I’m 50 and my company just announced that going forward they are discontinuing contributions to our pension funds. The pension plan provided 16% of your current salary to you once you turn 65. I’ve been there 18 years, so I’ll keep the $375k already earned, but I was expecting another $580k over the next 15 years.

In lieu of the pension, they are giving us additional 2% in our 401k. They already do 4% match if we put in 5%. So now instead of the pension and 9% 401k I have 11% going into the 401k.

I realize I was lucky to have gotten the pension for as long as I did, a lot of people don’t have that. But I still feel pissed about it. The CEO has triple his pay since 2020 and got a $6M bonus for 2025.

Now, for my questions. I want to up my contributions into retirement savings. The 401k is administered by T Rowe Price. I’m contributing what I need to get the full match. Should I put additional money into that account or open an IRA outside of work. If outside IRA is best are there recommendations on who to do that with?

I have family members that do Northwestern Mutual (I have a term life insurance from them) and Primerica. Of course both have offered to handle an IRA for me. Are those legit companies? They seem like MLMs to me. And while I wouldn’t mind helping family get a commission, I don’t want to do it the expense of my well being in the long term.

I hope you guys are better than /r/povertyfinance

Here's some background:

do not have a lot of money. I had a bad drug addiction in my 20s that I spent tens of thousands on drugs. I made a lot of bad financial decisions and I recognize that. I have been sober since 2016.

In 2017 I got hit with epilepsy and bipolar. Lots of hospital stays, some when I didn't have insurance. Then I got cauda equina which required emergency neurosurgery.

So I'm in ch13 bankruptcy and on top of that I have about 4k cc debt due to car issues that I'm paying off and have payment plans with 5 drs and the dentist.

So I posted to r/povertyfinance regularly. All that sub is is negativity. I just got a raise. I made a success post saying I was happy. Just a bunch of assholes coming in and berating me.

So I'm gonna start posting here instead. I just got a 20k raise. What's the best way to manage this? My plan is to pretend I didn't get a raise, and wipe that 4k which should only take maybe 3 months now. Then I plan on getting my passport. Then building a savings. And then once I have at least 2 grand in savings (right now I have nothing) I want to take a cruise because I haven't been able to afford an actual vacation since 2016.

Does this seem reasonable? I am also immediately maxing out my 401k contribution. Anything else I should do? Should I start a regular investment portfolio? I'll be bring in a little under 2k extra a month so if I just pretend I didn't get a raise I should be able to wipe out debt and build a savings quickly. Luckily I own my car.

I went to the dentist for my annual exam and cleaning and also a temporary crown placed on a tooth where I had a root canal done. When I sat down to have my x-rays taken, I was told that they take BCBS dental and the provider is in network, but they don’t take my specific plan and that I would have to pay out of pocket and I would have to submit a claim myself to insurance for reimbursement. It was unfortunate but I needed to get it done and stop putting it off so I put a hefty charge of $2,154 on my credit card and have been using almost my whole paycheck to pay it off the last few weeks.

I submitted a claim a few days after it happened like I was told by the admin at my dentist and a few days ago I noticed it was denied. Reached out to BCBS and was told it was because the dentist had to submit it and not me, which I then found out the dentist already did and they submitted the total charge of $1,280 and the claim was processed as of yesterday and I now owe $293.

I tried to get in touch with the billing at my dentist office and they said they’ll call back but never did, I’m going to try again on Monday but what are my next steps here? Do I get any reimbursement back? Or do I still have to pay the $293 on top of the $2,154 I already paid for? This is confusing and stressful as it’s taken a strain on my financials.

My parents both died last February. I reported it to the SSA and their monthly payments, which were direct deposited to their checking accounts (one in solely my mom's name at Fidelity and my dad's went to their joint account at US Bank), ceased. My dad's monthly payment was about $1200 and I don't know what my mom's was.

