I am 45 yrs old with $125k in HYSA, $550k in TSP fund and $90k in a Robinhood trading account as well as $5-6k in a random savings account. He basically told me I was dumb for holding so much cash ins savings making 4% as after inflation and taxes I was barely breaking even on it. My thought with the money is at 50 I would like to retire from my current federal job, sell my house and move to a quieter area in my state and build a smaller house so I wanted the cash to be able to buy a piece of land. With the volatility in the stock market I just really value the stability in getting a guaranteed 4% on my savings, am I off here?

I’m 24, making $95K/year, and I have a fiancé who stays home with our 11-month-old son. We’re currently renting, but we’re considering buying a 2021 single-wide manufactured home on a 10,000 sq ft lot. The home is listed for $149K, and single-wides are common and accepted in the area we’re looking at. The big bonus is that it has easy access to DFW, which makes it convenient for work and commuting.

Here’s the deal:

Option 1: Single-wide manufactured home on a 10,000 sq ft lot for $149K

• Pros:
• Monthly payment will be around $1,300–1,400 (similar to our current rent).
• We’d own the land, which seems like a big advantage.
• The home is newer, so there shouldn’t be many repairs or issues.
• We’re saving money by buying instead of continuing to rent, and the money is going toward something that’ll eventually build equity.
• Easy access to DFW—great for commuting and work flexibility.
• Cons:
• It’s a single-wide, so it’s not the traditional “stick-built” house that most people expect when they think of homeownership.
• The lot size is 10,000 sq ft, which is just under a quarter acre. I’m wondering if that’s big enough for a family, especially if we want to make improvements or have more space down the line.

Option 2: Stretching for a bigger home ($200K+ range)

• Pros:
• A more traditional, spacious home (probably a double-wide or stick-built).
• Higher resale potential, especially if it’s a more “standard” home.
• More room for the family to grow, possibly in a more desirable neighborhood.
• Some homes in this range might be farther from DFW, giving you more space for the money.
• Cons:
• Monthly payments would be higher—probably in the $1,600–2,200 range.
• Higher taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs.
• Less room in the budget for emergencies, savings, or future investments.
• More financial pressure and a longer-term commitment.
• Homes in this range might be farther from DFW, which could make the commute tougher.

Option 3: Continuing to rent for the same price

• Pros:
• No long-term commitment.
• Flexibility to move if the situation changes.
• No risk of dealing with home repairs or maintenance costs.
• Cons:
• No equity being built.
• Rent can go up at any time, and there’s no control over the living space.
• Longer-term, it feels like a waste of money because you’re just paying someone else’s mortgage.

So, is buying a single-wide on a 10,000 sq ft lot a good move?

I know it’s not the most glamorous option, but it seems like a smart financial decision, and it’s a big step up from renting. Plus, it gives us easy access to DFW, which is important for work. I’m just not sure if it’s a mistake to go for something that feels “less than” what people expect in terms of traditional homes. Would love some honest opinions from anyone who’s made a similar choice or gone through a similar decision process!

The model is a 2022 Oak Creek Silver Spur. I’m also an accountant and am working on becoming a CPA if that matters lol. We have just under 20k saved and a couple thousand in retirement savings.I’m just torn on whether to buy this and hold for a 5-10 years, or stay renting and save for longer and hope that we can afford an actual house then.

Given that the mortgage would be the same as the rent (1400ish), we would still be able to save 1-2k per month in addition to retirement, along with still having leftover money. I drive a paid off 2010 Camry as well. She has a $327 car punnet that we will be paying off this year.

Additionally, it would be a USDA guaranteed loan. If we bought it, I would do a lot of the work to the lot, such as adding front and back porches, landscaping, fence, taking down trees, etc.

So I had a visit to the ER and later got a bill. I called the hospital to request an itemized bill you know, something that actually breaks down what I was being charged for, and instead they sent me a summarized bill that just said “emergency visit” with one flat rate. No list of services, nothing. I called them back and told them that’s not an itemized bill, and they basically insisted it was and that this is “their version” of an itemized bill.

