...(Fiancee pays for)
I guess I basically wanted to know what your ideas were on what my next steps should be.
Next steps should include sitting down with fiancee and jointly planning what the two of you will do. Tax boundaries for MFJ are different from filing singly, and thus may affect your decisions.
How do things look when you combine incomes, assets and liabilities for the two of you?
I've been wanting to sit down with my brother for just that reason because he's halfway through to getting his CPA and would be able to help me a little bit more in terms of filing. Looking at the tax brackets, it looks like we'll be right in the middle of the $1845 + 15% over $18,000 range.
My fiancee is currently bringing in $1200/month and between her payments on her $34,500 in SLs, high-deductible insurance premiums, gas (she works 40 minutes away), and paying our utilities, groceries, and other wedding miscellany, she's only putting away $200/monthly in an emergency fund that's at $4000. No investments, no 401k, and a 99 Saturn that's on its last legs. I'm trying to get her to start using Mint just to help her see where her money is going because I think she would be surprised just how much per month her spending on going out to eat at lunch, etc. is costing her. It will also help her monthly insurance expenditures once we're married since she will move over to my health insurance.
I'm thinking that filing jointly is going to help us lower our student loan payments as well as how much we get back at tax time. We're trying to find a different job that's actually in her field of ecology/wildlife rehabilitation, but those jobs are hard to find and the difficult part is that the job has an ideal time to be found such that I can also look for teaching jobs in whatever area that is. Our wedding in August also makes moving out of state for an ideal job rather difficult, especially since my district, one of the better paying districts in our area, also includes a $3500 fine for breaking our teaching contracts early.
Teacher here. Pretax 457 is the way to go for long term savings if you have one.
What are the advantages of the 457 over a 403b? vs. a Roth? The state of Wisconsin does offer a 457, but would it be advisable to invest in a 457 or 403b if I will likely be moving out-of-state in the next 3 years?
From a fellow teacher, reconsider teaching summer school. You need a break from teaching. Those breaks recharge your soul, and you come back in the fall ready and excited for a new class. Without that break, it will "catch up to you" (I only had to do it one year to figure that out!). I suggest you consider a different summer job (especially if, like my area, summer school is ONLY a paycheck, no benefits).
Those student loans are pretty brutal on your entry-level teaching salary. Any chance you're at a Title One school? If so, you might be able to apply for forgiveness. Any chance you could move to a Title One school?
Could you work out at home (or run) instead of paying for a gym? Even if you buy some equipment, you'd "be ahead" in only a few months. If you're into lifting weights, are you allowed to lift at your local high school? I'm guessing your elementary school doesn't have equipment that you'd find challenging!
You mentioned tutoring -- are you qualified to coach? I know, your elementary school probably won't have such jobs, but your local high school probably does. It doesn't pay all that well, but parts of the job are fun.
You didn't list a pension as an asset -- is that something you'll eventually have as a teacher? I suspect you aren't "vested" yet because you're still new to teaching.
I did one summer of teaching math intervention, and I said no thank you. Last summer, though, I got to teach a fun class that I called Learning Spanish through Games, and that was easy. I understand that I need to recharge, especially after my group of first graders I had this year, but the money is really good and only half day for a month. I still get a month to do with as I choose (just in time for the wedding conveniently), and I have the afternoons to do my side job of doing yard work.
Unfortunately I'm not at a Title 1 school currently. To get any benefit for working at a Title school, at least when I looked last, I needed to work at a Title school for 5 years. With the likelihood of my moving out of state to follow my future wife when she finds a job in her field, I think it would be better for future employment to show that I was not moving frequently between schools and start taking on some leadership roles at my currrent school now that I've been there for 2 years.
In regards to the gym, it's a gym where I'm learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, something that really helps me keep my sanity when my students and administrators are testing me, and it's also something I'd like to continue to develop as something I could fall back on to teach in the future as it is a HUGELY expanding sport.
As for coaching, in Wisconsin, elementary schools get out AFTER high school, so most high school and middle school practices are half over when I would be dismissing my students. Thus my only option is tutoring, and I'd like to make all my tutoring appointments somewhere local that I can bike to to save on gas money next year.
As far as pension, yes we have a pension program that I pay $116 per paycheck as well as $103 into SS that I never see as they are both deducted pre-tax.
