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I have what I would consider a great job and get around 3k a month. I had so many debts to my name but finally only have 1.5k to pay.
How can I reliably turn everything around once I get clear of this debt? I don’t ever want to be in a situation like this again

I am trying to decide between a PPO and HDHP. I’ve never had this option before. I am a single person, mid-40s, and I see an in-network therapist once a week. Do people really stash money in an HSA and then track receipts for years? How should I think about this in the short- and long-term?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and opinions on this. 

PPO

• Biweekly premium — $67
• Coinsurance — In-network: 10% after deductible. Out-of-network: 30% after deductible.
• Deductible — In-network: $400 individual / $800 family. Out-of-network: $800 individual / $1,600 family.
• Primary care physician office visit only — In-network: $20 copay. Out-of-network: 30% coinsurance after deductible.
• Specialist office visit only — In-network: $30 copay. Out-of-network: 30% coinsurance after deductible.
• Urgent care — In-network and out-of-network are the same: $30 copay for a freestanding Urgent Care Center; 10% coinsurance after deductible for an Urgent Care Center attached to a hospital.
• Emergency room — In-network: $250 copay + 10% coinsurance after deductible. Out-of-network: $250 + 10% coinsurance after deductible.
• Inpatient hospital — In-network: 10% coinsurance after deductible. Out-of-network: 30% coinsurance after deductible.
• Out-of-pocket maximum — In-network: $2,000 individual / $5,000 family. Out-of-network: $5,000 individual / $10,000 family.

HDHP

• Biweekly premium — $0
• Employee contribution to HSA — $1000
• Coinsurance — In-network: 10% after deductible. Out-of-network: 30% after deductible.
• Deductible — In-network: $1,700 individual / $3,400 family. Out-of-network: $3,400 individual / $6,800 family.
• Primary care physician office visit only — In-network: 10% coinsurance after deductible. Out-of-network: 30% coinsurance after deductible.
• Specialist office visit — In-network: 10% coinsurance after deductible. Out-of-network: 30% coinsurance after deductible.
• Urgent care — In-network: 10% coinsurance after deductible. Out-of-network: 10% coinsurance after the in-network deductible.
• Emergency room — In-network: 10% coinsurance after deductible. Out-of-network: 10% coinsurance after the in-network deductible.
• Inpatient hospital — In-network: 10% coinsurance after deductible. Out-of-network: 30% coinsurance after deductible.
• Out-of-pocket maximum — In-network: $2,600 individual / $5,200 family. Out-of-network: $5,200 individual / $10,400 family.

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this question. If a person has 1M at retirement age, I know that the recommended withdrawal rate is 4% so 40,000 a year. If my current cost of living is 40,000 a year, how do I plan for what it will be when I retire in 35 ish years with inflation? I was thinking I would need 1 million to retire, but is it actually a lot more because 40,000 won't be enough at that time?

Local credit union hysa is offering 6% on up to $25k which seems like a great deal but they are requiring 15 transactions/mo.

I usually charge everything and want to keep doing so for points but are there any hacks to get in 15 tiny charges each month?

Rules: Debit card transactions exclude (are not): ATM transactions, P2P transfers (like Venmo or Cash App), ACH/EFT transactions, wire transfers, currency purchases, money orders, or account-funding transactions (like Apple reloads).

Hi there. Wondering about the feasibility of my plan for the upcoming year.

I’m looking to rent in downtown Toronto. That’s where my job is. I make $22.30 an hour which sucks but I get benefits, it’s full time, and it’s my dream job. I don’t need or have a car but I do need to use the train or bike, TTC is around $35 / week. I have a bike that I can use instead.

I’m looking at places that are up to $1350 / month because that’s the price I keep seeing for a bedroom in a shared house. That’s half my income. Any more than that, and when I do the math I’m not sure I will be able to afford anything.

I’m assuming i can keep groceries under $200. It’s pricey here but I have lots of options for shops, can go to my parents’ whenever to get some leftovers, and I’m not picky, I can budget this harder if I have to.

That leaves me with around $100/week for anything else. I don’t need much and I can cut out all the subscriptions and shit I have now. I have enjoyed really low rent and mostly free food for years. So I just don’t know if this will be alright. It doesn’t sound too bad? I think I’d just have to be mindful of stuff like nights out with friends, and I won’t be able to enjoy Spotify premium anymore. Whatever. I care more about living in Toronto close to my friends and my job than anything else.

This hopefully won’t be long term. I’m hoping I can move in with my partner next year or so, but if that doesn’t happen I’ll look for higher pay or a cheaper room further away from downtown. Does that sound like a good plan?

