I’m currently saving to have and emergency fund for 6 months worth of expenses. I am also contributing about 20% of my salary to retirement. Any tips on what I should do with the extra I have left over every month? I was thinking of opening a brokerage account but I don’t have much to start it with and I am also worried that I’ll somehow mess up with independence requirements....

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If I don’t need the cash in the near future, I will max out my traditional (or Roth) 401k, Roth IRA, and HSA before putting money in a regular individual brokerage account. If I need the cash in the shorter long term timeframe, 2-5 years, then I’ll put that money in an individual brokerage account.

likesmart

Good advice, Thank you!

In your position I would use the remaining money to build up your emergency fund. Once that’s in order max out the contributions to all your other retirement accounts 401k, Roth, ira, has, whatever you’re using. I also saw that you are looking to buy a home within the next couple of years in another comment. I’m a pretty fiscally conservative guy so I would suggest to put the money you are saving for a home in a HYSA (high yield savings account), instead of investing in a brokerage account. After you buy your house and done all the steps above I’d tell you to look into a brokerage account. Don’t worry to much about messing up your brokerage accounts. You don’t get have to get fancy, you can just invest in index funds, etfs and mutual funds and make a nice return. Good luck with everything, remember this is a game of discipline and mental fortitude, but it’s achievable.

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I agree with HYSA. I used to get 4%, but unfortunately, the highest rates are only .6% right now. Check out CIT Bank.

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I’d dump almost everything not going into retirement into your emergency fund until you have that 6-9 months in there. And don’t forget to spend some of your hard earned money in your 20s too! Travel, etc.

likesmart

True! Still not much going on due to covid, tbh that’s probably why I have a surplus😂

When you say retirement what do you mean 401k , roth ,hsa?

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10% to 401k and 10% to Roth. That’ll put me on track to max out my Roth contributions for the year. Maxing out 401k doesn’t really appeal to me at this salary😅

smart

Emergency fund, entertainment fund, future house fund, etc.

More in your retirement at a young age would go a long way too.

likesmart

Have a brokerage account for extra money. I started to hate the idea that you need to contribute everything to retirement account. Hell think about COVID you sacrificed too much and you may not even live to use all those money. Have some investment in taxable account that you can withdraw easily and treat yourself should be you find a new hobby or something want to buy

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There’s always the conversion ladder. It’s what people do to withdraw from their Roth IRAs before retirement.

buy dividends stocks like ATT and O

I use PFFD for a portion of my emergency fund. Less risk with bit more return. I’m not looking for big growth there but also don’t want my money losing value just sitting at bank

Unless you need have major purchases coming up, I would put more into retirement accounts, a Roth IRA would be a good idea if not yet used. As the previous post asked, what accounts are you using now

What firm are you at that contributing 20% with your match maxes out the $19,500 401k limit as an associate?? at KPMG my associate salaries were $60,000-$63,000 😭 and match was 50% of up to 6% so even with contributing 20% and the match I couldn’t get to the limit. are you in tax?

Sorry, yeah I’m only maxing out the Roth not the traditional 401k. The limit is like half my salary😂 63,000 would be unreal in my area.

I’d just up whatever is going into your 6 months emergency fund until it’s funded, then look into other ways you want to save/invest.

If you’re an associate and able to put aside 20% already, you’re a step above the majority already. I might suggest putting the entire 20% in roth funds since you’re likely at the lowest tax rate you will ever be. If your 401k allows Roth contributions, you can contribute up to 19.5k per year that way. And probably also the Roth IRA for a few more years. Personally I think personal finance guys have oversold this idea of a cash emergency fund. There’s nothing wrong with foregoing setting aside money in a bank account if those same funds are instead placed in a Roth. You can tap into the contribution portion of Roth funds before retirement without penalty. So why not at least get the tax benefits in case you don’t need to use it?

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