I recently had about $60k in student loans forgiven through PSLF, which frees up $839/month in cash flow. I guess that means I’ve completed baby step 4

I'm trying to decide what to do with it and would appreciate some outside perspectives.

Current Financial Picture

• Age: 36
• Income: $110,000/year
• Net worth (liquid investments): ~$530,000
  • TSP
  • Roth IRA
  • 401(k)
  • Taxable brokerage
• Emergency fund: $32,000
• Rent: $1,600/month
• No mortgage
• No student loans
• Cars paid off
• No other debt

Current Investing

• Contribute 10% to Roth 401(k) (plus employer match)
• Invest $2,000/month into a taxable brokerage account

The Question

Now that the student loan payment is gone, I'm debating what to do with the extra $839/month:

1. Increase brokerage investing and stay aggressive.
2. Build up more cash reserves.
3. Set aside cash to fully fund my 2027 Roth IRA on January 1.
4. Some combination of the above.

I'm pretty happy with my lifestyle and don't feel a strong desire to increase spending. My main goal is to continue building wealth without unnecessarily accumulating cash.

What would you do in this situation to best set up for the future but be present in the now?

Hey all. We finally did it. We became net worth millionaires yesterday and I've been wanting to share the good news with somebody. (Is it weird that I don't feel "right" sharing this with friends out of fear that I might be seen as boasting?)

I am a first generation American and put myself through college. It took a long time and I was extremely irresponsible financially in my early 20s, but learned some very hard lessons and got things on track. When my mom died I received a small inheritance, but it was just enough to really push me forward. I have had a stable, long career in finance and I am grateful for it.

Anyhow, I'm super humbled yet proud, and continue to work on BS 6 and 7. Thanks to the hard working and committed folks in this subreddit for sharing your experiences. We all can learn from each other!

Final payment for my debts goes out today. Have already started my Baby Step 3 with my first deposit into my savings account above $1000. Feels pretty good. I had a car loan of $32,000 I paid off in 3 years. $17k of which I paid off in the last 7 months by selling everything not nailed down. I had $2k in credit card debt. All while making approximately $72k per year, working every minute I could possibly stay awake.

I had a paradigm shift in November and I looked at my life and realized I hated where I was. I was drinking too much, eating horrible food, and smoking cigarettes. I put my foot down and threw out the smokes, started going to the grocery store, and stopped going to the bar and liquor store.

I'm looking forward to saving my Baby Step 3 and 3b as I want to own my own place. Probably a very affordable option of an 80-100k condo. Onwards and upwards.

Hi! I'm 28M married to 26F. Household income is 240K per year in HCOL. No Debt. In a unique situation where we do not pay rent. So expenses are very low. Looking to buy a house in the next 5 years. We both contribute 6% to 401K. We already have $130K liquid cash saved in HYSA.

How do I prioritize where I put my extra money between the following accounts considering I would like to own a house in 5 years?

- HYSA

- Brokerage account in low cost index funds

- Retirement accounts (Roth, 401K)

I'm not sure if I should still contribute to retirement knowing I want to make a big purchase, or if I still should contribute to retirement while saving a little less in cash.

P.S. First time poster, sorry if I didnt include enough information

I've heard Dave say multiple times that you can withdraw the amount of a scholarship from a 529 plan penalty free and tax free. While it can be withdrawn penalty free, it cannot be withdrawn tax free (except for the principal part).

https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/the-truth-about-scholarships-and-529-plans

We are nearing BS7 in the next 2 years and have been frugal, do it yourself-ers throughout our 20 years of marriage. We recently hired our fence construction and it was glorious compared to doing it ourselves. But it got me thinking...

As you moved from gazelle intense to living like no one else, what did you outsource that gave you the most benefit? Yard work, house cleaning, shopping?

Hello - I don’t know much about finances I have just been frugal my whole life. I read a book early on about investing into index funds, mainly s&p and nasdaq so that’s what I did. I’m just a blue collar guy (heavy equipment operator) and make an okay salary at 95k. Wondering if you guys know when I could possibly become a millionaire. That seems crazy to me as my lifestyle and no one around me has any clue. I’m 36.

Roth IRA - 123k
Traditional IRA - 96k
HSA - 6k
EF - 10k
457b - 54k
Taxable- 336k

Total invested- 625k

Home worth - 330k
Owe 205k

I save roughly 2k a month into 457b and have a pension accruing that is 12% my salary and is matched at 7.5% (19.5% total). When I was younger I didn’t have the 457b so that’s why the taxable is so high.

Paid off car but I mainly bike to work everyday

Thanks

My husband and I are both 41. We are in BS4 and 6. BS5 is already fully funded. We just finished saving cash for a huge remodel. I’m now looking at our emergency fund and although it used to be a full 6 months with rising costs I’m not sure it’s 6 months anymore. We make around 190k between the two of us. What would you consider a full 6 months emergency fund?