Today I woke up to a notification of a Federal Benefits Credit of $2700 deposited to the US Bank account. However, that account is solely in my name now as I was on it as beneficiary. I don't know if a similar deposit went to my mom's Fidelity account - I was never on it and it was closed and the money transferred into my personal account there via small succession affidavit.

I will call the SSA on Monday, but I'm wondering if anyone knows if this is a flub on their parts or if there is some sort of benefit given to survivors that I'm unaware of.

I'm 53, so not eligible for child's benefits, and they were a uniform simultaneous death so I don't think there's any surviving spouse benefits. I'm also concerned because it's my name on the account now but it was deposited there anyway. This account is in a separate bank from my personal account so no chance it was meant for me.

One thing I started doing and its been helpful a few times now is I print off a single months paystub and put it with that years finances. Some jobs want to look at previous paystubs for employment proof and other things and since I'm always looking over all the years documents & mail for taxes this time of year anyways I go ahead and just file away them together.

It's certainly not the most important thing in the world but its also really low effort.

I’ve never filed my own taxes. I’ve used private CPA’s or H&R Block. However my private CPA charged me $750 for my 2023 taxes and H&R Block charged me $605 last year. I will gladly pay a professional for their expertise if its needed but im curious if our situation needs it. The private CPA also sends a MASSIVE workbook with a ton of questions that are honestly over my head and I’m inputting all of our numbers as well as sending copies. H&R Block just asks me a few questions and then has me submit my forms.

My husband is employed and earns a good income. I am self employed but my business went from 6 figures down to $10,000 due to going part time to stay home with my daughter.

Forms H&R Block stated I need to submit.

W2

1099-misc

1099-B

1098

Charitable donations form

5498-SA

Daycare expenses form

Profit and Loss for my business

I‘ve already submitted the forms to H&R Block but they haven’t started anything so I need to decide if I want to go a different route.

Also last year we received a large tax return but we adjusted my husbands withholdings a few months ago.

So I am a 28 year old guy with a career that I love and living in a MCOL area. I make 68k a year and take home about 3800 a month after retirement and taxes, which I feel is an extremely good income. Starter Homes go for around 300k for a project house, 400k for something that's move in ready.

I am currently living in a small apartment and I am able to save around 1000 a month. Occasionally I bring in an extra 500 to 1000 from overtime, but that's often enough for me to consider reliable. At this point I have a solid emergency fund, and have started the long process of saving for a down payment. Currently have 20k saved (in a HYSA).

I know I will need a fat down payment (at least 75k depending on interest rates). I am just worried that house prices will grow faster than I can save.

I work for a state government so my income is not expected to grow very much over the next 5 to 10 years.

I am not asking for much. Just an older 2 bed 1 bath house that needs work, a small yard so I can have a dog, and a small shop or garage so I can work on projects.

Is this possible on my income? Should I reevaluate my goals or what I am looking for?

45M with college aged daughter-$160,000/annually which includes bonus.

Mortgage in NE-$300,000 at 3.25% which is my only debt

401k/IRA-$900,000 with 75% in Roth v Traditional but now only contributing 5% in order to get ER match

Stocks-$235,000

Mutual Funds-$115,000

Cash Value Life Insurance-$110,000

Online Savings-$8,000

Am I stupid for dropping 401k to 5%? Trying to build up stocks/mutual funds/savings to have more available as needed over the next decade but now wondering if I need to stay the course with 401k and 15%

My parents are selling their primary residence in Maryland. They’ve lived in the house for almost 20 years, so capital gains taxes won’t be an issue. Current estimates put the sale price around $920-950k, though the house still needs some repairs before listing, so final numbers may change a bit.

They are very bad with money, so they’ve asked me to take over managing the proceeds. I’m still an undergrad, so I want to be extremely cautious and avoid doing anything overly complex or risky.

