a 401k (mostly Roth), she has 115-125.

I have 7.7k in a Roth IRA. And 9k spread between a fidelity basket profile , NVO, AES, PFE , ENPH, ET, and FZILX and FZROX and a 2050 target date .

I max out or try and max out the 401k every year and have only started the IRA in the past 16 months or so, but am going to try and max that out, while still putting some money each month into the above non 401/IRA investment with relative even distribution but a little less aggressive with the more volatile ENPH.

We will keep the duplex but move in a few years. The duplex has a great interest rate , so we don’t plan on selling it for many, many years and consider it an investment.

We don’t have any kids, but we are hoping to change that soon , but only once.

We live fairly frugally, like to travel (not extravagantly) make about 150-170k per year combined and live in a Midwestern city

I know this isn’t really a stock page, but I don’t really know what I’m doing , expect to keep diverse investments, though I have done some novice research.

I am invested aggressively within the 401, IRA and fidelity basket , at least according to them.

I don’t think I have enough invested to get fidelity’s 1-1 coaching , which I also understand is largely a sales pitch for the funds they are told to recommend: but at least when that happens they can reassure me that I’m being at least reasonably responsible with my investments .

I guess I’m looking for reassurance that I’m on a good path or for some basic advice with my non 401k/IRA approach or if I should shift the aggressive nature of those Roth accounts to something more conservative.

Thanks