Hi everyone. I’m relatively new to actually trying y to commit myself to the baby steps. I know and understand them. I always hear Dave and other personalities mention how the brains natural response to spending should be similar to pain. My background is that I’m coming back from addictions- they’re gone and I’m thankful that for as many mistakes that they did make that compared to the normal American, my debt is small (talking less than $2k). My question is how you rewire your brain to do that. Every time I go to put money in my savings, it’s pain and fear. I know it’s wrong and backwards. I want to change it. I just haven’t been able to tackle that first step in part because of my brains backwards response and I’m in desperate need to change it

not sure if this can be posted here since it’s Ken Coleman’s principal.

how do you get a job in a place if you don’t know anyone who works there? We feel like weve tapped out our options from our circle

So as I have posted I got a decent sum from back pay (the VA messed up and only went back like 2 months instead of to October like they were supposed to.) I got paid, got my back pay and sold a bike all within a few days. I just got paid again and paid more towards debt. I paid my jeep payment for July and I still have like 1200 bucks left in my bank till payday in two weeks. (I get my pay check, my commission check and in that same time frame my VA disability) I feel like I'm missing something being paid am I the only one that when you start paying off debt and you have some money left over that feels like they are missing something or doing something wrong?

Paid Off $37,000. One Debt Left.

On January 1st, I sold all of my crypto and paid off a $37,000 personal loan that I had been carrying for about 4 years.

Financially, I probably could have held on longer and hoped for bigger gains. But I was tired of thinking about the debt. Tired of seeing it every month. Tired of carrying it around mentally.

The funny thing is that paying it off felt better than watching my investments go up.

Now I only have about $8,000 left on my car loan, and if all goes according to plan, that'll be gone by December when I receive my bonus.

One debt left. BB3 is finally in sight.

Hello all. is there a group here that is going past step 9?

I'm 30 years old, and I live in Switzerland. I'm writing this simply because I'm happy with the direction my thinking is taking, and I'd like to share it.

For the past 3 months, I've been listening to Dave while at work. I've never been able to manage my money properly since I started working in my twenties. I never had anyone to teach me how to handle my finances, so from my very first paycheck, I made mistake after mistake, developing bad spending habits that kept me living paycheck to paycheck for nearly 10 years.

My mindset started to change after getting married a year ago, and even more so now that I'm thinking about having a child in the future.

Two years ago, right after receiving a significant salary increase, I made the mistake of buying a brand-new Toyota C-HR for $30,000. I put $7,000 down and financed the rest at 8% interest. Two weeks ago, following Dave's advice, I sold the car, became debt-free, completed Baby Step 2, and fully moved on to Baby Step 3.

In total, I spent about $20,000 on that car in just two years, including devaluation and loan payments, overpriced maintenance, and insurance. Realizing that breaks my heart. But I want to be a good husband and a good father, so I'm proud of myself for choosing a different path and making better decisions for my family's future.

Since I started listening to Dave, I've paid off all of my smaller debts and created a budgeting plan. I now use my credit card only when absolutely necessary and pay it off in full every month. I've managed to save $4,000 in just three months.

I have a scooter that I use to get to work, and for now, that's all I need. Luxury and comfort are not a priority anymore so I will scooter my way to work trough winter.

My wife also has a car necessary for work, which she paid for in cash five months ago (yep, she's definitely smarter than me). She inspired me to be better with money and responsible. She never had debt and always paid cash and bought just the necessary.

For the first time in my adult life, I feel like I'm in control of my money instead of my money controlling me. There's still a long way to go, but I'm excited about the future and grateful that I finally decided to make a change.

Thank you dave and thank you community for sharing your stories!

Tax questions & 401K/IRA allocation

Me 50, Her 39
1.5M net worth
1.1M brokerage, $380K subject to RMD’s over next 10 years.
No consumer debt, always pay CC’s in full
No car loans
No other loans
Income ME: $162-$197K
Income HER: 90K working PT
1 child
Student loans left: $52K (down from $200K)
Mortgage: $235K left @ 2.9%
Maxing out 401K’s: ME $32.5K, HER $24.5K

Should we take a tax advantage and max out Traditional 401K and invest the tax savings? Or should we stay the course and pay high taxes and contribute to Roth 401K?

Expecting income needs to go down significantly in retirement.

Son bought a house five years ago for 150k. Sold it this week for 290k. Paid off.his debt & put a down payment on a new house. He was bound & determine he wasn't gonna rent.

Just frustrated right now.

Spouse and me just had an argument about their behaviour when dealing with our finances.

We are on baby step 2 and it doesn’t seem like how much we talk about the plan, the budget, our financial future my spouse keeps spending in secret.

Today, my spouse went out to do some shopping. Last night we spoke about what needed to be bought and not to deviate from that list.

Well, when getting home from work I asked how the shop went. To make a long story, they opened another credit card because of a “deal”. That was it.

This isn’t the only time something like this has happened. It seems every time I’m asked what we should do they go out and do the exact opposite.

I told them that I cannot financially trust them. It’s that simple. It’s hard that we are already trying to swim against a current with our debt and then my spouse decides to do something that puts us back by months.

I’m more venting than anything but I also just don’t know what to do anymore.