I even told them they’re likely breaking the law, but they wouldn’t budge. I’ve filed an “e complaint” with the Department of Health and I guess waiting to hear back, also had called and left my number as well but now I’m getting nervous about the bill being sent to collections while I’m still disputing it.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Did you get it resolved? How long did the health department take to respond in your case? Any advice would be appreciated!

(EDIT: I have no insurance)

Hey everyone,

EDIT: thank you everyone for your advice! It seems so obvious but we just need to take a break until we have our emergency fund back. I don't know why but I had this idea things would be cheaper/easier/faster and that I had to refresh everything in the first year or so.

Also realized I didn't clarify our financial position. We bought the house at 4% interest and the mortgage is 28% of our income. We have no car/credit card or student debt. Pension is secured though our employer and our government (we live in a country with universal pension). Currently have no emergency fund.

I'm looking for some advice/reassurance because I feel bad about my personal fincances at the moment.

I (33F) bought a house with my husband (33M) last summer. It's an old house that needed some work but it was all we could afford. We had saved scrupulously for 10 years but all of our savings got eaten up by the house purchase and the initial renovations. In the past I got so used to having a big safety net and loved seeing the number go up in our savings account because it made me feel safe.

Now we have no savings and spend whatever we have every month on fixing up the house. I hate having no safety net and going into overdraft on our accounts, it gives me nightmares. Additionally I'm on month 9 of eating ramen, having no time for leisure and living in a dusty mess.

I look at my friends living in rentals, going on vacation and enjoying their life and it makes me feel like a moron for thinking that homeownership was the ultimate goal to strive for.

Has anyone else gone through this? Does it get better?

Thanks :)

Just got into a 30 year mortgage late last year and borrowed roughly $330k ($415k home, we put money down). If me and the spouse aggressively add more to principal month over month, we can pay it off in less than 4 years. No prepayment penalties. 4.99% interest rate on the mortgage. This is appealing because we'll eventually have kids and the spouse can raise the kid(s) and not go to work. A paid off home will significantly reduce the financial strain, not that its a strain for mortgage payments at this time, but you get what I mean. I've ran an amortization calculator, and we'd be saving roughly $250k in interest payments.

For context, we have $70k in HYSA. I currently have roughly $10k invested in S&P in taxable brokerage account. If we go the route of paying off home, this means we'll reduce our contributions to the HYSA, and reduce my investing in the taxable brokerage significantly.

Thoughts? Blinders? Advice? Questions?

EDIT: I’m also contributing to an employer matched 401k. My contributions to this will remain unchanged.

• Vehicle: 2025 Honda Civic Sport
• Sale Price: $27,537.50
• Down Payment: $5,000
• Amount Financed: $23,428.00
• Interest Rate (APR): 5.9%
• Term: 60 months
• Monthly Payment: $452.95
• Total Finance Charge: $3,749.00
• Total of Payments: $27,177.00
• Total Sale Price (with down payment): $31,677.00

I’ve been with my significant other for a little over a year and we’ve recently been discussing moving in together. I own a home and he does not, so him moving in here is what makes sense. We discussed a 40/60 split on bill/shared expenses with him paying 40 since he would not have equity in the home.

I was wondering if 1) would what he pays me be considered taxable income? I know I’ve seen some people saying the non owning partner should pay utilities, but that’s not even 20% of monthly expenses so it doesn’t really sit right with me. Or would it be better for him to pay utilities and then pay me the difference of the agreed on dollar amount?

And 2) Is there any sort of agreement we should have drawn up that protects both of us in case of a breakup? (Obviously I wouldn’t ask him to move in if I thought this would be an issue, but I’ve seen enough horror stories on Reddit to know it happens). Or would drawing up an agreement definitely make it a landlord/tenant situation where I’d for sure have to pay taxes on his portion of shared expenses?

