Extra $400 a month, where to put it?

**kork13** · 09-29-2010, 01:45 PM

putting the roommate's rent into savings is a good idea, it'll serve as a good backstop if/when he moves out. I'd say you should max out your Roth IRA. You're young, so 40+ years of non-taxable growth will have fantastic returns. Obviously it's only generalized advice, but I've heard that you should max out your tax-advantaged accounts (IRA, 401k, etc) before putting too much extra toward your home's principle. But others can comment better on that.

**snshijuptr** · 09-30-2010, 07:13 AM

Do you have an efund? If not I reccomend all money goes toward that. If you do then I think your distribution is good. It really depends on your goals. Try to ballpark when and how much for your car and vacation goals so you aren't putting arbitrary amounts away.

**feh** · 09-30-2010, 08:45 AM

Assuming you already have an emergency fund, I suggest putting it in your 401K. But only you can decide how much you want to save vs spend (vacation).

**ferriwinkle** · 09-30-2010, 10:26 AM

I would say to bump up your retirement savings so it is 15% of your income, then with whatever is left you could save 1/3 for car, 1/3 for vacation, and put a 1/3 towards the principle of your home mortgage--of course this is assuming you already have 3-6 months of living expenses in an Emaergency fund--if not put everything into your EF until you have at least 3-6 months.

**disneysteve** · 09-30-2010, 10:33 AM

Rather than looking at dollar amounts, which really don't mean anything, you should look at percentages. One good breakdown is 50-30-20. That is 50% of income for needs, 30% for wants, 20% for savings with the savings portion broken down 15% to retirement and 5% to other savings (car, vacation, home remodel, etc.). As mentioned, you should also maintain a 6-month emergency fund. Follow those guidelines and you will be on the road to a financially secure future. Congrats to you for thinking about this at age 22.

**greenskeeper** · 09-30-2010, 11:50 AM

physical gold or silver

**disneysteve** · 09-30-2010, 12:23 PM

Originally posted by greenskeeper View Post

physical gold or silver

Gold is selling at record high prices. That is NOT the time to get into an investment. That's the time to be running for the exit.

**greenskeeper** · 09-30-2010, 02:29 PM

gold is not near record high if you account for inflation.
Silver is the best buy right now since it is consumed by industry at an enormous pace (shortage coming)
The price ratio between gold and silver is way out of wack as well.

At least the govt cant print gold/silver (out of thin air) and devalue it like the dollar!

Extra $400 a month, where to put it?