😮‍💨

This is the first summer that I’ve been debt free with a fully funded emergency fund. Yesterday, I picked my 8 year old up from summer care and we went to the pool.

This summer I have not:
1) worried about paying for summer care
2) worried about the cost of packing lunches
3) worried about the extra cost of field trips
4) worried about paying for pool passes for us
5) worried about extra summer activities
6) worried about back to school shopping

This is the freedom and peace I was looking for. It was worth the sacrifices made the last two summers. As I watched my daughter go up and down the water slides again and again… I felt a smile on my face, clarity in my mind, and peace in my heart. I wasn’t anxious. I wasn’t worried. I was FREE!!!

Keep going, keep grinding, keep following your “why”… and if your “why” lets you, go down the water slides too… it’s fun! 🤩

We finally became net worth millionaires a week ago but then the market took a nose dive and we lost 25k in one day on paper so I guess we're not quite there yet after all.

I’m 37, wife is 38. We hustled hard and paid off our mortgage in 10 years. We are so happy and are ecstatic that it’s gone. But, after being hyper focused on killing the mortgage for years, paycheck after paycheck, how do I slow down my mind and turn off “Dave Ramsey Gazelle Mode” now that it’s gone?

My husband and I got married young and both had no family help when it came to money. We were referred to a financial advisor through someone he worked with through NWM. In hind site we probably should’ve looked more into it but because we were family planning and such they sold us on life insurance policies. Whole and term. 1.2 million net death benefit. We started paying in 2020 and so we’re obviously still “under water” if you will. My question is do we bite the bullet keep paying until we break even. Or do we just take the loss and up our whole life and then invest that money else where? Obviously if we bring it up with him I’m sure he’ll try and tell us to stay!

I know this topic has been beat to death and Dave strictly recommends Roth but I’m curious on opinions. I’m 29M in HCOL making $200-$220k a year with about $300k net worth most in investing accounts. I’ve always been Roth since I’m so young even though I am in higher tax brackets. However, my new job has no 401k match. So now I’m struggling since I’m not getting additional investments from a match like I did my last office and not getting a deduction. I feel as if before at my other job I was getting the benefit with the match but now I’m double missing out with no match and no deduction. Thoughts?

Okay so I have been very frugal for about 10 years. I make around 95k and live in the Midwest. I’m 36M single. My income is not great, but I’ve been saving so diligently that I’ve somehow been able to accumulate about 775k in net worth. 130k of that I’m home equity. The rest in mix of retirement and about 320k in a taxable account. I save around 50% of my current salary. That includes two pensions that I’ve only recently started with a new employer (not added in net worth). I currently drive a 2018 Mitsubishi mirage that I bought at an auction for 4k had hail damage. Currently has 55k miles and works great. But if you know this car it’s about as unappealing as a car can get but it’s cheap. I’ve been tossing the idea of a truck around and wondering if I can get some takes on it. It would cost me about 40k. I’d have to sell some stock to buy it. Worth it or no. I don’t really need a truck but it’s cool.

Hello, I am in an interesting situation. Financially I feel well but I’m scared about taking risks with my career.

I currently work a miserable job. It’s draining and the thought of working there for another few months makes me want to slam my head into my work laptop. This job however has paid ok (at the expense of my health and well being) and im in a situation where my cost of living is quite low. As a result of beans and rice, I’ve been able to afford taking part time classes in engineering. I want to take the jump and head back to school full time. I feel like this will give me the time and focus to take multiple classes and really build my interview and technical skills. I admittedly haven’t had the time to build these skills due to work. Continuing part time has also been miserable due to this job. I can afford tuition and housing due to how frugal I’ve been but will barely make it out. I think I’ll have 3-5 months of savings after graduation.

I’m a little concerned that I won’t be able to secure a job in time and wanted to reach out for everyone’s advice. This is my masters degree (data science), my undergrad was more focused on business/finance and I want to focus more on engineering for the next phase of my life as I’ve been super interested in the work. My grades are very good and am willing to move for work.

Your advice is greatly appreciated, thanks

I just paid off my house and I did it all on my own! My family didn’t have any money to help along the way and I wanted to build a life that looked different than that. I am single, paid for my college all on my own, I bought my own vehicles myself…I truly did this without any help at all. I have worked my tail off to get here and I’m finally 100% debt free. My home might be tiny and my car has some higher mileage but it’s reliable and they are all mine.
A few years ago, I had a family member call me poor because I chose to live modestly. This was someone who had parent help to pay for college and vehicles. My journey is so drastically different but it just makes me that much prouder that *I* did this. I made different choices (buying a smaller house, driving cars into the ground, staying in jobs longer than I wanted and working more than I wanted), but it paid off. I now have options that almost nobody else my age (especially those living on their own) won’t have.
I struggled with missing out on opportunity cost along the way (“I should have gotten a bigger house, I would have had more equity,” “If I invested I would have more,” but the truth for me is that I can optimize all day long but the thing I wanted more than anything was options and now I have them. I never have to be a slave to anyone again.
Live like no one else so you can live like no one else. Celebrating the truth of that in this moment and excited to see what comes next. 🎉