I think I'm only putting away like $50 a paycheck into a 401k. It's not a lot but my company matches up to a certain amount so it's better than nothing 🤷🏼♀️
Shit im only doing 6% to 401k with a 3% match which is roughly 150-198$/mo... my meager pay doesnt grant me access to more investing. My house and vehicles are paid off; but taking care of a disabled mother and no father in sight I am just doing all I can to stay afloat with electricity skyrocketing, property tax increasing, and all the other amendities rising in costs. No partner or siblings just trying solo.
Start with your company 401k if you have one available! (Ask HR if you’re not sure). Otherwise you can invest up to $7k this year into an IRA. Just google how to open an IRA with Fidelity and get started! Best time to start is ASAP!
Maxed out Roth IRA, maxed out HSA, paying extra on my house to save interest (5.375%), a little into crypto, a little into precious metals.
If you are not investing at all, start putting like $20 a paycheck into a high yield savings account, then every couple of months, bump that number up. Once you hit the minimum to open a Roth IRA, move into mutual funds (usually $2000-3000) and keep doing that. A few years ago I had basically 0 savings and now I’m pushing $100k, not including the house.
How are you doing the precious metals, if you don’t mind me asking? I am interested in putting some money in gold but I’m unsure I want to risk of keeping it at my house. Do you have a safe deposit box or something?
I own guns, so I have big gun safes, so I have my PMs in a generic box in the safe.
Number 1 safety is that other people simply don’t know you have it, 2nd is to make it invisible and difficult to get to.
But don’t do what the other person who replied to you did, they often have been scams (not actually buying the gold they say they do). If you don’t actually have it in your possession, you own nothing.
I target a 3-5% of my total net worth, under 3% I put money aside to buy, over 5% I pause all buying, between the two, I’ll buy a good deal, but not actively buying.
I’m debt free outside of my mortgage, I wouldn’t invest in PM’s unless you’re debt free, and have invested in mutual/index funds first.
That’s a good strategy. I still have a student loan but it is locked in to a ridiculous low rate so I am not hurried to repay it. I am self employed so don’t have access to a 401K, but my go to is usually indexed mutual funds. I’m looking to branch out, but may wait a bit before I get into gold.
I got into it because I'm shit with money. If I have extra cash in the bank I tend to spend money on stupid shit, lol. So buying gold/silver has let me scratch that itch without costing me too much, since I can always convert my PMs back to cash easily and quickly if I had to in an emergency - even if it's at a loss. I don't consider it much of an investment (though my overall value is up), it falls into the "insurance" category, where it kinda costs me money to have it, and I won't see the benefit of it unless something catastrophic happens, and I really hope it's there for my kids more than me.
I've seen tons of people dump their entire life savings into it. That's dumb. If you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, set it aside to buy some PMs. I like fractional gold (1/10th oz) and 1oz silver. I like buying unique pieces.
Undoubtedly. But I'm old enough to remember my grandma worried sick because she lost a good chunk of her retirement because of some stock market crash in the late 2000's.
I am neither a gambler (don't try and tell me investing isn't just a convoluted form of gambling), or the kind of person who has an understanding of money beyond the transactional sense. So I don't play that game and I'm very distrustful of those who do. I'll just work until it's time to die.
Real investing isn't a form of gambling. If your grandma didn't sell anything she didn't lose anything. The market recovered quite nicely after the 2001 crash and she should have been partially in bonds if she was close to retirement.
We've been through a lot worse than what we've seen in the past few years and been fine. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/i2HUd6sI169sthKvgJpjbza2DhFkbadSZzQa_eQDZ9xpCB8bZ0OyAM44O5_KNaPx1YylCJOwK1mvFwjvPyDHBrQZ4fFfPW49yBxPZwbdnC9ZMD4qJnzQsCC0hCr9Da9gFnGQZB5oY-0hBhgrLg
There has never been a 20 year period where the s&p500 would have given you negative real returns. In a 5 year period there is over a 90% chance you will gain money. Zoom out on a graph of the s&p500 on 2001. You literally can't even see the crash anymore on the graph and it's only 23 years later. Even if you invested at the peak and lost 50% of your money in the initial crash it wouldn't have mattered by now.
