r/FinancialPlanning

I’m considering my options for post-retirement accounts after retire from my job (age 45). I plan on working after and may potentially earn the same or more than my current salary (140k/year) I will have access to a pension that pays 65k/year at my current rate and over 90k/year with promotions. The pension also has a fixed 3% COLA. Trad 457(b) will give me access after I leave my job, but will the tax deferrals be worth it since I could potentially make the same or more? At this point I feel that a taxable brokerage may offer more flexibility post-retirement.

For context, I am 35 y.o, married with two kids, single income household, receive $4500/month from the government, and able to max out a 457(b). I also max out my Roth IRA and my wife’s Roth IRA.

I just started a new job (yay) but I’m not eligible for their retirement program until January. Their retirement program is an IRA with a 3% match. I have an existing traditional IRA from a previous 401k rollover, and I just added my old job’s 403b into that traditional IRA.

My question is what to do about my retirement between now and January. If I make payments to my personal traditional IRA, it’s already money in my paycheck that was taxed and then will be taxed again in 30 years when I withdraw??? Am I understanding that right?

I assume my employer’s IRA with match that I’ll get in January is a traditional. Do I need to open a Roth IRA to save for the rest of 2026 since it’s all post tax money?

How many IRAs are too many IRAs?

I have relatively low debt for people my age (22)

Car: $15k

Credit Cards total: $1,800(paid off)

Insurance: $3-4k

I have a well-paying job that pays $31.25 per hour, and I often get overtime. My bills total about a paycheck and a half, but I still struggle to save money. However, I’ve made some progress. I paid off my credit cards, which boosted my credit score from 634 to 683. I’m expecting my credit score to increase further next month based on my bank’s report.

Despite these achievements, I still have a slight spending problem. However, I’m better off than I was two months ago. I had a few hundred dollars left over from my last paycheck, but unfortunately, they disappeared due to car issues.

One way I managed to save $900 was by taking it out in cash and putting it in a safe place. This way, I don’t see it in my account and can’t use it impulsively. My bank offers interest on money stored in savings accounts, which is another way to earn money while saving. I wanna use that to my advantage but just can’t.

Growing up poor, I was always left with hand-me-downs or used items, rarely anything new. Consequently, when I come across something I desire, I impulsively try to purchase it. However, I’ve managed to avoid doing so every time I go out by keeping $50 in my checking account and transferring money when necessary.

How do you avoid spending your money?

Any tips on breaking that mentality?

Edit: my work offers a 4.2% 401k match and 10.8% profit sharing making overall benefit 15% I contribute 11% since I got a raise and figured a little extra money going towards 401k accounts wouldn’t be terrible. Should I change this to 5%? I heard others say “it shouldn’t be that high.” and “why would I ever do that.”

Hello everyone,

31 years old and have saved a little over 200k cash- currently it is in a HYSA making around 3.5%

I'm looking for my best option as to where I can move this money to get better returns.

In the rolling 12-month period my retirement account of about 200k has made a return of 33.33% ... this opened my eyes to how much more money I could have made in the same period had I also invested my 200k cash that's sitting in my HYSA...

I want to put this 200k cash I have to work so I stop missing out on larger returns then "just" the 3.5% the HYSA is getting me...

My future should be secure with my retirement account; but I still would like to get this cash In my HYSA to work...

I am thinking something like VOO or VTI or SPY or VT - open to others/suggestions and open to owning 2 or 3 of them if there are benefits of doing so...

Also, what would the smartest way to go about getting the money in? -- Dollar cost averaging over an extended period of time? maybe 10-15k every month? Or just throwing it all in at one shot?

I won't really be needing this money for at least 8 years... At that time I'd be looking to move and buy a big house with land... so I'd probably need to withdraw some of this money to help with the cost. But for the next 8 years I don't really need any of it... and would rather it be in the market working for me!

Let me know what you guys think, much appreciated!

Hi - many thanks in advance for the help!

My dad has always been a blue collar worker his whole life, our family has lived pay check to pay check. His work was never consistent, so as such I have a pretty anxious relationship w money.

My dad doesn't have the best financial background, growing up he has had lots of credit cards, random loans, and a very disorganized approach with his fiancnes. His finanial decisions are basically taken based on gut feeling, not analysis. By the grace of god it has worked out just enough for him.

The past 2 years, he had an amazing opportunity to start his own subcontracting business and despite his disorganization, it is doing well and he would like to focus on cleaning up his finances to hopefully build something meaningful. However, he still has issues with excited excess spending, making new accounts, trying out new random investments.

I recently quit my job to begin working for him and my priorirties are just to help him manage his finances and the other parts of the business while he focuses on the actual work.

It has been a momentous effort to try to make sense of all his accounts (business/personal) and to keep up with all his purchases. For some context, he has a mix of personal/business acounts and it is not seperated. He has all these insurance policies for company/personal vehicles that are paid from various personal/business account. No rhyme or reason

For the past few months, I have just been focused on working w his bookkeeper and CPA to catch up on 2025 for the upcoming tax season and trying to make sense of the mess he left.

This year, he is expected to triple his gross revenue and as such, I would like to create a simple financial system for him and a few things come to mind:

- Leveraging debt to build and maintain wealth?

- Help him with his retirement goals

- Tax strategy for himself and his business

- What is the best financial organizational approach for my dad?

I feel overwhelmed at all of this as I do not come from this kind of background or money. I would appreciate any insight on next steps or the best point of contact - should I discuss this w a wealth management advisor? CPA?

Apologies in advance if this is chaotic, I personally take a very different approach to my own finances and I'm in over my head looking at all his bank and financial accounts and trying to come to a full understanding of this?

