Hi everyone,
I was doing some financial planning with my soon-to-be fiancee and we've got some questions re: 403(b). She's just started her residency a few weeks ago, which will last 4 years (+1 year of fellowship probably). The hospital she works at offers a 403(b) without any matching, which is the only retirement plan available to her through the hospital at the moment. Her salary is typical resident salary at ~$52k / year. I was thinking that the smartest thing to do would be to take the maximum pre-tax deduction ($17,500) for the 403(b) and then max out a Roth IRA. That's $23,000, or almost half her salary. It would be tough, since we're good at saving, but not at the true mustachian level yet.
My questions are:
(1) does my advice to her make sense? Should she pour all this money into a non-matched 403(b)?
(2) are there alternatives out there that we haven't considered that would be better?
Our budgeting that we did came out that putting $23k in for retirement is the most she can do per year, so I don't think she can afford another investment on top of these two, should she choose to max these out. But if we could put in $23,000 per year for 4 or 5 years until she finishes residency, then that investment could pay nice returns come retirement. Any advice or insights appreciated.
Thanks!