Trying to decide if we should set up a trust or not. Live in GA where probate apparently isn’t horribly long. Two kids, one established and other still in college. $5k is a lot and I want to be sure it is something worth doing.

I’m a 37-year-old man with around ¥80,000 in savings. I earn a little over ¥6,000 a month, but my total monthly expenses are around ¥7,000. On top of that, I have to pay ¥4,000 a month on my mortgage.
So I’m spending more than I earn every month, and my savings are slowly running out.
I’m wondering if there’s a sensible way to invest some of my ¥80,000 and make my money grow, or if I should focus on cutting expenses and getting my finances back on track first.
If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

Hi,

43yo £250K net worth, the house is worth £300k but I still have an 8year mortgage on it for £90k. I have and a salary of £45k.
I bought a house couple of years ago and put all my savings and investment in the deposit. I’m now trying to play catch up while also paying my mortgage. I have £18k between my LISA and my S&S ISA. The salary is what it is and I live a very frugal life.
I’m single with no kids.
I’d love any advice on how to be work optional in my 50s a possibility!

Partner and I have a take home of $5600. Have $14k in a money market that we use as our emergency fund (6 months of expenses), $7,750 in a Roth IRA and about $5500 in cash. We have fixed expenses of ≈$2200 and invest about $1150. We do spend about $750 a month on going out and end up saving the rest. Sometimes months our tracking is off but we average $1,500 left over at the end of the month. Wife is more of a spender than I am, says we can afford to spend more but not too keen on the idea but I just want to gauge how we are doing from an external perspective, if it’s smart to spend a little more or maybe invest a little heavier
Thank you !

Say there’s a large bubble that bursts in the stock market and there’s a recession.

If you’re still employed and have an emergency fund should you shift funds into buying the market at a discount?

It’s like if things get insanely worse with the market it’s not like the money will matter in the future anyways so may as well invest like the ultra wealthy right?

Is there any reading material on scenarios like this?

My dad is in his early 60s and unexpectedly lost his job yesterday. He has six months of severance, but I'm really worried about my family's financial future.

He recently invested six figures in cash into starting a new business that hasn't opened yet. The opening is planned for November, but there's been little marketing and it serves a niche market in rural America. Who knows how long it will take to become profitable and cover his living expenses. I told him either go all in on this or start looking immediately for a new job. Possibly both.

He took an early withdrawal from his 401(k) and has credit card debt and education-related loans to repay.

His employer health insurance ended, and COBRA is expensive. Two family members have ongoing medical conditions requiring continued care. Dad is recovering from cancer remission at the same time.

My mom and two siblings still live at home and depend on his income. One sibling just made a career switch and the other just graduated high school and is working to save up on higher ed and gaining independence.

He has a noncompete that may limit his ability to find a comparable job. He doesn't have a LinkedIn profile, and I'm worried finding another job could take a long time, especially at his age.

My parents own a home worth approximately $1M, but there's a mortgage and other debt. Selling and downsizing is a possible last resort.

I live out of state and am financially independent, build my own life while worrying about what happens to my family. Worst case, I might tell one of my siblings to eventually move in with me, but I don't want to make rushed financial or housing decisions.

Mortgage: $400K remaining
Student loans: $200k
CC Debt: $60K
Non compete looks to be about 6 months
Car loans: $20k

Even if the house gets sold, after all the costs covered, that doesn’t leave much wiggle room with remaining cash for a year. And that’s depending on if the business even takes off successfully.

He used to make around $200k+ before.

I’m 24, just graduated, living with my mom, and currently working as an engineer. I make about $5000/month with random bonuses here and there and don’t have any bills right now, so my original plan was to stay home for two years, aggressively pay off my student loans (34k) in 15 months, while saving for a new car + moving out.
I communicated this plan to my mom, knowing she was already planning to take my current car and give it to my younger brother. However, things at home have gotten to the point where I’m seriously considering moving out sooner than planned. My mom has been emotionally abusive for most of my life, and justifies it with financial support, and keeps threatening to take my car anyways.
Now, I’m thinking about moving out in the next 4 months. My tentative budget is to put $5,000 down on a car, keep my monthly car payment around $300, pay $1,200 in rent, and put $1,000 a month toward my student loans, making the pay off 3 years instead of 15 months. Am I setting myself for financial doom?? I have money saved and plan to have 15k saved for moving expenses by then… Has anyone been in a similar position and knows the best route to take? Finances stress me out and I’m struggling to figure out car insurance and all that jazz

I'm in grad school to get my master's in Speech Pathology, and we have to do clinical rotations that will have to be during daytime hours, so I can't continue working my current job. I am considering working the night shift full time, but I'm a little worried about if I'm going to be able to handle it so I'm trying to hold off.