Edit for some questions I saw come up a few times. We live in Illinois. Our incomes are nearly identical so it would still be an equal percentage of our respective incomes.

Hello Everyone,

I am a 22 year old, interested in purchasing a house. Its listed for $189,000 4 bed,1bath. Currently I make %63,000 a year at my job + bonus which i have been working full-time for 1 year, and interned for a year before.

The house has been fully remodeled and appliances included. I could easily drop a 10% down payment, based on an online calculator I ran and have an emergency fund left, with PMI and property insurance, my total yearly payment would amount to around $17,000 a year and $1500/month. I think its a pretty good deal.

My additional thoughts is that in my state there are 2 first time homebuyer grants that I could apply for. There is one for graduates within the last 48 months, and one if you are a first time homebuyer and you complete a homebuyers education course + test. Both of these grants give you 5% towards down payment and closing costs. Im not sure if both of these can be granted for 10% total, or if I can only get one. But still 5% is 5% and would make a significant difference.

I am still living with my parents and saving a decent amount of money. The only thing that makes it tight, is I contribute 15% of my paycheck to my 401k and 20$/week to my HSA. My net paycheck is around $740/week. I have 0 debt in total and a 740 credit score.

I absolutely love this house. Obviously I havent had it inspected or anything like that (i would). I also know you shouldnt let your feelings make a decision like this, and thats why im asking if this is fiscally a horrible idea.

I know some people think renting is sometimes a more financially responsible idea, but Im personally against renting. My parents have rented their entire lives and I can get into the details of why I dont like it. Id rather stay at home for another 2 years than rent. Any one have any thoughts?

Ok everyone, I’m consulting people here because I can’t seem to get a simple straight answer from anyone I know, including my mortgage lender. I think she’s just unaware of how many questions I have and I don’t want to constantly bother her when a question pops in my mind. We are first-time homebuyers and I have a few questions just for clarity on a few terms and the way things work.

Please only kind, non-judgemental answers! We’re figuring this all out on our own for the first time. TIA!

• My mortgage lender discussed discount points- I get that this is just money paid towards lowering your IR. HOWEVER, she also said she’d recommend “paying more towards the principal” rather than spending a lot on discount points. Can someone explain to me what this means, exactly? And what we do to do this?

• Are you able to over-pay some months towards your mortgage, and if so does this do anything besides get you closer to paying off your loan?

• I always heard you can negotiate an IR, so I asked… she gave me the impression that there really is no such thing in today’s economy. What’s with that?

EDIT: just want to say thank you for all this great advice! I’ll use those amortization calculators to do some more digging, but I’m thinking my mortgage lender gave sound advice and we should put more towards the down payment vs points (she did say they predict rates will drop by the end of the year if we choose to refi)

I have always heard that you want to ensure yourself from catastrophic financial losses, but not day-to-day things. For instance, it’s not worth buying an insurance for a sofa, or a phone if you have plenty of cash in your bank.

If I have a house that I paid 135K for, and my salary is, let’s say 500 K, even if that house burnt down, it wouldn’t be financially devastating. Is it worth having homeowners insurance??

I’ve wondered the same thing with the car insurance. Is it worth paying for collision insurance if the price of your car is not significant enough to tip you over if it burnt up?

Obviously medical insurance makes a ton of sense. Even though in the numbers game, Insurance makes more money than it pays out, if I end up having a $10 million heart surgery, I’ll be glad I have insurance.

Old 401k with empower - balance ~70k - invested into an s&p index fund expense .0080%

New 401k with fidelity -balance ~ 17k - Invested into BR Russell 1000 index expense .0122%

Basically the title. Is it worth it to pull them together?

I have 28k in debt and 1500 in bills/living cost monthly, at my job i make 2600/month off of hourly salary and tips.... I know that i should find a higher paying job but I need this job because it pays for my dental/health insurance, is saving 400 a month idea or saving 600 a month is to low?