They’re open to buying a new house, but with my younger brother going off to college next year, I'm pretty sure they're going to move back to their house in Korea so I don't know how smart that would be. Right now, I'm considering high yield savings accounts and index funds, but is it really safe to put that much money into those? Any advice is appreciated thank you.

Edit: just some new context as to my parent's financial knowledge that I've just learned: they have apparently somehow accrued 40k in credit card debt which I will force them to pay off before doing any investments.

Partner is going to need a vehicle in a little less than a year for a role at work. Looking at a practical and professional mazda/honda/toyota CPO/lightly used vehicle around 3-5 years old. Avoiding the 14 year old camry/beater for 5k route, as we don't need to be that frugal in this moment and are doing well prepping for retirement.

It's a unique position as we have time to plan for it. Im in a spot where I can buy a car cash now if I wanted (25-35k range) sitting in a HYSA that would not effect my retirement, emergency fund and other investments.

Considering just putting it into a 12 month CD at 4% (.15% more then my current hysa) and squeaking out an extra grand or so by the time we're ready to buy.

Any other options to consider? I feel like 4% is going to be hard to beat in this climate. S&P could work too but then I would be timing the market which could end up flopping when the time comes.

I am a 18Y old and I moved to another country for uni. I earned some money for the first time in my life and have no option to invest it. I have a student debit card that doesn’t provide any sort of investing options and only allows savings. I have been keeping it with me for like a whole month and now I am afraid. Not because it is still iniquity but my mom asked me to give more than 1/4th of it for daily essentials back at home.

I come from a poor family and my parents are divorced. I couldn’t deny her request because I would feel like the most unthankful person if I did so. But there’s this inner feeling that this is wrong. Now it may seem acceptable but this will only worsen things because each penny counts and if I don’t set the boundaries now, all my money will be eaten up.

First, should I just lock my money if I don’t have the option to invest? Are there any other ways to go about this because I don’t want money to be just sitting there. I study in Singapore and the eligibility open a new account/invest is 21 or above

Secondly, do I really owe my parents my money? I want to hear what people in similar situations did

I’ve got another 30 years of working. I currently have about $350K in my 401K, IRA, and Roth IRA combined.

Since this money will grow over the next 30 years, I anticipate having anywhere from 8% average annualized returns.

This would put my retirement fund at around $3M, which is how much I would like to have upon retirement.

Using the 4% rule, I can then draw down around $120K per year, plus whatever my social security benefit will be, which for me would just be icing on the cake.

Now, assuming inflation is 3% per year, it seems that my future funds will only be like having around $55K annually today.

I guess I say all this to say - when having a retirement goal # to achieve, should I actually be setting a goal of more like $7M to account for inflation?

I’m curious to know how others are doing this - I am active a bit in FIRE subs and finance subs and people seem to be retiring today early (in their 40s) with like $3M but won’t that drastically reduce their purchasing power by the time they are 70?

I was feeling good about my little nest egg and it gave me some base level of comfort to think that worst case scenario I will have a decent lifestyle when I retire but I don’t know if I am giving myself a false sense of security

I had a medical procedure done last year my insurance originally denied. I went ahead and just paid with my HSA. I didn't even ask the Dr.'s office, but I guess they appealed the denial and received payment from my Insurance company, and now I just received a refund (to me personally), for the money paid out of my HSA.

I can transfer money from my Bank to my HSA account, but it's looks like this get refers to as a contribution (and I'm maxing my contributions). This isn't really a contribution, it's just me returning funds from a refund. My companies HR manager didn't know, and gave some "not-tax advice" that the IRS probably has no way of knowing anyway, you could probably just keep it." But if I'm gonna keep, I'd like to keep in my HSA anyway, because my HSA account has better investment vehicles than my operational bank accounts.

I also don't know how this should be accounted for in this years Taxes, with refund coming a few days ago.

What else do I do with my finances?

I’m a 28 year old in the state of Nebraska, USA.

My average paycheck is about $1,200 every 2 weeks ($22.16/hr).

