Another budget question (savings/retirement)

[phunluvin82]

I feel like if you have almost 1 yr salary at almost 30, you are not doing bad. Not that it can't always be better, but I think that is fairly on track (better than me!)...I would probably do the e-fund first.

Could you bump up your TSP just a little if it concerns you and then put the rest toward efund? Like maybe a $100/$700 split or something?

[kateross]

How much are your car and SL %'s?

[kateross]

I would then build the $10K efund and leave the car payment as-is.

[gt7301b]

I'd fully fund a Roth with 5.5K of that money. If you need to access this money you could remove your contributions at anytime. I'd use the rest of the money to increase your e-fund.

[cjeanette]

1 years expenses in savings? I would contribute to retirement. The car loan I would keep, maybe pay a bit extra on.

The SL? Do you expect to work long enough in this position to get the forgiveness? If so why would you pay more than the min?

[SJ]

Do you qualify for a Roth IRA? If so, I'd put $450/month into a Roth IRA to max out for 2013, and the other $350/month into general/efund savings.

I like the idea of slowly bumping up your TSP too.

[SJ]

Jan 11, 2013 17:02:39 GMT -5 carrotsmakemefat said:

Sara - why do a Roth and a TSP? TSP gives me an opportunity to avoid paying a lot in taxes at the end of year, Roth is taxable up front (I thought).

Just curious.

ETA: Roth is for anyone making under 100k right? I qualify then...barely, but I do qualify.

The nice thing about Roth IRA's is that the funds are not taxable in retirement when you withdraw the funds. I like a mix of pre-tax and post-tax funds.

However, there is nothing wrong (at all) with focusing on TSP instead if it is more of a priority to lower taxable income now.