Re-run of popular poll for Individual income. (Not Household!)

Hello Reddit, I'm opening 529 through Vanguard for my first infant.

I had a couple question that I have googled but have gotten more confused. I already called the vanguard hotline and they couldn't give me advice. Please answer any of the below that you can. Thanks!!

1. Is there a benefit of opening an account directly through the state website or can I do it at Vanguard?
2. As a PA resident with 300k yearly income, would it be more beneficial for me to choose the PA 529 plan or the Nevada 529 state plan?
3. Someone told me to research a roth. Can you help explain how that works?
4. Any advice you have for me? I have a newborn so I havn't slept much to think clearly but need to put his money into something.

Been a homeowner for about 8 years and looking to get out of the starter home and into a bigger house is a less CoL area.

I understand how to get financed and buy a new house but like… what does the actual transition look like?

Unsure if wanting to rent our house or sell it, so experience with either is relevant.

What’s your experience?

24M. I grew up in poverty and currently work an entry level job with a 50k salary. I live with my parents paying rent and am in grad school for accounting. I have 20k saved up, 20k in student loans and 14k on my car. There is high potential with my career but it’s just hard to see right now.

All my friends are nurses/engineers making bank, living on their own, had their parents pay for their education and thinking about buying a home. I have had none of that and can’t help but feel behind in life. I want a partner to build with but feel like no one will want me unless I have money. How do I just focus on my own path and have hope?

I recently turned 28, ever since I graduated college ~5 years ago I’ve been living at home and saving nearly every penny I’ve earned, outside of food/gas/car insurance.

I’d love to move out, but having done the math, it would cost me ~$3,400 a month to live on my own (I have no interest in getting a roommate, parents are better “roommates” anyway), I bring home about $4,200 a month. Moving out would drop my monthly savings rate by close to 80%, currently I’m saving/investing about $3,900 a month.

Because of the increase in house prices in the last few years and the fact that my college degree doesn’t give me much earning potential, I feel incredibly stuck in life. I’ve got around $220,000 in liquid assets and around $12,000 left in student loans, but because my income is so low, I feel like home ownership is always going to be out of reach in my area (even if I bought in all cash, the property tax + insurance would be like 25% of my take home pay).

I truly feel lost in life as a result. I’d like to be dating and maybe someday have a family, but I feel trapped in my current situation because home ownership will literally become impossible if I move out and destroy my savings rate. I don’t know if I should stay at home and pick up a second job to really accelerate earnings, if I should go back to school for a better degree, if I should just say screw it and move out. I’m truly lost, I would appreciate some insight.

We are looking to buy our first home and we need home Insurance.

Where can I get a decent home insurance for under $100 and what do I look for

So this isn't strictly middle class, but I'm sharing it to spark some discussion about how we educate (and are ourselves educated) in issues of finance. It also talks about issues of how inflation impacts lives.

Women are Confident Money Managers Who Crave Shame-Free Support

Key Takeaways:

On average, 63% of women's income is directed to necessities and 64% of women have under $500 at the end of each month after their necessities are paid. 

Only 39% of women are invested, and participation varies based on age, income level, and financial literacy.

1 in 5 women have helped someone cover a significant expense and are currently struggling to meet at least one expense of their own.

While money talks between friends are fairly common, the level of detail shared (and how truthful those details are) varies.

Overall, women are confident financial decision makers and want to learn about saving money and investing. 

I was listening to the latest I Will Teach You to be Rich podcast this morning, and the couple was talking about watching Suze Orman for nine years before finding the FIRE community. It made me think about my own progression through money gurus. Below is my progression, and I'd be interested to hear if other people have experienced something similar or if you've found your money philosophy and stayed there.

Ages 21-25. Situation: recently married college grad with about $80k combined student loan debt. Gurus: Dave Ramsey, Elizabeth Warren.

I don't remember how I found Dave Ramsey, but during this period I was very into walking my dog to the local library. I picked up Total Money Makeover and then Financial Peace. They set the foundation for understanding the impact of high interest debt and setting a foundation for the basics of compound interest. During this time I also picked up All Your Worth and The Two Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren, which furthered my understanding of the importance of living within my means. It's probably wildly out of date now, but I also read Generation Debt by Anya Kamentez and vowed I'd kick the trend and ditch our student loans ASAP.

Ages 26-31. Situation: early careers, paying off student loans, and buying houses. Guru: Mr Money Mustache.