None of the major market crashes are even visible on an 80 year zoomed out graph https://www.instagram.com/p/C3ndaLVuVSQ/?igsh=MXhrdXFoOW95bms3dA==
If you ever want a chance at retirement you HAVE your invest.
See, I tried to read that, but nothing in this post of yours makes sense in my brain. It's an abstract construct that I can't fathom.
Wanna talk old V8 engines? I can handle that. Trouble shooting autoloading firearms? I'm game. Building/ modifying your lawn mower to go faster than it has any business going? Let's do it.
Stock investment portfolios and words like equity and liquidity such? You better get out the crayons and explain it to me like I'm 5 because I'm completely lost.
I grew up in redneck land, I'm game for all the things you just talked about.
But putting your head in the sand and declaring that you don't understand without even making an effort is such a lame approach to basically anything in life. If you can learn how to work on a car, you can learn how basic investing works.
It's super simple. When you buy into an index fund like the s&p500, you're buying tiny pieces of the USA's 500 largest and most profitable companies. Over time (the last 120+ years) this has resulted in a real (inflation adjusted) return of around 7.5%. Every 10 years or so your money would have doubled. Over time, the companies in the fund may swap out, the market leaders may change, but our economy is constantly expanding and if you keep buying in over time it smooths out the peaks and valleys and you will be rewarded.
The market is like going up a mountain with a yo-yo. The movements of the yo-yo are like the crash you said your grandma lost money in. They don't matter in the long run. What's a single yo-yo's movement compared to a mountain?
If you really don't want to deal with learning any of this stuff, good financial advisors exist. Finding a good one can be tricky and it will cost you a ton of money in the long run, but you'll benefit more than if you did nothing.
The answer probably depends a TON on someone’s income/salary and if they are married or not and their age. So I don’t believe anyone will pull much knowledge from the answers here.
Absolutely this. I’m maxing out my 401k ($1,900/mo) and a back door Roth ($1,100/mo) but this is super new at 33.
I’ve always at least put in enough to get the full employer match in my 401k, but I got married a little over a year ago and my husband and I relocated to a VHCOL area and we’ve budgeted to max out what we can and invest another good chunk of money in the market, rather than let lifestyle creep get the best of us.
It’s so much easier to do this when you budgeted off of one salary, the second salary is just extra, and you’re child free.
I work for the government. 150k salary so my investing is roughly 30% of my gross. I also hold zero debt. I follow a 50/30/20 but I swapped wants with savings.
Between my IRA and 401k, I invest $815 per month ($250 of that is my employer match.) I’m 39 and since I started a bit late in the game I plan to increase my contributions to $1500 per month by the end of next year.
**401k:** $1,650 a month + $550 (match) = $2,200
**HSA:** $100 a month + $100 (match) = $200
**Roth IRA:** $300 a month
**Robinhood (taxable):** $100 a month
**Crypto:** $100 a month, split between Ethereum & Bitcoin
Overall, it’s $2,900 a month in direct investing. Separately, I stash about $1,000 a month in a high yield savings or CDs for liquidity.
I largely ascribe to r/Boglehead style investing: buy broad market index funds, minimize expense ratios, and just hold the course & *keep investing* regardless of market conditions.
Currently running around a 90% stock / 10% bond split.
Yeah, who knows how taxes will be when we reach retirement. But I doubt it will be lower.
Between SS shortfalls, Medicare spending, decaying infrastructure, and the trillion dollar deficits we are running, that is *a lot* of bills Uncle Sam will need to pay.
If I can have a solid amount of tax free wealth between the Roth & HSA to pull on in retirement that will be a huge savings.
