I'm sure this question has come up a lot, but I finally got my financial house in order and am saving 50+% of my income each month, usually 2000-3000 depending on how much freelance I do.
I'm 28 and I'd like to retire by my early forties, and my income will likely increase quite a bit over the next few years as I learn a few more programming languages/get promoted.
Monthly expenses: around $2k a month
Salary: $70,000
Freelance: 0-$1500 a month, depending on how much work comes in. Made like $8500 on it last year (but was also my first year professionally programming).
Right now I have:
$11,650 - Emergency fund in my bank savings account, pretty much no interest.
$8,845 - My Roth IRA with Vanguard. I can still put in about $7141 this year, due to being able to contribute a bit still for last year. I have the Target Retirement 2055 Fund (VFFVX)
$330 - My 401k at my job that I just started at, they do 2% matching, so that can be an extra $1400 a year. It's two year vested though. It's a SpartanŽ 500 Index Fund - Fidelity Advantage Class (FUSVX).
Debt: none.
I had planned on maxing out my Roth IRA first, then dumping everything into my 401k, but now I'm not sure if that's the best idea. I'm worried about the penalties for withdrawing before you're 59.5. I saw the sticky at the top of the page, but is that really reliable? What if the laws change?
Sorry for the newbie questions - any advice on this matter (or even recommended reading materials) would be highly appreciated.