I’m in my late 20s, have no savings and still paying off some consumer debt (should be paid off in next two months). My salary is a bit less than 150k and my student loans are about 150k with payments starting soon. Any advice on what percent of my salary I should contribute to my Roth/ 401k? Also advice on paying back my student loans pls and thank you.

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100% a personal decision which is why its called "personal" finance. But speaking from a pure numbers standpoint you should pay off any debt that you don't think you can beat the interest rate of in the market. I've heard any debt above 6-7% should be focused on first. Obviously your consumer debt is first, and then I would see what your student loans are. The caveat is whether you think student loans will someday (or soon) be forgiven. The second caveat is whether you get a 401k match and how good the match is. If you have a good match (my firm is 50%) then financially, it makes the most sense to put as much into that as you can.

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I second what A1 says. The only thing I would add is that - after you have your emergency savings in place - pay off any and all debt with money that doesn’t go into the market.
That is, even if the loan rate doesn’t “beat the interest rate of the market”, that only matters if you’re putting that money into the market. If you don’t (for whatever personal reason), pay off loans and be debt free! (It will feel great and give you tons of freedom in the future).

Max out your 401(k) if you can afford it. At minimum, put in the amount to maximize match, if any.

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Check out Reddit.com/r/personalfinance too. Great tips/advice in there

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Second this, it’s a great resource!

Priority 1, pay off any debts at about 6% or higher.

Priority 2, max your retirement accounts.

Priority 3, service the rest of your debt, pay it down a bit if it makes you feel better but probably better off putting it in the market.

I prioritized paying off my student debt and while it was a huge psychological burden and felt like a big accomplishment, in hindsight I regret not at least maxing trad 401k at the same time.

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Personally I think maxing your retirement accounts (or contributing as much as possible) is equal to paying off consumer debt, especially the younger you are.

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I feel you. I am in the same boat. I have 300k in debt but I have confidence I will be able to take care of it in 7-9 years hopefully. It’s psychological warfare. I am trying to pour everything I have into my student debt and think that is the best option, but what the hell do I know.

Duly noted. Thanks for the tip.

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