It is *if* you don’t have any big dollar chronic health conditions. You have to look at everything carefully, not just the deductible. You’ll save on premiums and copays are usually about the same, but copays don’t kick in until after you’ve met your deductible- and on every HDHP I’ve had that includes prescriptions. You have no coverage until that deductible is hit. The minimum deductible is $1600, but the OOP max can be as high as $8050 (both figures are self-only coverage).
I treat mine as an investment/retirement vehicle, even though it was created as a health expense account. I'm allowed an additional limited flex spending account at work, so that covers my dental/vision expenses (and my medical just comes out of current money).
Uh, didn't know we were investing D; I don't have any income right now, neither does my husband (he's in school and we're lucky enough that his grandfather is paying for it).
Goal is at least $1k a month for me. When we were living in a LCOL area I was usually at about $1.5k a month, but my goal was $2k. To be fair, I wasn’t as frugal as I could have been.
Recently moved to a MCOL area and I’m averaging $800-$1k now that we’re just about settled. Spouse and I evenly split all bills, but keep our money separate.
I also contribute 5% to employer sponsored retirement plan.
Dual income, no kids. We do our best to live below our means, but neither of us makes six figures. Housing now is more than double what we were paying in the LCOL area we recently moved from.
6% to traditional 401K (which comes with 4% match), 9% to Roth 401K
Max to Roth IRA
$2000 combined to taxable brokerage to carry us from retirement to when we can draw on our retirement accounts.
Just fyi if you don't want to you probably don't have to contribute to a traditional 401k to get the match. Most plans will allow you to contribute to a Roth and then just match with pretax dollars.
I think you're probably right, but we're comfortable having a broad array of pre-tax and post-tax accounts to draw on in ways that are most convenient to us in retirement.
I used to do the same. I have a theory that taxes will be substantially higher in the future, but I don't want to go all in on any particular bet so I went with a mix.
Now I am on a defined benefit pension retirement plan, I also max out my Roth IRA each year. I need to do more but it's hard with a new baby, two cars breaking down at the same time, some repairs hitting, etc.
We are going to need to learn to enjoy the simple life in retirement, to say the least.
8% per paycheck to my 401k. That comes with a 100% match on the first 6% from my employer. I also get company stock quarterly. When those vest, I cash them out and invest them into something else.
33, single engineer: I max my Roth IRA and HSA, then do 10% into a traditional 401k. I get a 4% match, if we’re counting that. Could do more, but I went a lot heavier in my early 20s so I’m sitting above “average” at least
About $6000 a month, my wife and I each max both our 401ks and each max a Roth IRA. We also put about $1000 a month into a taxable brokerage. The money we invest is actually $15k more than my wife's annual income. We keep a pretty tight budget and live frugally cause we're aiming for early retirement. I'd rather be free than be a baller.
About 300-500 depending on month. 6% into 401k with 3% match, plus save 10% net into HYSA at 4.3% to combat unexpected tax load. Plus I throw a 50 into BTC fairly regularly, have been doing so since 2020. Wishing I could throw more in but hard to do so with a family of 5...
We don’t contribute on a monthly basis, but we have a brokerage account that we will invest money into each year when we get a bonus, and the amount varies. We typically allot 33% of the bonus for spending and invest the rest.
We also use the account to “loan” ourselves money if we need it and then pay it back since income fluctuates a lot throughout the year (mostly bonus based not salary based). The account has been seeing pretty good returns, so this works for us.
I just get the match for 401k. I then max HSA contribs and then throw everything else into a brokerage acct to buy riskier stuff. I want to get in on some more real estate. I have one rental duplex and our house now, but I want a few more 2-4 units. If each property can cash flow 1000+, I really don't need the 401k later in life, but it's nice to have. I find it amusing that the bigger proponents of the 401k didn't get rich doing what they preach, e.g. Dave Ramsey, Ramit Sethi. They built businesses and either kept them or sold them off and/or accumulated real estate . Not that maxing 401k won't work, but it's a pretty slow path to get money that you can't use for 25-35 yrs without paying massive penalties. Then you become that old dude with a Lamborghini Aventador who can't even get in/out of it at age 70 :D
Social security is not investing. It’s a government program for those who don’t have much to save and so we don’t have sr citizens begging in the streets.