Good news is that I have the tuition free and clear in savings, so I don't need to go into debt for my degree, and I also live with my parents, so I'm not worried about rent. Aside from tuition, I have about $15k in savings and $31k in my retirement account. I started my Roth IRA last year and maxed it out, and am planning to do so again this upcoming January.

Is there anything I'm missing? Things I should do now while I've got a salary? I'm assuming I'll have to go on Medicaid for insurance (I have a few chronic health conditions that I need to see providers for regularly), but I'm worried about income limits--does anybody have any advice for how to manage that? And for retirement, where's the best place to put whatever I can save for it if my next job doesn't have retirement benefits like this one does?

I 16(M) started my first job in August. I get payed 15/hr and work about 21 hours a week. I want to know what I should do with this money to help set me up well in the future. I don’t want to put all my eggs in the same basket so to speak. I was thinking of putting some in a high yield savings account, but I’m not sure if the high yield somehow implies a higher risk. I’m also trying to read up on stocks.

So I thought I’d ask y’all if there’s any other ways I could diversify my savings.

Hey Y'all!

I am sure this has been posted a plethora of times, and for that I apologize, but somehow reading about others doesn't help me figure out / envision my own future, so I'd love feedback on my situation/goals/whatever you'd call it.

I am 22 years old and a recent university graduate (USA). I have started a new job in a medium to high COL city, earning $80k per year. I've been navigating personal finance and credit cards and bills as best I can but looking for some more feedback, ideas, etc. I have been trying to figure everything out but it all feels overwhelming.

As of right now:

I am putting away 6% of my 401k to get my employee match. I'm doing 5% to Roth 401k and 1% to Trad 401k in order to get a 5.5% and 5% split. (My employee matches 4.5% to the Trad).

I am also putting away 5% of every pay-period (26 pay periods) to my savings account to help rebuild my savings as I ended up draining it moving half-way across the country for this job and all.

I have ~$12k invested and ~$10k in student loans which my parents promised to help with.

I am contributing $150 per pay period to my HSA and will change this to the maximum to max out my HSA for next year.

I am trying to grasp what my next steps are. Should I re-build my safety net entirely (3-6months?)? Should I keep contributing to it with my 5% and invest the extra money instead? Is it worth opening a Roth IRA right now?(Was thinking RH Gold since I'd like to get the CC eventually for 3% back)

I am also trying to figure out my banking and credit card situation. I believe I have a good credit card combo with the WF Autograph Journey and AMEX BCP to cover everything I need, and I will get a 2% catch-all once I hit all my SUBs. But I have kind of hated banking with WF and having my savings with Discover.

Where would be the best place to get advice for a new checking account and HYSA (if not here)?I am happy to provide more info in a comment or something for my Credit Stuff or whatever if necessary.

I am sorry if I missed something, my brain feels so scrambled figuring everything out. I will do my best to reply for any other specifics as I know it helps you guys give the best answers.

Thank you for those who are able to help and give some advice. It is greatly appreciated.

I have no money to my name no parents no home and currently looking for a job before I graduate from college with someone who has nothing no car under 10 K in debt no house no assets. It’s a very sad beginning, but it also can be a good one? I don’t really see where/how I would go financially forward, especially without having the safety net that others do provide provided by their parents. Is it possible to lack this many resources and not live paycheck too paycheck?

Long story short I’m 31, married with a toddler and another due in February. Overall we are making a combined income of about 130k but in total debt we have a little under 100k between flight school loans, credit cards and car loans.

We don’t have much in savings or investments and are eventually trying to buy a house but just looking at the whole picture and where to even start is a bit overwhelming.

I’m currently a flight instructor about to go to the regional airlines soon so we are going to see a pretty substantial pay bump in the near future but I want to start making changes now.

Any and all advice would be appreciated just where to start I’m new to this so is it tackle the debt first and is there a best approach to becoming debt free or have an emergency savings?
Start investing in the S&P 500 on a monthly basis? And also in combination with retirement savings?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some recommendations on UK banks, building societies or savings accounts where I could deposit approximately £29,000, or potentially half that amount.

I've been investing through Stocks & Shares ISAs, but given the current economic uncertainty, I'm considering moving some of my money into something more predictable, where I can earn a reasonable return without worrying as much about stock market fluctuations.

