Hey guys! I hope this is the correct topic to post this thread in but I find myself in a situation where I am managing multiple income streams. A bit of background about myself:
1.) Served in the military for 7 years right out of high school. I'm 25 now.
2.) Earned Bachelor's Degree in Finance
3.) Separated and got an internship as a financial analyst
4.) I was commuting 20-30 hours a week for that job and quit (because I'm not about that commuting life)
5.) Stint of unemployment, lived on emergency funds, decided to find a part-time job at my local Lowe's Home Improvement store (I actually have an interview in a few hours and I have been up all night...haven't slept yet)
6.) Went back to school for Master's degree to utilize GI Bill.
7.) Started a business (home inspections...currently enrolled in courses for license requirements)
Now I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing for my career long-term (turns out I like doing finance somewhat but I hate sitting in a chair all day...) but I'm actually enjoying bringing in money from different sources...I also really enjoy the fact that I am starting my own business which is something I have wanted to do for a long time! Here are my projections. All of my projections are for 1 year from October 1 2016 to September 30, 2017.
Post 9/11 Gi Bill Housing Allowance: $21,415.70
Part-time Job: $9,450.00
Small Business: $11,340.00
Total: $42,205.7
My projected expenses: $36,403.13
Cash Flow - $5,802.57
Other notes: fully paid off 04 civic, expenses are higher than normal this year, expecting large refund around $5000 which I normally just chuck into the roth ira
Bear in mind that the post 9/11 gi bill runs out after 2 years so I won't have that anymore after that. My part-time job assumes I start in November and earn $900 a month after taxes. My small business assumes I start getting my first customers in January and I earn $1,260.00 a month ($315 per home inspection, aiming for 4 customers a month). I feel a part-time job works really well with my schedule because I am busy with school and I can be flexible when scheduling customer's home inspections so I can have a constant feed of work.
The tricky part is that I need help with some long-term issues and these are my questions that I hope some of you can chime in with your insight:
1.) The part-time job (assuming I get the job) has 401(k) matching contributions. The employer does matching up to 6% (100% for 3, 50% for 2, 25% for 1). Should I just go ahead and contribute the most I can? (I can contribute up to 50% of salary) or should I not do this because my future income streams are based on assumptions? (such as my business revenue)
Just some more general info about me: My current investment scheme is a mix of vanguard index etfs: VOO, VTI, BND, and VXUS. I have the following:
$23k in a investment account
$18k in a roth IRA
$5.5k in a savings account
$3.7k in my business account (which I plan on spending for more startup costs)
I have a spouse and one son.
2.) I thought about getting into coding to eventually get into freelancing and making money online but I have no idea where to begin. I figure I will have a fairly flexible schedule over the next 2 years so that will give me ample time. Ideally, and I feel this is somewhat farfetched, I would love to make enough money online to live in my wife's home country (Philippines). We plan to FIRE there one day but if I could get their early that would be awesome. I love where she is from in particular.
3.) Any general advice for a young 25 year old, married, with some investments but weird long-term outlooks? I'm at a point where I can take many different roads but am left somewhat confused. I have also tired for full-time government positions but honestly I'm really enjoying the idea of getting my business up and running and maybe starting another one (I like the idea of self-employment and currently doing research on solo 401ks and the works)