New to the "Stash(stache) life, not sure where to start with 45k cash + pension?

[Saywhat?]

Hi gang, recently found MMM and I am inspired to turn our situation around. Mainly, I'm trying to figure out the next step and how to handle money that is sitting as cash (essentially).

Deets:
I'm 33, wife is 32. 2 kids(4yrs and 9 mos), I work a full-time union job (many questions about what do with the pension plan) bringing in gross 60-70k/yr. Wife brings in an extra 8-15k/yr. We love that she's our primary childcare and hope we can avoid her going back to work FT until the youngest is couple of years older. Our only debt is our mortgage, we are 5 years into a 15yr @2.5%. Monthly expenses between 3500-4500(of course we can do better here).

We have about 45k in cash accounts(various savings, EF, etc type stuff). We haven't hit retirement/long term investing very hard, with only about 15k in a Roth and 5k in an index fund. About 600/mo goes towards my pension plan.

I know getting rid of ALL debt should be high on the list, but we've been advised multiple times to not aggressively try and pay off our mortgage given how low the % is.

Where do we get the best bang for our buck with the 45k(really 35, as we would probably keep 10k for an EF) and also, how should I approach my pension? Continue to feed it or keep the money and invest it on our own? 

Thanks so much for your time, and I look forward to learning more from you fellow badasses!

[MDM]

I know getting rid of ALL debt should be high on the list, but we've been advised multiple times to not aggressively try and pay off our mortgage given how low the % is.

Saywhat?, welcome to the forum.

Yeah, that debt would be at the bottom of usual Investment Order list around here. ;)

Where do we get the best bang for our buck with the 45k(really 35, as we would probably keep 10k for an EF) and also, how should I approach my pension? Continue to feed it or keep the money and invest it on our own? 

Need more details about that pension to comment.

[zolotiyeruki]

2.5% on your mortgage? Yeah, let it be.

Like MDM said, you'll need to share more about your pension plan in order to make a judgment.  Personally, I'm skeptical that it could be better than just investing in an index fund.  I don't know anything about your particular union, but a LOT of pension plans across the country are in deep trouble due to unrealistic projections of market returns, numbers of participants, and individual salaries.