$30K in savings no 401K. Need some opinions

[Jluke]

$19K in Savings
$27K in Roth IRA
$10K in Trad. IRA
$45K in 401K (contributing 9%/$800 per mo. incl. match)
$4K in HSA

Take home is $4K/mo. and expenses are now roughly $2,500/mo. leaving me $1,500 in disposable income per month.

My 2018 goal is to try amd get rid of my car payment (I owe $9K at 2% and it's worth $23K). That's pretty much my only bill outside of the "fixed" bills like mortgage, HOA, utilities, insurance, etc.

Question, there are some major uncertainties with my job now which makes me nervous. Should I still take $5,500 from my savings and fund my Roth in Jan (it's fully funded for 2017)? If possible, I'd prefer to go all-in or nothing in Jan.

Congrats on the purchase.

Given the job uncertainty, I would do the following:
1. Contribute 5500 to your Roth in Jan 2018
2. Keep paying on the car, but not accelerated payments.
3. Save the extra cash.
4. Once job uncertainty becomes certain (hopefully good; not bad), readjust your plan.

Extra cash put towards the mortgage will actually give you more bang for your buck than paying extra to the car loan - you just won't feel instant satisfaction. And at 1500 extra per month, you are not experiencing a cash flow concern to really need to have the car paid off (and low 2% interest helps!).

Good job!

[cologero]

Wow!!! I just remembered this website and how valuable the feedback I received was! I'm going through my posts from 13 years ago and I cannot stop thinking about the whirlwind my life has been since. Anyway, thank you to the folks who previously took time to comment. Here is a quick list of how things have changed for me...

1. I was unexpectedly laid off in 2017 right after buying a condo and relocating for the company after getting their blessing to do so (bastards lol). I risked my savings (while unemployed) in real estate and bought my first real rental sight unseen! (Did the BRRRR method)
2. I now own 35 doors and 60% of them are paid off (I also do a flip or 2 per year)
3. I retired from Corporate America in 2023.
4. My NW is now just shy of 2.5 million and I'm 47 years old (was around $160K when I started this journey)
5. I think my (non real estate) monthly expenses have only increased around $1,000/mo since my original post here.

So going through my old posts now, there is so much I didn't understand back then (I was naive!) and I'm so grateful for this group as it was the first time I put myself out there and was vulnerable. It is my hope that someone may read my earlier posts and they will motivate them! Hope everyone is well!!

[ua_guy]

Nicely done. That's a lot of progress in the last 13 years!

[bjl584]

Welcome back and awesome progress

[riverwed070707]

Love this update! And impressed with your real estate progress. I burnt out after 7 doors and am wrestling daily with whether its worth the capital gains tax to sell off my portfolio :/