Author Topic: Newly Minted Mustachian  (Read 1644 times)

HPLustcraft

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Newly Minted Mustachian
« on: June 07, 2018, 10:54:06 AM »
Hello all!

I'm new, having just discovered Mr Money Mustache in the past few weeks.

I've been chewing through the backlog of the blog, and am up to 2014 so far...Holy shit, I wish I had discovered this place long ago. :-(

I wasn't sure if I should post this here, or in the Ask a Mustachian section...If this is the wrong place, cool, just let me know and I'll repost there.

So here's my situation:

I live in Colorado, I'm 43, no wife and no kids...and a late bloomer, Money Mustache-wise, unfortunately.

Major debts that can actually be paid off:

I have a mortgage and a new car (2017)

Yes, I have been giving myself frequent Face-Punches for that one after reading MMM. Despite it just being a $230 a month payment, that's for 6 years, so I should have searched for a reliable used car. But since I can't get out from under it now, I must deal.

The mortgage ($550/Month with 80K left) I manage to pay an extra 2 payments a year into the principal.

The car I have been trying to make double payments on to get it done.

I pretty much just have a 401K in addition to an emergency fund, and have only recently started a Roth IRA (Once again, thanks MMM!)

I have had the 401K since 2001. It was with Morgan-Stanley for about half that time, and then Wells Fargo the rest. Ugh.

Within the last year or so, I discovered the PCRA (through Schwab) option. So, not knowing what I was doing, I went the 'Financial Advisor' route.

Once again...MMM enlightened me.

I just got out of the 'Financial Advisor' situation. I was giving them 1% to (through the PCRA) do not much but occasionally put my money into their hand picked funds...All of which had ridiculous fees and not much better returns than if I had just put my money into some Vanguard funds (which I also did not know about until reading MMM)

I now have $154K, Liquid.

I'd like some suggestions as to where to put that and future contributions, and just some general advice about how to get my shit together!

I had read a bit about the Vanguard Admiralty Shares and a few others...But, fellow Mustachians, at 43 I'm still a babe in the woods!

*BRACES SELF*

L-

RWD

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Re: Newly Minted Mustachian
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2018, 11:13:47 AM »
Welcome to the forum! Congrats on getting away from the high fee financial advisor.

For how to allocate funds see the Investment Order. If your mortgage and/or car loan are at a lower interest rate you should not be making extra payments and instead investing the extra funds.

Depending on how ridiculous your new car is you may want to replace it with something older. If it's something cheap (e.g. Corolla) then you're probably fine just keeping it for as long as possible.

If you want more specific advise you'll need to post a full breakdown of your expenses (you should start tracking your expenses, if you aren't already). See the "How to write a Case Study topic".
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/case-studies/

hadabeardonce

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Re: Newly Minted Mustachian
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2018, 11:16:24 AM »
The mortgage ($550/Month with 80K left) I manage to pay an extra 2 payments a year into the principal.

The car I have been trying to make double payments on to get it done.

...


I now have $154K, Liquid.

I'd like some suggestions as to where to put that and future contributions, and just some general advice about how to get my shit together!
Hopefully your interest rates are low on each of your loans. If they are, you may see better returns over time with investing the money rather than making extra payments. Money you put into your home or vehicle can't be as easily withdrawn...

Shedding the monthly payment may seem attractive, but it may not be the most mathematically or financially tactical advantageous maneuver in the long run. At the end of the day the decision is yours and you should do whatever makes you feel most comfortable.

Make sure you're maxing out your retirement accounts. Hopefully you have a good fund selection with low cost fees. Most retirement accounts offer an index fund or two. You can talk to your HR/Benefits department about exploring new retirement vendors if you don't have good options like Vanguard or Fidelity. The "investment order" thread stickied at the top of this forum provides good guidance.

Keep reading and searching the forum - the answers are out there *cue X-Files theme*

e34bb098

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Re: Newly Minted Mustachian
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2018, 11:18:07 AM »
Read JLCollins "Stock Series."  Then read it again.  Maybe a third time.

PDXTabs

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Re: Newly Minted Mustachian
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2018, 11:30:49 AM »
Read JLCollins "Stock Series."  Then read it again.  Maybe a third time.

Of checkout his book, The Simple Path to Wealth, from your local library.

HPLustcraft

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Re: Newly Minted Mustachian
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2018, 11:59:34 AM »
Welcome to the forum! Congrats on getting away from the high fee financial advisor.

For how to allocate funds see the Investment Order. If your mortgage and/or car loan are at a lower interest rate you should not be making extra payments and instead investing the extra funds.

Depending on how ridiculous your new car is you may want to replace it with something older. If it's something cheap (e.g. Corolla) then you're probably fine just keeping it for as long as possible.

If you want more specific advise you'll need to post a full breakdown of your expenses (you should start tracking your expenses, if you aren't already). See the "How to write a Case Study topic".
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/case-studies/

Thanks! And thanks for all of the swift responses! :-)

I am currently perusing The Investment Order...Lots of good suggestions there!

Mortgage is at 3.65 %

Car is at 1.95 %

My last one was a 2005, I kept it until 2017...I plan on keeping this one for longer.

I may post a breakdown, but this is already good advice and better than I was doing muddling around myself!

Thanks all! :-)

L-