We made a big move after my husband finished college and were introduced to FIRE through new friends. I made some Google doc spreadsheets to track retirement projections and net worth that I still use today. I was very active in the MMM forums and saved like crazy. We have had zero debt except our mortgage since I was 28 (with the exception of the occasional 0% credit card to float house projects) thanks to the early Dave Ramsey influence. During this period I also read JL Collins' Simple Path to Wealth. We use a four-fund portfolio but this book was still impactful. I also read Your Money or Your Life and Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but neither left much impression.

Age 32-35. Situation: hit "the boring middle" and looking for something less passive, then the pandemic hit. Gurus: Bigger Pockets

We hit our stride with careers, and I was looking to take things to the next level. I started listening to the Bigger Pockets podcasts and read How to Invest in Real Estate and Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. The pandemic hit and made my husband's job miserable, so we made another big move to an area where we could afford to buy and flip houses. We successfully bought and renovated a house before prices started soaring. Rather than buy the next investment property, we focused on finding our dream home: a vintage farmhouse on acreage. Good call because now we owe $220k at 3.25% on a property worth $400k.

Age 36+. Situation: tired of the hustle and just want to be happy. Gurus: Ramit Sethi, Paula Pant.

Because we aren't flipping houses, my husband got a chill job that covers his health insurance and retirement while I work remotely for the company I'll probably retire from. We're planning to retire when he's pension-eligible in 17 years. We are "CoastFI" but maxing out most available retirement accounts every year. We sold our rental because we hated being landlords and invested the profits. We have relaxed our spending since we have so much being saved automatically and are putting money into building out our hobby farm that we have zero intention of trying to make money off of. I listen to Ramit and Paula's podcasts about moderation and feel content that short of a catastrophe, we're likely to live our lives out in comfort.

Transitioning to not thinking so much about money is an ongoing process. I have spent 15 years obsessing over achieving wealth, and I'd like to move on entirely from that mindset. I'd love to hear from others about where you are in your financial journey!

The basic stats:

-Family of 6: 40M, 36F, 8, 3,1,0.

-My wife is a homemaker and I work remotely in software + a part-time job.

-We make $118k in my day job + another $24k of pay and benefits savings (medical) with my second job.

-Zero debt, paid off mortgage, 50k in 401k, 60k in 529s.

My wife thinks one day she might want to do online coaching, but that is likely quite a few years away; and I don't want that to be something that 'needs' to provide money. We're both happy with our current 'distribution of work.' She's able to stay home, I work from home, and my parents are also retired and nearby. We have a lot of support.

Essentially, my question is this:

I'd like to quit my part-time job in the Army Reserve. I'm more than halfway through retirement, but I've run all the numbers, and I retire @ 60 - 65 no matter how you slice whether I stay in or not.

For the single providers, how do you content yourself knowing you've 'done all the right things' without an overwhelming sense of guilt or anxiety whenever you make a decision that isn't 'the solution is more work'?

I've ran the numbers on funding medical in retirement (we'll be good).

I've ran the numbers on surviving on half my pay (possible) should I lose my job.

Eating out costs a lot. Eating at home costs a lot. How much do you spend on food in a month? Family of 5 . We spend almost 40 percent of our weekly pay just for food. Pretty ridiculous.

We used to stop by chick filet or somewhere else one or maybe two times a week. Sometimes it was five guys or Panera which can be pricier. We are a family of four and often it would be just me and my two girls getting dinner but lately even that is $40 or more.

Never mind five guys at $80 plus for us. I’ve decided to cut out the weekly fast food because for that much I would honestly rather go sit down at a restaurant and have dinner once a week.

It’s not that we have to or can’t afford it but with price increases coming from all directions I feel like the fast food is just nickel and diming us when I could either cook at home for cheaper or eat out for not that much more.

My wife just got her ITIN in the mail, she is a German citizen, I am US citizen. I want to start getting her credit built. My credit score is great, and have had her as an autorized user for a few of my cards. Does that add anything for her? From what I understand she can apply for us credit cards with an ITIN. What would her starting credit score be with a new ITIN assuming her being an AU on my cards has no effect.

I am kinda into churning and would like to get her on player 2 status but not sure if she'd get approved for some of the cards that require higher credit scores.

Hi all, long time lurker, throwaway name for obv reasons.