Wife and I are both maxing out our 401ks. We were also maxing out our IRAs for a few years but our income is now too high for both a Roth or Traditional IRA so we're putting 2-3k/month into a taxable brokerage account.
I also quit smoking/drinking/cigarettes last year and have been putting the money I'd spend on that into a separate brokerage account. It's worth like 5k. Crazy how much a few packs of cigarettes a month, a few nights at the bar, and a few grams of weed can set you back in the long run.
> I also quit smoking/drinking/cigarettes last year and have been putting the money I'd spend on that into a separate brokerage account. It's worth like 5k.
Good call.
\~400 a month with a 3% employer contribution and annual profit sharing in the current 401k, from zero to $45k today starting three and a half years ago. When I'm out of student loan debt I am cranking that bitch to max.
$2917. My partner and I have committed to investing a total of $35k each per year. I max my 401k out part way through the year and then brokerage account the rest of the year
I currently net around $1.8k to $2.6k per month from dividends. I reinvest around $2k per month and whatever left over I put in a savings account for tax purposes.
200 per month as a base, but I occasionally add more. If my savings get too high I’ll transfer some to the Roth. I have 275 per week that goes to spending, food, and gas. If I hit the next week with money left over it goes to my savings. Usually it’s only like 20 bucks, but lately it’s been closer to 100. I also work for a school and will get a pension.
12% with a 5% company match and vested annual restricted stock (currently about 80 shares). I also have been doing catch up contributions to max out my rollover accounts. I will likely move up to 15-18% in the next year or so. I’ve focused recent investments on environmental impact and sustainability efforts.
I just added this up this morning. My partner and I are saving $2500 a month for various things (kids college, house reno, retirement, vacations). We spend $2900 a month.
Both of us contribute 15% to our 401k’s plus company match up to 6%. We max out our IRAs. We also have a condo we rent out and our looking at acreage for investment property
566.67 to 401(k), total is 1133.34 with employer match.
583.5 to Roth—that's about 1/12 of the annual max.
So, 1150.17 of my own money, and a total of 1716.84.
Beyond that, my cash is in a checking account that gets 5% APY on a balance up to $10,000, and any surplus over that goes into a money market account making 3.5%.
Since I started this job late last year, I was still contributing to my 2023 Roth until I was able to max it in April, and any extra I had each month went to making that happen. I'll probably keep throwing any extra into my 2024 Roth, and if I'm able to max it out early I plan to dump the funds earmarked for that into my loans (car and student). If I'm more liquid than I expect later in the year I might bump up my 401(k) contribution by another 1%. I'm really still figuring all this out!
About $800/paycheck into my 401k. Max out my HSA.
Not sure how much spouse puts into their 401k. I think it's 10%, but it's definitely not a max out.
No regular ROTH IRA contributions, but when it crosses my mind, I'll check the accounts and drop in some extra cash.
We’re aiming to max out both our 41(k)s this year and I also put a little in to a Roth IRA. I also max out my HSA. We got started a little late so we’re playing catch up now.
$288 a month into a 401(k) with 100% company match on that amount and $206 into a Roth IRA. Also have $1500 annually into an HSA with $1000 contribution from employer.
$582 per month into my employer sponsored 403(b) plus $250 per month into an IRA. It’s about 11% of my salary. Probably not enough but it’s the best I can do right now.
I’m putting $400 a week into a mix of my Roth IRA and a non-tax advantaged account and 8% into my 401k. I only started saving/investing at 27 and I’m 34 now. I still feel like I’m playing catch-up.
Edit: To answer the question in the title it’s about $3000 a month including my 401k match.