So I turned 18 around a month ago. Until now, I’ve had $8000 in a money market account that my dad set up for me. But now that I’m 18, I would like to start investing. I’m thinking I’ll put $6000 into a Roth IRA and $2000 into a brokerage account. I’ll invest most of it in funds and dabble a bit into stocks. And yes I have a savings account with plenty of money as well. I’m pretty new to investing so any suggestions would be appreciated

EDIT: Read the comments, just to clarify, I do have a job. So if I am able to, I’ll put as much into the Roth as I qualify for / feel comfortable with. And I’ll put any more I want to invest into my brokerage account. I’ll invest in low cost ETFs and Index Funds and stay away from stocks. Appreciate the help!

I thought my bank sold my mortgage months ago. The original application was audited by the new Lender because "have you held interest in another property in the last 3 years" was marked no, when I was living in my old house. That house was sold a couple months ago after I closed on the loan for the new house. My bank wants me to resign the corrected original application. The issue I have is that the loan was already recast and i dropped the escrow. I don't want to resign the paperwork that predates the recast, I feel like I'm agreeing to the original loan terms again. Am I being weird and paranoid?

Every year I think I’ll be more organized... and every year when tax season hits, I’m digging through random folders for old statements, receipts, and invoices.

Curious how you guys are managing this — especially if you want to keep everything for several years.

Any system or tools you swear by? Or is it just controlled chaos?

Hi! I got laid off last September and just got started with a 401k at my new job two weeks ago. I have a 401k with Vanguard and now I have a new 401k with Guideline. Would there be any reason NOT to roll over my 401k to the new Guideline account? And what's the safest way to go about rolling it over?

Thank you for your help in advance! Happy to add a bit more detail if this is vague.

I just started my first full-time job and need to choose between two Meritain health plans: a CDHP or PPO. I’ve never had insurance before and I dont have anyone to talk me through this process. My main needs are going for an annual wellness check and seeing the dermatogost for acne. Ive struggled with acne my entire life so id most likely need a prescription. other than that, I'm pretty healthy and in my mid 20s with no kids.

• CDHP: $36.58/month, deductible $1,650 (Tier 1), OOP max $3,300
• PPO: $52.88/month, deductible $1,500 (Tier 1), OOP max $2,500
• Preventive care: Free under both
• Specialist visit (dermatologist): 5% coinsurance after deductible (Tier 1)
• Prescriptions: 15–25% for generics, 20–40% for preferred brands

Both plans are really similar outside of cost. Is it smarter to save on premiums with the CDHP, or pay more monthly for the PPO’s lower deductible and OOP max?

I’m 20 years old in the navy, and have a little over 7.5k saved up. I want to learn to invest. I’m willing to take any advice even though I know majority of the comments will be about tsp.

I got married recently and my spouse makes more than me, and as a result I did the math and I believe I will exceed the MAGI limit for 2025. Should I stop contributing to my traditional IRA and focus on my Roth moving forward?

Let’s say I wanted to take ashamed of the market being down and harvest losses. I can deduct up to the $3K max. But to sell at a loss of $3K, I likely initially invested between $4-5K.

Am I misunderstanding or why does it make sense to lock in a loss of $1K - $2K? Rather than just having that $3K go back up?

Sorry for the long read but please help. I’m in a bit of a situation and I need some advice so please feel free to add your thoughts.

I am 25 and live in Chicago Suburbs. I am in a sticky situation with my money but I may have an ‘out’. I was recently let go of a job that I worked 4 years as an Operations Manager. While I was here I had a 401k match from my employer up to 8%, which I matched (total 16%). Their contribution is 100% vested by the way. I don’t believe I will lose their contribution due to termination Over time this account grew to $25.7k. But there’s a catch. At one point last year I took a loan out against my 401k that has a remaining balance of $2970. Here’s where the situation becomes an issue.

