I'm feeling facepunchy so I'll take a swing at this one. :)
(said with tongue in cheek - I'm not meaning to sound like a bitch, just going to be blunt/matter of fact here and hope that you take it in the spirit in which it was intended - as helpful advice without any sugar coating)
You absolutely are not in a terrible position unless you insist on living above your means for the rest of your life. Big thing to realize was already mentioned by Dicey - you are responsible for taking out all those loans, and you're capable of paying them off pretty damned fast if you'd buckle down a few years and stop burning through your money on thoughtless/unnecessary expenses.
I have not been adding to any retirement account as my company does not match. My insurance is $80 per paycheck.
Wrong move. As mentioned by former player and some of the others, REDUCING YOUR INCOME BY SHELTERING IT IN A TAX DEFERRED ACCOUNT IS MAGIC. Not only is it socking away money NOW to grow tax deferred for your future, it reduces your taxable income NOW as well, meaning that you could potentially get back even more money each year. Even if it has no match, even if you have shitty fund choices. If you reduced your income by 18K, it might be enough to drop you into a lower tax bracket even - I'm not doing the math myself, but there are others that could point you in the right direction.Other Ordinary Income:
None
Qualified Dividends & Long Term Capital Gains:
None
Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation:
None
Adjusted Gross Income:
$82,000 (~$2,250 per paycheck, $4,500 per month)
Taxes:
I'll end up taking home about $54,000 after taxes/insurance/other deductions
Assets:
$52,000 in in savings account (emergency fund)
Car - estimated trade-in value of $2,800 (but see liabilities where I owe $5,800 on it, so not really an asset here)
Liabilities:
Student Loans:
My undergrad and grad school loans are consolidated into one loan, $130,000 current balance outstanding, 7% interest, compounded daily. Suggest monthly payment $750/month, I am paying $2,000/month to try and get it paid down but it is just a mountain of debt.
If your job situation is secure, then there is no need for $50K in an emergency fund. That is money sitting there doing nothing for you while you pay 7% interest on this loan. Agree with others to use the majority to pay it down. I'd likely use around $40K and drop that loan to $90K right this minute, still leaving a healthy $12K for emergencies.Car:
2012 Honda Civic. 29 payments at $275 per month remaining (total payoff amount $5,840). This is a fixed payoff schedule, ie, there is no additional interest accruing so paying off early does not offer any savings.
Great that there's no interest, but as long as you have a loan, you are likely required to carry full coverage on the car. So keep in mind the second it's paid off, drop your insurance down to liability/state mandated coverages for significant savings.Car Insurance: $85/month
This is really high. Shop around maybe?Gas/commute: $150/month
That's a ton of driving? How far away do you live from work? Any chance of carpooling or mass transit or even working from home a few days a week?Medical bills: $50/month
What is this for? Is there interest rates involved or is this technically your health insurance?Gym membership: $25/month
I'm not going to ding you for this as much as some, but honestly if you aren't working out several times a week using specialized gym equipment for some really deep and meaningful reason, you likely could drop this and learn how to do bodyweight routines at home and find other free ways to exercise. Rent: $700/month
Reasonable.Food: $700/month
Holy shit. Seriously. Do you literally buy food to just create food sculptures in your home as a hobby? Or is it Whole Foods organic baby unicorn kissed bullshit? Because this is something you should be seriously embarrassed about. No one should be spending this much money on food each month unless they are a family of 5. Learn to cook using real foods, buy things that are not brand name or come prepackaged/prepared. Stop eating out so much, and if you're a big "go to the bar for a few drinks several times a week" type of person, that should probably be cut waaaaaaay back too. Check out the sales, find low cost food, learn to batch cook, pack your lunch for work. BudgetBytes.com is amazing. Your food bill should be below $200/month and still able to eat like a king if you were being more mindful of your spending and cooked more.Clothing: $100/month
Do you set your clothing on fire each month? Is that why you need to spend so much replacing it? Because otherwise, you shouldn't be spending $100 a year on new clothes. If you're that desperate, build a capsule wardrobe (look it up, here's a good example of how to create a minimalist wardrobe for guys). Even if you have a type of job where you need to wear a full suit every day, it can be done. There is no reason whatsoever to be spending that much money unless you are literally destroying your clothes each month. Entertainment: $150/month
I'm going to assume this includes things like movies/concerts/hanging out at the bar. It's not unreasonable for a single person to want to go do fun things, but you should be very mindful of your spending and start curating your entertainment. If you do it ALL THE TIME, it becomes boring and you start needing more exciting things to feel "entertained." It's called hedonistic adaptation, and it is dangerous. Might try thinking about fun, free or low cost things you can do too - hang out with friends at home for a game night or potluck, go to the park to play some outdoor sport, go hiking/biking (if you enjoy that and already have equipment), there likely are several decent free activities in your city if you just go look for them... I see no expenses for utilities (if things like water and electric are included in your rent, then that is a great deal but I kind of doubt it), renter's insurance (which may not be necessary if you don't have anything you can't afford to replace but still), haircuts, home supplies like soap and toilet paper and cleaning supplies, cable/netflix/hulu, cell phone... it seems like there is so much money that is not accounted for.