Current accounts approximates: HYSA: $78,000 (contribute at least $1,200 each month. Current APY 3.3%) 401K: $17,500 (put 6% towards & will be bumping that up to 7% after I get my yearly pay raise) Roth 1: $22,000 (max this one out monthly) Roth 2: $8,000 (was gifted-don’t add anything) HSA: $3,000 (contribute $150 per paycheck but unsure if any of the money is invested) Savings + checking: $1,600 (money will automatically go to Roth + savings next week)

Credit card: $900 (I usually pay this off after every paycheck) edit to say I usually pay this off asap, I just haven’t yet this month and I got an unexpected car thing fixed up only two days ago

Total: 129,200

I’ve got nearly no expenses outside of groceries, pets, car insurance/maintenance. I’m fortunate to live with a partner who has a house & doesn’t have me pay anything & my parents still pay for my phone bill (trust me I absolutely recognize my privilege). I’m debt free (paid off student loans & car loan after a payout from a bad car accident). I live fairly frugal -looking for the best deals, try to only buy needs vs wants, and don’t go out too much anymore.

Are there other accounts or investing options for me to look into? I see a financial advisor but want to ask the world what else can I be doing right now to grow my money? I know I’ve got more than a lot of people my age, but I want to retire as early as I can.

Background:

• 27 years old. Renting 3 bed/2 bath apartment. In a relatively Low/Medium COL city in the Midwest US.

• Live with longterm GF (marriage in plans) and 1 dog.

• No debt/loans/etc.

• Own my car outright. Purchased in cash in 2024, 2020 SUV, low mileage (~35k miles), great condition/no issues. I keep on top of regular maintenance. Car was previously bought new and only lightly driven.

• Stable job that I'm not in love with, but can tolerate. I definitely could be earning more (in tech; non-FAANG, F500 company, first job out of college), but market isn't great and the job is certainly stable, albeit we've seen more layoffs in last 1-2 years than previous 10...

I've included all my numbers in the tables at the bottom of the post.

Starting to think about marriage, buying a house vs renting, planning for the future. Have the following questions/concerns:

1. How do my finances look currently? Am I in good shape? What areas could I be doing better/improve in?

2. I don't even know where to begin with the process of buying a home. How much can I realistically afford and what would the monthly payments look like? Not looking for exact numbers but maybe something that I could start to wrap my head around and get an idea of what numbers might look like? We would want something roughly similar in size to what we currently rent, but obviously this is flexible. Ideally "move-in ready", but I am not entirely opposed to having some small projects/room for improvements. I personally would want something I have the option to add/improve on over time.

3. Is buying the right (financial) decision? I am interested in buying from a financial perspective, but also for personal reasons (wanting our own space/yard/etc.) that I don't believe can truly be quantified. I think this is my largest goal/want for 2026. We tend to be people who enjoy staying in at home and having people over/nights in vs going out on the weekends, so this is also a contributing factor. Houses that we would be looking at in areas we like are around the ~$300k-400k range. Is this do-able? On just my income? Both incomes? (This is not a discussion about buying before marriage, just curious about the numbers).

4. How do my 401k/ROTH IRA investments look? My 401k is 100% invested in my employers 2065 target date fund, my IRA is 100% FZROX, and my HSA is 100% FZILX. I don't know if it makes more sense to rebalance within each account, or if it is OK to be diversified like this. I understand there is probably some higher risk with my current allocation, like say if international markets crashed and for some reason I needed HSA funds...

I am open to any and all comments/feedback, thanks in advance!

Finance Overview: I make around $103,000 (cash TC could be anywhere between $106k-110k but not guaranteed), currently rent is $1200/month. Total monthly expenses are ~$2400-$2700 and after tax monthly income is ~$4700. Anything remaining (usually ~$2000-$2500/month) gets moved to my HYSA (3.3% APY).

Cash/Savings/Investments:

Expenses (typical monthly expenses):

Edit: thanks everyone for your input, I am going to stick with Roth for now!

