Hi all,
I'm a newbie here, but I think I've finally found my home. I've always been passionate about money-making and money-saving. I grew up in a household riddled with debt, and have promised myself to be smarter.
My situation:
- 24 years old with a $50k/year job + another ~$25k in freelance income on the side
- I don't have any debt, thanks to paying off $23k in student loans over the past couple of years
- I live in Berkeley, CA - unfortunately super expensive part of the country and have a 'good' deal paying $800/month for shared apartment room
- I own a small hyundai accent that I paid cash for, but I bike to work every day and try to bike around to do errands as well
- My girlfriend of 5 years (whom I'd like to get married to in the next two years) is doing a Master's program at UC Berkeley and thanks to saving up for a few years before attending school, she might not have to take any loans out. She'll graduate in May of 2015
- I've maxed out my Roth IRA for the past two years ($11,000)
- I recently enrolled in my work's 401K program and will be contributing the maximum amount this year
- I have another $7,000 invested in mutual funds in an Etrade account
THE QUESTION: I have $35,000 cash in my bank account and want advice as to what I should do with it. I'm assuming some has to stay for emergencies. And I'm also planning a trip to Europe this summer to reward my girlfriend and I for a long year of working hard and being frugal. And lastly, we're planning to get married in the next couple years so that includes an engagement ring, wedding, and possibly a house in the next few years. So I also have a lot of things that I need to save up for. But I'm still saving $2-$3k per month and would like to invest that money and some of the cash I have saved up.
Any advice would be great! Specifically, if the answer is to invest in index funds, what type of account do I need for that? Can I use my Etrade account? Or open up a Fidelity account (which I use for my roth IRA and 401k)?
THANK YOU in advance!