Author Topic: Newbie needing advice  (Read 2128 times)

Chubbs55

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Newbie needing advice
« on: October 07, 2017, 02:07:10 PM »
Thank all of you for your honest responses.  As all of you have pointed out, I'm looking at retirement 14 years down the road when I should be prioritizing my spending now in order to free up more cash to invest later (which might get us closer that 14 years for retirement).  Not for the wrong reasons, but by the end of the day I will delete this post until I have gone through my expenses and have time to lay out a proper case study.  I have copied the links provided and will incorporate all of your suggestions.  Many might see it as a waste of your time to respond when I did not do a proper case study, and for that I apologize.  I feel it was invaluable and thank you.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2017, 08:49:15 PM by Chubbs55 »

Frankies Girl

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Re: Newbie needing advice
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2017, 02:25:37 PM »
First, I'd suggest you do a real case study (see how to here): https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/case-studies/how-to-write-a-'case-study'-topic/

Second, read the stock series by Jim Collins and check out the Bogleheads wiki to figure out how the market and investing works so you don't need an adviser digging their hands into your pockets.

http://jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment_policy_statement
^this is the first step - your road map as it were. If you get confused or lost as far as what to do, refer back to your IPS.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Asset_allocation
^After figuring out your IPS, the asset allocation is the next step. Once you get this figured out, it's easy to figure out which funds to hold using a lazy portfolio.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/How_to_build_a_lazy_portfolio
^guide to simple (lazy) portfolio


Third, run like a Japanese citizen fleeing Godzilla from Edward Jones. They are the scummy bottom-feeders of the investment world. They charge outrageous fees just to be "managed" by them, put you in very expensive front/back/side loaded funds to skim even more money off of you, charge transaction fees, portfolio fees, "just because we can" fees... and do it all by pretending to be your buddy/pal/friend and insist that you're too busy/investing is super complicated and scary for anyone but them to understand (their business model is to target the naive, elderly, and lonely and then take advantage of them by pretending to be their friend). Vanguard is fantastic, Fidelity is great if you need a bit more hand holding (as long as you aren't paying for professional management), but Edward Jones is the absolute worse group out there in terms of national investment firms.





Once you get a good idea about the direction you need to go in for the debt reduction and how to build up your assets from a detailed case study, the second phase - investing part (above stuff - Collins site and the Boglehead stuff) comes into play. And then once you get the hell away from EJ, it should be as simple as following the basic steps to get to FIRE.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2017, 02:28:00 PM by Frankies Girl »

ender

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Re: Newbie needing advice
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2017, 02:29:12 PM »
You make $86k a year. You should be able to knock out that $25k debt practically by the time you sell your house even with 401k contributions.

+1 on the case study though. It's impossible to get any real input without knowing your expenses.


Travis

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Re: Newbie needing advice
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2017, 10:11:59 PM »
What are the balances on your credit cards and student loans and interest rates?

What does your investment portfolio with Edward Jones look like (ticker names and asset allocations)?

Laura33

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Re: Newbie needing advice
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2017, 06:59:57 AM »
First, what everyone else has said.

Second:  track your expenses -- Mint, You Need a Budget, etc.  You guys make a very good combined salary and so should have more assets/no debt.  I understand this is a recent change for you, but part of making that change effective is paying very close attention to where you're actually spending money, and how much, and not just where/how much you think you are (e.g., I'm fairly confident your "misc" category isn't really $100/mo).  Otherwise, you are likely to sell the house, pay off the debt, and run it back up, all the while wondering how the heck that happened.

Please do a full case study as you have time.  You have a lot of moving parts here, and folks really need to see all of them together to help you prioritize.