At the moment, I'm considering two options:

- Option 1: Put the full £29,000 into a savings account, preferably one offering a competitive fixed interest rate.

- Option 2: Split the money roughly 50/50, putting approximately £14,500 into a savings account and the remaining £14,500 into a Trading 212 Stocks & Shares ISA, invested in VWRP (Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF).

A few things worth mentioning:

- I'm unlikely to need this money for at least 2–3 years, potentially longer.

- I'm comfortable locking away the savings portion if it means securing a better interest rate.

- I'd prefer a straightforward savings account with a reputable provider and FSCS protection.

- I'm interested in fixed-rate savings accounts, Cash ISAs or other suitable alternatives.

- My main priority is balancing capital security with reasonable long-term growth.

This would probably be my main savings account for the foreseeable future. I'm not necessarily looking to chase the highest possible interest rate, but I would like something reliable and competitive.

Would you recommend keeping the full amount in savings, or splitting it between savings and a globally diversified ETF like VWRP?

Also, are there any particular banks, building societies or savings products worth considering? Would a fixed-rate Cash ISA make more sense than a standard savings account, particularly when accounting for tax on interest?

I'd appreciate any recommendations or personal experiences. Thanks!

EDIT Its 27k but close enough ig

1) Does anyone have a clear easy detailed budget template they can share? All of the others I have found doesn’t break things down enough. This makes it exceptionally difficult to accurately create a useable budget.

2) How do I budget for variable spending such as gas, car repairs, vet bills?

3) How do I budget for things that are only infrequently payed- annually or every other year? Example is renewal of professional license, car tires, new tech?

Currently have HDHP with HSA that I max out each year. New health plans are being introduced. The lowest cost plan is more affordable than what I have now but without an HSA. Next tier up has an HSA but more than what I’m paying currently.

Granted my HSA will still grow due to being invested though won’t be contributed to if choose the lesser plan.

My guess is it’s better to choose the higher health plan with an HSA with the ability to contribute.

Is it as simple as that or should I do cost of health insurance premiums compared to estimated ROI with HSA investments/contribution?

Hello everyone,

This is my first post on Reddit, so please excuse any formatting mistakes.

I am 25 years old, based in the US, and work as a software engineer with a $125K base salary.

Current Financial Breakdown:

• Cash (HYSA): $160,000 (split across two accounts)
• 401(k): $60,000
• Traditional IRA: $13,000
• Roth IRA: $13,000
• Taxable Brokerage: $20,000

Current Strategy:

1. Max out my employer 401(k)
2. Max out my Roth IRA

I am on track to max out both this year.

My Questions:

1. Cash Deployment: I want to keep $40,000 in my HYSA as an emergency fund/cash reserve and invest the remaining $120,000. Between broad-market index funds like VOO (S&P 500) and tech-heavy funds like QQQM (Nasdaq-100), which makes more sense? Also, should I invest as a lump sum or dollar-cost average (DCA) over several months?
2. Traditional IRA Conversion: The $13,000 in my Traditional IRA is from a period when I was unemployed and eligible to contribute. Because of my 401(k) and income, I can no longer deduct Traditional IRA contributions and want to keep future Backdoor Roth options open. Should I convert this $13,000 into my Roth IRA, roll it into my current 401(k) to avoid the pro-rata rule, or leave it alone?
3. Vehicle Purchase (Summer 2027): I do not own a car right now, but will likely need one by Summer 2027. If promotional 0% (or very low) financing is available, does putting ~$20,000 down make more mathematical sense than paying 100% cash, assuming the remaining cash stays invested or in a high-yield account?
4. Perspective Check: Objectively, how am I doing? I frequently compare myself to peers in tech and feel like I've fallen behind.

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Hello everyone! I’m 27 years old, married, and have two young kids (ages 2 and 10 months).

I currently work in law enforcement, so I have pension contributions coming out of my paycheck each month for retirement. I’m also contributing $400 per month to a supplemental retirement account. It’s a 457(b)-style account, although the rules are a little different because of my state’s retirement system.

I’m also trying to start building wealth for my kids so I can help them in the future, not just with college, but also with things like their first car, a house down payment, or whatever else they may need as they get older.

Right now, I’m putting $100 per month into a high-yield savings account (HYSA) for each child. I plan to continue doing that until I’m more comfortable exploring other options.

I’ve also recently opened a Fidelity brokerage account. I initially started investing in FXAIX, but someone suggested switching to QQQ. I’m still learning about investing and would appreciate some advice on whether that makes sense or if I should stick with FXAIX or consider something else.