You really, really should start tracking every single penny that comes and goes using something like Mint (it's free) or something.
But just based off what you posted, you have the potential to pay off those loans within 5 years easy if you just started paying more attention to how you spend and cutting some of the VERY fatty areas like your food and clothing.
So for your questions:
1. What can I do to pay down my student loan faster? This thing is like a darn albatross around my neck. Plus, as I'm paying $24,000/year on this loan, its really like I am losing $24,000/year that could otherwise be put into a savings/retirement plan. I really would like to buy a house, but cannot justify taking on another giant debt with this one still looming over me. Am I correct to pay more than the monthly payment each month? Unfortunately, the interest grew the debt quite a bit while I was in an income based 10 year plan where the rest would be forgiven after that time, so when I lost that job due to the firm closing I am now faced with this giant debt.
NO house. Seriously you wanted a house, then maybe considered not deferring the loans, living like a monk and paying off the loan while saving up for a decent downpayment. You're in no position to buy a house right now, and honestly it would be a poor move in your case since you don't have a good handle on spending. Use the bulk of your savings to pay down a chunk of the loan debt and then hit it hard as you can, by cutting the other stuff. 2. What should I be doing with my savings? The $52,000 is a nice safety blanket to have as it is equal to roughly a year's worth of take home pay. But, I will need some of that if I want to buy a house. Should I actually just take the whole amount and put it towards my student loans? Or, should I look to invest it into some sort of safe market? It does not seem to make a ton of sense to invest at 4% when I have a debt accruing at 7% though.
No, it doesn't make sense sitting on a pile of cash when you have a huge debt at 7% interest. Pay it down as I suggested above and hit it hard going forward.3. With no company matching, should I still contribute to a 401k retirement plan, and if so, how much? I suppose this is kind of restating some previous questions, but with this student loan should I still be working on stashing some funds for retirement, or should I just be all-in on paying off the student loan?
See the advice at the beginning - you've been missing out and don't understand how to work the angles. Figuring that out now will save you in the long run along with starting a retirement account for future you. 4. Lets look at maybe a longer term gameplan. Supposedly it will take 5-6 years to pay off my student loan. So, its really 5 years until I can even start truly saving towards retirement. Do any of you see an angle where I could still be in line for early retirement? it would be nice to retire in 10 years, but if 5 are going to be paying off debts and not saving, it seems unrealistic.
No, it won't be waiting to fund retirement. You can do both. But unless and until you get a handle on your spending and have a serious mindset adjustment, you're not going to be able to retire early at all. So keep reading here and asking questions and figuring out what is most important to you - spending money as it comes in on things that don't really matter, or adjusting your spending down a bit and learning how to enjoy lower cost things or making things last so you can funnel your money into the things that DO matter for you. 5. Whether it happens now, or not until the loan is paid off, I will need to invest my money at some point. What is the best option here? I am absolutely clueless about investing.
Answer unclear at this time. Other than taking advantage of your 401k (and you'll need to examine the fund options and expense ratios and learn about investing in general), until you know what you want and how serious you're willing to get on your spending to get there, we can't tell you what to invest in and how. I would suggest you do some more reading, starting with Jim Collins' stock series to get a great primer on how the market/investing should work.
http://jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/
And then figure out your investment policy statement - which is your blueprint for how and why and what for your future.
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment_policy_statement