New & Eager to Learn...

[IDreamofRetiring]

Hi everyone!

I’m new to this site. I heard about it through a casual conversation and decided to check it out. I recently turned 30 and have been thinking more and more about our future (married, no kids yet). Unfortunately, my husband and I do not come from backgrounds/families where there was strong financial literacy, so we are trying to learn on our own. If you could be so kind as to share some tips or things you wish you would’ve known/done in the past that would be greatly appreciated. Aside from paying down debt, we are eager to learn more about ways to make our money grow (investments? CDs? bitcoin? Lol)

Current Situation:
Married - Combined income of $147K (this will increase this year)
Combined debt of about $98K (inclusive of 2 car notes, consolidated student loan and credit cards)
Note: we are actively working on paying down that debt, especially the credit cards
My 401K - $38K
His 401K/stock purchase plan - $89K
Emergency fund/cash saved - $12K
Homeowners - $67,845 left to pay

 

[rollergrrl]

That is great that you are paying off debt. Limiting the credit card debt has to be first…crazy interest. Looks like you should be able to pay all debt including the house in 2 years and still put money in your 401k

 

[Onward]

tips or things you wish you would’ve known/done in the past

Read this book:

 

[Human]

Welcome and congrats on getting serious about finances at age 30. Nothing - and I mean nothing - that you do is more powerful than starting to save early.

Second, avoid all the junk out there. Instead read one good book on the subject (yep, just one as the principles are actually very simple). @Onward has recommended an excellent book. Alternatively, I often recommend:

“The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicated”
https://www.amazon.com/The-Index-Card-Personal-Complicated/dp/1591847680

That’s it!

 

[DrRoy]

If you could be so kind as to share some tips or things you wish you would’ve known/done in the past.

You are starting out well.
I would say never try to time or beat the market. Just index.
A book I always recommend is "Your Money and Your Brain" by Jason Zweig.

 

[NgineER]

Hi everyone!



I’m new to this site. I heard about it through a casual conversation and decided to check it out. I recently turned 30 and have been thinking more and more about our future (married, no kids yet). Unfortunately, my husband and I do not come from backgrounds/families where there was strong financial literacy, so we are trying to learn on our own. If you could be so kind as to share some tips or things you wish you would’ve known/done in the past that would be greatly appreciated. Aside from paying down debt, we are eager to learn more about ways to make our money grow (investments? CDs? bitcoin? Lol)



Current Situation:

Married - Combined income of $147K (this will increase this year)

Combined debt of about $98K (inclusive of 2 car notes, consolidated student loan and credit cards)

Note: we are actively working on paying down that debt, especially the credit cards

My 401K - $38K

His 401K/stock purchase plan - $89K

Emergency fund/cash saved - $12K

Homeowners - $67,845 left to pay

Welcome to the forum!
You make a decent living and should focus on growing your earnings but also not let your expenses scale with earnings. It might seem obvious, but savings and investing is only one part of the equation. Expenses is another major component to Financial independence.

Boring investments such as index funds are an excellent way to grow rich slowly but surely. It’s not sexy, but you won’t loose money in the long run.

I would say that mortgage debt is good debt whereas car loans and credit are bad debt.

Pay off credit cards first and then car and student loans.

Keep investing regularly and you will be on your way to FI.

 

[IDreamofRetiring]

Thank you everyone of the book recommendations! I will definitely look into these.

 

[flintnational]

Welcome to the forum. Two books that I have enjoyed and often recommend are The Millionaire Next Door and The Four Pillars of Investing.

Tips

1) Read the two books above.
2) You have a good income. In our 30's My DW and I got comfortable with our standard of living and then put all future raises and bonuses into savings. Occasionally we would give the budget an inflation increase. IOW, do not fall into the trap of life style creep.

You are paying attention and asking questions. You will do well.

 

[foxfirev5]

Welcome. Enjoy the investment/savings advice, but at age 30 I would not skip living my life as well.

 

[Walt34]

Welcome to the forum! This is a list of books that I have found very helpful.
The Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street by Allan S. Roth

These first two are the ones I absolutely recommend.

I also have read these:

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely – I found this very interesting!

The Four Pillars of Investing by William J. Bernstein

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes by Gary Belsky & Thomas Gilovich

Your Money & Your Brain by Jason Zweig

The Investor’s Manifesto Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between by William J. Bernstein

A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel

And if you really want to get deep into behavior issues with money – Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, the only psychologist to win a Nobel Prize in Economics. It’s probably more than most people want to get into but I found it fascinating. It’s also a rather thick book.

 

[Ronstar]

New & Eager to Learn...

Welcome! I found “The Millionaire Next Door”, “Your Money or Your Life”, and a community college course to be helpful in picking up knowledge about money.

 

[exnavynuke]

Read this book:

+1

 

[marko]

If you could be so kind as to share some tips or things you wish you would’ve known/done in the past that would be greatly appreciated. Aside from paying down debt, we are eager to learn more about ways to make our money grow (investments? CDs? bitcoin? Lol)

Whenever you talk investing, you're always going to run into someone who hit it big in the market on one big bet (or so they say). Run!

Wish I knew about index funds when I started out; get a good AA and don't panic when things get dicey.

Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[IDreamofRetiring]

Thanks so much everyone for the tidbits and books! I struggle with wanting to invest and grow our money and paying of debt. Hard to focus on just one

 

[JustCurious]

The most important thing you can do right now is pay off your credit cards and avoid credit card debt in the future.

 

[gwraigty]

In addition to paying off credit cards in full each month, use credit cards that give you some reward, like cash back or discounts off at the register.

Had I paid more attention to my successes/failures in investing when I first started in earnest in 1995, we'd have been even better positioned that we are today for financial independence. (Details upon request.) We've done well despite myself.

There's more than one right way to reach your goals. The right way for you is a method (or combination of) that you can understand and explain easily in one sentence.