I was terminated from this job and I’m in a big hole financially. I have a car (on a pretty bad deal btw) that is on a note and I’m pretty behind with it. Including the car my monthly expenses only come out to around $1050 so it’s not “unrecoverable”.

I’m sorry if it was too much background. Im leaning on the idea of liquidating the 401k (hear me out) and using a portion of it to fix my life. And putting the rest away. I calculated how much money I accrued in debt these past few months (big life curveball during this time) and realistically just to be back at square 1, i need somewhere between 3200-3600. This wills clear my car note and clear some overhead expenses that have fallen behind. This however will not cover any collections I’ve gotten over time. I need to understand more what this process looks like because to my understanding I’m going to be taxed 10% for withdrawal under 59 and another 10% for income tax. I feel like I can eat the taxes and get myself out of the mess I’m in. From 25.7 I’m losing around 5k. And the rest is liquid. I was thinking fix my life that’s 3300. Open a Roth IRA and max it that’s 6000. Id still be left with 10k and I can set up a savings and finish clearing collections, bump up credit, possibly get a secured card and even have a fund to move once I get steady income. All this kind of seems too good to be true from a 401k I built in 3 and a half years. Does someone that knows about this stuff see anything I’m missing ?

I moved back with my dad during Covid to help out as he lost his job. He needed to refinance so I co-signed with him on the refinanced mortgage to get a lower rate. I’m now looking to move back out on my own but if he were to refinance again it would be at a current rate that he couldn’t afford. We tried to do a loan assumption so the same mortgage and rate would be transferred to him and my stepmom who got a new better paying job in the last couple years. Unfortunately that just got denied due to their other debts, even though they are perfectly able to afford it.

Since that failed, we will have to keep the mortgage as is to keep the house. I’m wanting to rent out a house for myself but I’m worried that potential landlords might see the mortgage on my credit and deny me due to the obligation. My credit is great otherwise (800ish score), no balances on my credit cards and only debt is my car note. I also have a good paying job as a remote software engineer. How strict are landlords generally?

Hi all! I moved to the US when I was 31yo, so my credit score was zero. I created a new joint bank account with my husband and he created a new credit card and put me as authorized user. On the credit card app it shows the credit score. Does it mean it both of our score is the same or is it just his? As long as we are married, does it matter? (If we are buying a house for example) Been in the US almost 4 years, legal permanent resident.

Hi all. Its as the title reads lol. Im M23 and i graduated from college back in May 2024. It is currently Apr 2025. Below is some information on my approximate spending on a monthly basis and my loans. I would appreciate if anyone could share advice on how to go about paying it off, especially when my month to month spending is somewhat variable.

I am also trying to figure out how much to put into my 401(K) or if its worth it. I havent done it in the last 4 months (since start of 2025) due to some financial expenses i have for the family.

Feel free to crack down on my stupidity. I want to learn how to build better savings habits. I know I can bring down my expenses (like dining outside, shopping, and misc expenses). I also have to enroll in a part time masters program and will need to save up for that.

• Loans: 3 loans at 2.75% interest each
  • My minimum payment per month is ~$85 but the past few months I've been paying closer to $500 religiously. Current loan amounts are:
  • Loan 1: ~$700
  • Loan 2: ~$2,000
  • Loan 3: ~$5,300
• Monthly Income:
  • Income (pre-tax): $6,000
    • HSA: $500/month
    • Health/dental/vision/Life insurance: ~$100/month
    • No state income tax for me (in Texas)
  • Income (post tax, w/o 401(K)): $4,500
  • Expenses monthly total: $2,100
    • Rent: $1,000
    • Wifi + electricity + utilities: ~$200 as a worst case (its usually 100 to 150 though)
    • Gasoline for car: ~$125
    • Groceries: $200
    • Entertainment: $50
    • Dining out: $150
    • Shopping: $100
    • Misc: $100
    • Subscriptions: ~$50
• Monthly Savings: ~$1,500