What to do with $25K?

[cologero]

Hey everyone,

I'll try and answer as many questions with this post.

1.) I own 2 cars because one has 162K miles on it. The other is a 2010 car that still has a full warranty for about 2 more years. It was sort of my dream car, and was something I worked really hard at owning. The total insurance for both vehicles is only $100/mo.

2.) My rental. This is the first home I purchased (I originally lived in it). I owe about $42K on it and it's probably valued between $35K-$40K (I write off the interest on my taxes). A relative has rented it for about 8 years and has been a good tenant. He basically pays my mortgage and takes care of any issues. My goal is to allow him to rent it as long as possible. Then when I'm ready to sell it, perhaps I won't be underwater...or just maybe, I could turn a small profit.

3.) Will I max out my 401K this year? Probably not this year, but perhaps next year. I want to grow my savings a little more, plus I need to save for some furniture, a trip to Texas and there's a lingering issue with my older vehicle that will need fixed in the upcoming months. I should have about $13K invested in my 401K by the end of my 1st year though.

4.) My tradional IRA. I'm not sure of the fees off the top-of-my-head, but I can find out. I do know that it's managed by Jackson National. The guy I use has handled all of the retirement and investments for my company's owner for many many years, so I know he's trustworthy. I can tell you that I made about $700 on it in the past year (and $191 on the Q1 statement I just received). Not sure if that's good or not.

5.) Why buy another home? For starters I don't like the complex I'm in (or the ownership), but it's the nicest place in the area for the money. I pay $805/mo. in rent but that goes up every year. Honestly, I'm a single guy and just have cabin fever from being in an apartment for 8 years. While I'm no handyman, I like learning how to do repairs and taking care of a home. Plus, I need some more space. I know I could always rent a home, so maybe that's an option for me? I don't know. While I do work 60 hours/wk. a portion of that time is from home. I also can take the weekends off if I need to do things.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that I love working. Unless forced, I will probably never completely retire. There are only so many vacations and Margaritas a person can drink anyways

[autoxer]

4.) My tradional IRA. I'm not sure of the fees off the top-of-my-head, but I can find out. I do know that it's managed by Jackson National. The guy I use has handled all of the retirement and investments for my company's owner for many many years, so I know he's trustworthy. I can tell you that I made about $700 on it in the past year (and $191 on the Q1 statement I just received). Not sure if that's good or not.

He may be trustworthy, but his best interests are different from yours. His goal is to skim enough in expenses from all the money they manage to provide for his lifestyle. Your goal should be to keep as much of it as possible. It's a shame that they are allowed to bury the expense as a ratio that gets skimmed out of the fund, because if people had to write a check for the expenses every year, there would be a whole lot more skepticism about the industry.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that I love working. Unless forced, I will probably never completely retire. There are only so many vacations and Margaritas a person can drink anyways

To me being retired doesn't mean seizing all productivity. It just means that money isn't the deciding factor for how you spend your time. Once you have all of your basic needs covered, you have complete freedom with your time. An eternal vacation doesn't excite me too much either, I'd rather be building things and I think I could be more productive at the things that I am passionate about, if I didn't have the 9 to 5 schedule.

[feh]

One other thing I wanted to mention is that I love working. Unless forced, I will probably never completely retire. There are only so many vacations and Margaritas a person can drink anyways

People change. Jobs change. Don't assume you'll love going to work when you're 50, 60, 70.

Give your future self options.