Both SO and I are new in our careers, about a year+ in. We don’t make the amount of money that some of you all make (yet) but we’re doing above average compared to our peers just a year out of school. Looking for advice as we start our personal finance and investment journey: pay off consumer debt before maxing out 401k? And where does student debt and/or mortgage fit into the picture? FWIW, both of our parents probably won’t be able to retire anytime soon, so can’t get much advice from family.

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I'll buck the trend here and say that your emergency fund shouldn't be a major priority. If you're a software engineer it's very hard to imagine a scenario where you're totally SOL even if you got laid off after a market crash. SWEs are some of the most desirable hires anywhere right now. Emergency funds are dead money.

Max your 401k to employer match, then Roth ($6k backdoor if you're over the contribution limit - look up backdoor Roth IRA conversion if you're not familiar), then 401k to legal limit ($19.5k/year). From there, i would split between an index fund (VOO or VTI) and crypto to risk balance.

I also tend to be a little more aggressive than others on this bowl, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

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I would have an emergency fund and would do 401k at least to get full match. What is the interest rate on the debt?

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Makes sense, going to shoot for a few thousand as a buffer and then attack the debt before getting that actual e fund of a couple months of expenses.

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I’d do 1) emergency fund 2) cc debt 3) 401k. Make an annual budget and a monthly one, and stick to them.

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I’d put enough in your 401k to max the match but not max it first. Build up an e fund of a few grand as first prio for allocating money hitting your accounts. Then I’d look at debt vs additional savings. I’d pay down debts above 5 or so percent, so any CCs, high rate vehicles or student loans. Leave them if they’re low. Next I’d work up to 6 months of expenses as a more significant e fund. Then I’d work at maxing out retirements to a level your comfortable with (for us that’s the limits). After that, I’d put the rest in brokerage accounts and save for house or vacations or whatever else.

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I would say it depends on the interest rate and the amount of the student loans. If you have any above 10% I’d be trying to bang them out asap it refinancing to a lower rate. Also, if the loans are large, like 200k, I wouldn’t wait til they’re all gone to build up the full e fund. I’d probably be both at the same time, add 1k to the e fund a month and the rest on the loans or whatever ratio works well for you. I’m

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Spend less than you earn and beware lifestyle inflation as your pay grows

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