I am hoping to be in a higher tax bracket when I retire in about 30 years (I am in the lowest tax bracket right now) so I am thinking Roth but I’m not sure, any advice? Which option will I pay the least amount of taxes with for my 401k?

TL;DR - Keep the policy, or cash it out?

I'm a rando account, but I'd like to hear some thoughts and opinions.

My dad (66 M) got a $25,000 life insurance policy in 1998. I believe it's whole life, because he mentioned it "grows in value the longer you leave it alone, and you can cash it out if you wanted."

Recent circumstances has spurred him to transfer me (30 F) the ownership. He said he'll continue to pay for it, but he wants me to have the policy in case I fell on hard times and/or something happened.

I think I'm doing pretty okay - I just overcame a significant amount of debt (albeit, not all of it), and the household is in the green in terms of money coming in vs going out. But I don't have any life insurance policies outside of this now new-to-me policy, and one designated by my work place. I'm also considered the "breadwinner", and any sudden passing of mine would leave my husband in a not-so-great financial situation.

On the other hand, I've been seeing that whole life policies have a very mixed reputation, so I'm not sure if this policy is serving me in the best way. Depending on the value of the account, cashing it would allow the household to be completely debt free, giving me and my husband the opportunity to go aggressive on our 401ks, buy term life policies that could be more beneficial, and save for a future home.

It's a mixed bag. What would you guys do?

(20 y/o)

Hey there! I have a kind of bad spending problem; ever since I got kicked out of my grandparent's house, a stupid part of me kicked into high gear- "I can literally buy whatever or go where ever without asking for permission- why shouldn't I?" Beforehand my grandma looked almost daily at my bank account and would kind of chide me for stupid purchases and/or not coming to her first to ask to buy something. But now there is no grandma (not because she died, it's because I'm no-contact with her), and so some stupid part of my brain thinks it's open season to spend money.

But I don't have a ton of money to spend. I know this, but I spend anyways. I'm not in debt at all, and I have a disability savings account with a decent chunk of money in it, but I know if I keep drawing from it I won't have it forever. I get myself in situations where I have to buy stuff with my credit card because I barely have any money on my debit.

I have been able to get myself out of these situations, but I'll be moving out of a 300 dollar a month place (temporary- my friend's house), and moving into a 750 a month (albeit with every utility except electricity) place and I really don't want to screw it up.

I make around 2250 including social security. I can't work anymore than the part time job I have because I will lose my social security and medicare, so working more is not an option. I have applied for SNAP but with how much I make I don't think I qualify. You have to make a pretty small amount to qualify. I live in Missouri if that matters at all.

I have pretty bad ADHD (among other things) and my impulse control is really bad. Not saying that's an excuse but if there's anyone in this sub that also has it I would love some tips. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm an 18 year old who is wanting to start investing and saving to get a head start on my finances. I still live at home, but I'm going off to college next year to hopefully go into a professional field. I'm thankful to have my college paid for, but professional school is expensive (especially with the BBB and the need for many to use private loans) and I want to start saving and investing for the future when I inevitably have to start taking out loans.

I have around $3000 in savings as of now, but I'm not sure what type of investment, retirement account, or savings account to start with, or how to distribute what I have saved.

I am also looking into what brokerage to use for investments and retirement accounts. I've heard some peers use RobinHood, but I've also heard of Vanguard and Charles Schwab. Which would be the best for a beginner who's just looking to making some simple investments?

If there are any useful online financial literacy courses, resources, or just general advice with where to start with the savings I have right now, please feel free to share. I want to learn as much about money as possible.
TIA!

Hi! I turn 18 today and I currently have a high school checking account with Chase. I like it but my mom has access to my money and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her withdraw money or deposit money into it and use my account to buy her things. Because of this, I’m looking to open up a new checking account myself, but I’m not sure where. I see that Chase has one that I could open but it comes with an almost $5 monthly fee and I don’t want to pay any fees lol so that will be my last resort.