I inherited money that I can use to pay off this loan early. I’m an English teacher, and finance is not my best subject. Is it a good idea to pay it off asap? I don’t need the money for anything else in particular right now, and I think maybe it’s not enough to be advantageous to invest. Help?

Outstanding Principal $16,231.90.

Original Amount $20,411.99.

Open Date 10/26/2024.

Maturity Date 07/05/2030.

Interest Rate 13.7400%.

Total Interest Accrued $73.33.

Per Diem $6.11.

P&I Payments Due $472.20.

Total Current Balance * $16,305.23

Hi,

I am planning my IRA contribution for 2025 and want to make sure that I'm making the most beneficial and informed choice for my long term planning purposes.

My 2025 MAGI for Roth IRA purposes is 172k, so I know I cannot make a direct Roth 401k contribution. I know the backdoor exists, but I understand that holding a traditional IRA complicates/eliminates my ability to do it.

My understanding is that I can do the following:

1. Contribute to my T-IRA and grow that balance. I continue to be locked out of future R-IRA backdoors while I hold a balance in the T-IRA
2. Roll-in my T-IRA into my current 401k (if possible). This then allows me to do future R-IRA backdoors, which I would do with my 2025 contribution
   • Looking into this, I can Roll-in, but requires mailing forms and a process that can't be completed in the next 4 days. So if I do this option. I would likely make my 2025 contribution into the T-IRA, then roll the full balance into the 401k over the next month and set myself up for a 2026 contribution backdoor
3. Convert the T-IRA to R-IRA and accept the taxable event on the current $7k balance, then Backdoor the 2025 contribution into the R-IRA

Is my understanding of these options correct? Is there one that is advised by this community? Is there another option I am not considering or are there implications I have not thought through?

Additional Details:

Roth IRA: 16k balance

2023 Contribution: 6.5k

2024 Contribution: 7.0k

Traditional IRA: 7k balance

2022 Contribution: 6.0k

Traditional 401k (previous employer): ~40k

Traditional 401k (current employer): ~5k

Misc:

• 20's
• Single (no changes planned soon)
• No Property (no changes planned soon)
• I anticipate remaining above Roth IRA contribution limits for the foreseeable future
• I have a sufficient safety net where I would never (foreseeably) need to take a loan against a retirement account or early withdrawal (i.e. this money, whatever account it lives in, will never be touched until retirement)

My career as of now is centered around supporting a specific software stack, however after an acquisition it is clear this is no longer viable. Long story short, barring some potential scenarios, I will probably be laid off in the next 1-3 years.

I don't see myself finding another job making what I make now. I only have a 2 year college degree, but have obtained some certifications along the way. That isn't to say I won't be able to find another job, but it could be a cut up to half of what I make now.

So my question is how do I plan for this? Ive been contributing as much as I can to my 401k for a while now, I'm In my mid 40s. Net worth is around 750k with the majority in my 401k, close to 500k. We have 1 car with a payment (recent purchase, owe 15k) and 110k left yet on our mortgage. Our emergency fund needs some work, but it's a top priority, trying to get that at least to 20k (at 10 now).

A worst case scenario would be we inherited my wife's father's property a while back, we could sell our current house, walk away with 275 - 300k and have no mortgage. Could maybe put that in a fund and just try to get by paying the bills.

Curious if anyone here had regrets after they knew a layoff was coming, and what they would of done differently.

Hi all,

I am 32 y old and have around 70k in my 401k (mainly have this cause cause company match) I am an only child (international in the US) and my parents have an extra property back home that is mine when I need it~ current value around 800k usd so I am not super worried about retirement savings. They are receiving rent and house is only gaining value so I don’t really want them to sell it for me. I am considering taking money out of my 401k to contribute towards a downpayment in the US. Does this make sense at all?

Thanks!

For context, Im 22(F) in school about to graduate this December. I have no credit card debt, no school debt, and 0% DTI. My income right now at my two part time jobs total out to be around $40k/yr.... once I graduate in December I'll be making around $75k/yr starting rate.

The $200k is post-taxes and whatnot. I'd like to put maybe $50k-$80k down on a house but besides that what else should I do? I know maybe I'll put some into a high yielding savings account (I currently have one at 3.95% APY).... just want to make sure I set my life up well and don't spend it stupidly.

Thank you!

So I’m a 22 recent college grad and just signed a contract for 80k a year.

Beyond the basic Roth IRA maxing and 491k what can I do to set myself up? For context I’ve been investing in a Roth IRA since I was abt 18 and have a good system in place so I’m not too worried about that. Moreso what am I missing.

Hey guys,

Rents have gotten insane lately. I’m currently paying ~₹50K/month for a 2BHK, and honestly, it’s starting to feel like I’m just burning money.

I checked buying options:

a. Property price: ~₹75–80L

b. Loan: ~₹60L @ ~8.6%

c. EMI: around ₹52–55K/month

So now the EMI is almost the same as my rent, which is making me seriously consider buying.

But I’m still confused:

a. Prices already feel high—don’t want to enter at the peak

b. Total interest over time is massive (₹60L+)

c. But rents are rising 8–10% every year, so waiting also costs money

At this point, it feels like I’m choosing between:

a. Paying ₹50K rent with no ownership

b. Or slightly higher EMI, but building an asset

Has anyone recently made this shift?

Did it actually make sense in your case, or do you regret not waiting?

Pretty self explanatory. I began investing far younger than most people which is why its compounded so much. I've had some help from my parents who are extremely successful but majority of the investment I made on my own. I've learned most of my knowledge in investing by myself because my parents have never invested much and have usually just kept it confined to whatever options they would get in their total compensation package at the end of every year. I want to start branching out into something else. Or is it smarter to just keep adding everything to my portfolio (it's entirely VTI and VXUS). I realize I'm way ahead of schedule compared to 99% of people but any advice at all is greatly appreciated.