The Beginner Phase

[mrmanhands22]

After stumbling on the FI community, and having just finished JL Collin's book, I'm ready to go. Here are my issues and constraints. My wife and I both have an IRA. I have a roth that I got as a graduation gift. It has $33k invested in the Vanguard total retirement fund, and $5,500 (maxed out for 2017) all invested in the Vanguard total Stock index Inv shares. My wife has $5,500 in her traditional all in Vanguards total stock index investor shares. So we can't contribute to our IRAs anymore. We recently liquidated a $54k investment we had in a life insurance type vehicle. I can't start contributing to my 403b yet because I'm not getting paid during the summer months, so I can't do payroll deductions. I haven't found any solid options for a 403b for my wife among her counties options yet. So now I have about $60-65k just sitting in my money market and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. I know I would like to have some of Vanguards total bond index. Do I just start a taxable account, and make sure that I have the allocation I want across my entire portfolio? Should I set aside $18k in cash and just contribute every cent of my pay to my 403b until I max it out, and live off the cash I set aside? Maybe do the same for my wife, and leave the rest in my taxable account. Would it be dumb/risky, to just put the $60-65k in to a taxable account with an 80/20 Total Stock/Total bond split, and just leave it but check once a year to rebalance? I don't want to have to check the money all the time, and risk getting scared, panicking and making a bad decision. I just read a post about Betterment, but feel like I'm signing up for an adviser. Perhaps the costs are low enough to warrant it though. It's like I know where I want to go, and essentially how I want to get there, but I'm struggling to figure out exactly how to start. Thanks for any help, MrManHands22

[aceyou]

Wow, you are off to a great start already!  Let's see if we can organize this a little more and get a plan going.  Here's what I'm seeing:

Current Stache: $44,000
Your Roth: 33k + 5.5k for this year
DW's Roth: 5.5k for this year
Your 403B: zero, but you have access to one
DW's 403B: zero, but she has access to one

Cash on hand: $60,000-$65,000

A few questions for you.  Answer any that you feel comfortable sharing, because it would make a difference in what your best strategy might be:

-  How old are you and your wife?
- Are you teachers...basically, are you working towards a pension? (FYI, I'm a math teacher, and have a 403B/457/Roth)
- When are you hoping to FIRE?
- Do you have a target stache amount you are working towards?
- Do you have other assets/liabilities...home, mortgage, students loans, car loans, etc?
- Here's a big one, what exactly ARE your investments options and fees for you and your wife's 403B's.  We will be able to better figure out what the best route is once we know exactly what those costs are. 

[MDM]

Let's see if we can organize this a little more and get a plan going.

+1 on the general idea and the specific questions.

See How To: Write a "Case Study" Topic for more.

See also Asking Portfolio Questions - Bogleheads.org.  The MMM Case Study outline is preferable in general, but the Bogleheads "how to describe current investments and investment options" is a good addition.  E.g.,

Funds available in her 403(b)
Fund name (ticker symbol) (expense ratio)

...but if the symbol comes before the name, that's ok too. ;)

[FIRE 20/20]

I recommend JLCollinsNH's book or, if you want it for free, read the stock series on his blog:

http://jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/

Here's a post on the order to invest:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/investment-order/msg1333153/#msg1333153

However, one thing I always tell friends and co-workers who are starting out is that 90% of this whole FIRE/MMM thing is about taking control of your spending.  It sounds like you probably have a good handle on that.  If you get the spending side right and you do something totally non-optimal in the beginning like parking money in a savings account at 0% interest, buying into an investment with high fees, etc., you'll still be waaaaaaaaay better off than someone who doesn't have their spending optimized.  What I'm trying to say here is - give yourself (and your wife) a pat on the back for getting started on the right foot.  It appears you're already 90% of the way there, so don't let yourself get too stressed about that last 10%.  Feel free to take your time to read up on different investments and the tax implications of different account types.  Those things are important and will matter in the long run, but not as much as getting the core value of optimizing your spending and developing an independent mindset first.