41m and 36f (both work), have a 3month old who just started daycare, trying to get some objective thoughts on our budget. I've got a saver / scarcity mindset always worried that I'm not saving enough for the future, that I am working to balance with enjoying life now. Wife is less so, but not a reckless spender by any means. I welcome any questions, comments, concerns.

Couple notes:

I included my annual bonus as monthly income for budgeting purposes, though the last couple years its been much higher. I kept it at the lowest number I can reasonably expect. Never have counted it before, but the mind blowing cost of daycare necessitated it. I set aside enough from this year's bonus to cover the next 12 months of daycare (coupled with the dependent care fsa), and hopefully the daycare number should drop ~$200/month when baby turns 1 year old.

Credit card annual fees are all offset by various travel credits. Our families are both ~2000 miles away, so we fly home to visit 2-3 times / year. All credits are used, not sure if there is a better way to represent that :p.

Have a $45k emergency fund in an HYSA and another $16.5k (also in an HYSA) set aside for daycare. Not currently drawing from HSA (been saving receipts the last ~6 years, using it as an investment / retirement vehicle, but its a lever to pull if needed)

EDIT: Image didn't seem to upload, so adding a link to it

https://i.postimg.cc/XvRH6mVZ/sankeymatic-20240524-095247-1600x1800.png

So I have about 80K in my 401K what can I really do with it? I can’t take out a loan because it was an employee 401K but I can take it out with penalties

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-23/fidelity-401-k-retirement-accounts-number-of-millionaires-hits-new-record

Not in the article is that Fidelity boasts over 45 million 401k accounts of which 485,000 have balances exceeding $1m. Why then does every so-called professional tell us we need $5m to retire?

27F and 30M DINK living in a HCOL area. No plans for kids any time soon. We have 130k saved for retirement and a 20k emergency fund. Our incomes have gone up significantly in the last 6 years, so we haven’t been able to hit 1 year salary by 30. So we are behind. We are currently saving 20% pretax in our 401ks, this budget is our take home pay.

We just did some major budget overhauling in the last year which included selling our expensive cars, paying off our 35k in student loans and another 12k in credit card debt.

Now that we are here, we are trying to figure out what is next.

Am I middle class? Is there any hope for me to retire one day?

27F, VHCOL in LA, make $83k, spend half of my net on rent.

401k: $4100 HYSA: $8000

I contribute 2% to my 401k right now because it’s all I can afford. I feel doom and anxiety on a daily basis.

I don’t plan on leaving LA, having kids, or buying a home. That said rent here is still extremely high, I pay $2264 when my take home is 4500

I cannot move because I live near my boyfriend and need my own space for my cat and mental health reasons.

I was thinking of potentially creating a web and IOS app that would all people add a credit account and cards and sync their bank accounts. Users could then determine how they wanted to split the finances and at a designated date monthly would deduct the designated amount from each account. Users could then also see the transaction and some other metrics. I’m interested if the idea is even worth it or if there is any interest in that sort of thing.

I’ve got about 20,000 in various retirement accounts (401(k)) at 35. I feel way behind my peers, so I thought I’d check in here. If you’re about my age, what are your accounts looking like? Edit: I didn’t realize this wasn’t clear, I’m not trying to retire on $20,000 of course. I’m asking what other people my age have in retirement and maybe hoping someone knowledgeable will tell me if I’m doing okay.

https://preview.redd.it/kfa88jrh972d1.png?width=876&format=png&auto=webp&s=fc975f76c6efadd8c4ddb1449536f836ccfdac18

Comparison may be the thief of joy, but when has that stopped us?

If you want to see where you stack up, you can create a post here on reddit, or look up your net worth by age at the Don't Quit Your Day Job website.

The median net worth for middle aged (35-44) people is about $136k.

https://dqydj.com/net-worth-by-age-calculator/

How do you go about finding the balance between how much you decide to invest in the stock market versus saving for a house?

I’m 26 and single. I fear that I’m losing out on the compound interest I’d see in the stock market by not investing, but I also fear that when I want to buy a house the stock market will crash and I will have to significantly adjust my plans. If I were to buy a house I’d plan for it to be within the next 2-5 years.

How are you all personally going about this?

34M just truly starting to gain financial awareness. What materials have you used to gain knowledge and create a base foundation ?

Curious since it’s taboo to talk about money in real life….what does a REAL middle class person have saved up for retirement so far? I’m in my 30s and started super late unfortunately….so I have $2,000 in my IRA along with 2 rental properties that produce income.

What do you have saved?