Been saving consistently since I was 23, now 29 and never missed a month Lived below my means through two job changes and one cross country move. It became automatic after a while, a percentage goes out on payday and It's fine. Been doing it for years and it seemed right, with no proper plan on what to do with the savings. I sat down last month and actually looked at what I had and realized the money has just been accumulating in a high yield savings account earning maybe 4% and been calling that a financial plan. I don't think that's a financial plan lol.
The money I have saved is somewhere around 40k and I know that's enough to pull something off. I'm curious whether I should pay my car loan first with about 12k left at 7.2% or invest while carrying it. What I'm looking for is to understand the order of operations, like is there a sequence that most people agree on for someone who has savings but no investment account and no idea where to actually begin. I grew up in a house where nobody talked about money beyond spend less than you earn and I think I maxed out that advice a long time ago.