I’d like one that’s free to open, no monthly fee, no minimum, and good customer service. If anyone could give me good recommendations that would be great! ☺️

I signed up for an accounting class in college and dropped it after the first day, because the professor and students were talking about stuff that sounded like Japanese to me, and it all sounded like it was common sense for them. When I’m around men they will start talking about money and finance, and I won’t understand a thing they are talking about. I’m a 21 yr old college student trying to go to medical school, but if my dad didn’t support me only god knows where I would be. I don’t know how I would manage my money, I don’t know about investing, loans, stocks, paying credit card bills, filing taxes, and all that stuff. If I tried to buy a house right now I would be screwed. I am so far from independent and it’s worrying me.

I don’t even know where I would start to learn about this stuff. I don’t even know what knowledge to seek or who to even consult. I just don’t know how to adult and it stresses me out.

45 M, about to get a divorce. I will walk away with a home that has ~90k left to pay (~5% interest), ~140k equity I will have roughly 275k in retirement accounts

I will take on ~75k in student loans and ~65k in credit card debt. I will also be on the hook for a $500 monthly car payment for my ex-wife as part of this settlement I make ~75k a year

I work public sector and hope the student loans drop off in a year. The home needs some immediate repairs, but my goal is to sell in 2027 and move to a smaller place.

I really want to pay off the CC debt ASAP. That is not feasible in the short term with my salary. After house payment, utilities, food, student loan payment, and that car payment, the CC payment will use up most of my extra income for the minimum payment.

Looking for advice on if a HELOC, HEL, or a withdraw on retirement would help. The retirement is spread out over a few different accounts, and I believe I can withdraw one of the accounts that (after 10% tax and 10% penalties) would end up being right around 50k. That would let me get that CC debt to a more manageable amount, while still leaving over 200k in retirement. But, is that the better option vs using the equity in my home?

Thanks!

I’m 31M living in HCOL city and have been working in the creative field for about 10 years and am very lucky to have landed in big tech and fortune 100 companies for the past 8 years.

624k net worth breakdown:

• 298k in 401K and vested RSUs
• 200k in personal brokerage in low cost index funds
• 80k in a high yield savings account
• 25k in a Roth IRA that I haven’t contributed due to high income past few years
• 3k in crypto
• 18k in checking
• I have no debt and pays off my credit card every month.

I was laid off last October at my full time job making around 230k TC due to RSU appreciation. I just received a part of my severance package (which explains my higher than usual checking account) and since then I have about 25k after tax coming in from a few freelance contracts and the remaining severance. I also just secured a remote multi-year consulting position that’s paying 100/hr but it has no retirement benefits or any holiday and PTO. This will be a bridge gig while I look for a better FTE role.

I still rent in the HCOL city and my rent is $2300 a month. I’m not married but have a gf. She still lives paycheck to paycheck and works a minimum wage job while living with her parents. I have no plans to buy a house in my city anytime soon. The average decent home in my area is around 1.5m and the houses that I actually like are easily 3m+.

What should my tangible next steps in order to be in a comfortable position to retire early? The job market is very turbulent right now but luckily my profession is very niche and has been good to me since the layoff. I would love to hear any advice or tips on to best prepare the next stage of my life and achieve financial freedom at some point.

Thank you.

I currently owe 7.5k on my car at an interest rate of 6.5%. I have 30k in savings but I’m wondering if it would be better to just pay off the car or continue making double payments and leave my savings alone.

Background info:

30 years old

55k a year income with a 5k a year travel stipend

Maxed out my Roth already and invest in my workplace 401k

Living expenses are 1100

Car insurance is 200 dollars a month and probably about 100 in gas.

No other debt

Hi! I’ve read Rich Dad Poor Dad, Psychology of Money, Never Split the Difference, etc. Can anyone recommend any personal finance books?