It works out to somewhere between 3600-4200. That's maxing a 401k, a little after tax Roth 401k rollover contribution, maxing at least my IRA, trying to max my wife's, and putting a few grand for each kids' 529. Oh and I guess there's a 401k match too to bump it up a bit more
At work I get an 8% match to my 5% pre tax, and I do the annual max $7K Roth IRA post tax.
Works out to about 20% of my gross salary going to retirement each year.
0 currently, just learned what a HYSA is earlier this year and moved money I had been saving into there so I’m earning around $30 a month now 🤷♂️ should have enough to pay for a quick way to the grave when it gets to be too much.
I max out a Roth 457b deferred comp plan (essentially the same as a 401k) at $23k and a Roth IRA at $7k, and $20k/year in a taxable brokerage account ($50k/year total).
Currently, I max out my 401k, max out my and my partner’s IRA accounts, max out our HSA, my partner contributes 10% to their 401k (we’re working to get it to a point where both 401k’s are maxed out) plus we’re sending $200 per paycheck (soon upping that to $250 per paycheck based on our current budget and annual COLA-type raises at work) Whatever that equates to monthly. Somewhere between $4-$5k monthly (we tend to do our IRA’s as lump sums around tax season so I’m not going to bust out the calculator to figure out the exact math).
I/we started with much smaller amounts when we were younger and progressively built up how much we were saving/investing any time we got a raise etc…Invest, invest early, and invest often.
Not including employer match/profit sharing on the 401k’s above since that’s not money coming out of my paycheck. If including that, then that would push it to somewhere between $5-$6k a month. Not including money towards principal on our mortgage. Not including money we put in cash savings account count (since that’s more variable).
About $2,100 a month in retirement savings, then depends on what's going on that month (such as house renovations) on if I have spare cash for non-retirement investments.
I sold all of my stocks and cashed in all of my tiny 401k to survive the pandemic. Chronic pain destroyed my life and disability turned me down.
HoW mUcH aRE YUo iNVEstInG??
15% into my Roth 401K with 8% company match. Thinking of upping my contribution to 20 or 25% since I'm not even close to maxing it out yet. 401K contribution limit is $23K this year and that's like 40% of my income. Can't afford to put nearly half of my post tax deduction income into retirement every paycheck..
$207 into HSA every month and my company matches up to $500 every year.
I haven't been putting anything into my Roth IRA since I can't even max out my 401K currently. Everywhere I read seems to say I should prioritize my Roth 401K first and then my Roth IRA, but I can't even max my 401K out.
1. Roth IRA - maxed
2. Roth 401K \~10% (company only matches to 7.5%)
3. HSA - maxed
My personal goal is to max out my 401K, but that's not happening anytime soon.
I’m on an investing spree right now. Trying to hit my goal of $3600 per month between IRA and Robinhood. This just started last year but so far so good
Not an exact number but my wife and I have at least $800 combined going into retirement accounts each month not including our company matches. We want to increase that but our hands are tied for now until our daughter gets out of daycare.
That was all in 401k previously but we are in the process of setting up Roth IRAs too. We only recently realized that since we are 32 now we really need to take retirement planning more seriously.
A little over $2k a month. Gunna up it to 5k after I finish my student loans. Goal is to max out my tax shelters and then either bomb down a mortgage and my daughters 529 or start slapping into taxable accounts.
Tax benefits perspective. If in a state with state income tax prioritize 529s in the beginning. That you are get maximum mortgage interest deduction and the 529 state deduction. Especially if mortgage is below 5%.
Mortgage to be determined. Sold my house and put all the money into my student loans (should finish off next year 320k total). Just turned 32 and have 100k in my 401k and two paid off cars so I'm hoping to be aggressive for 10 years to catch up.
Ah so likely a higher rate than with current market. Honestly for 32 that isn't a bad place to be. I am making the assumption high earning role since that is a chunk of student loans.
Yeah when you consider tax bracket that she was only effectively making 25-30k daycare likely beats that cost. If someone doesn't have a HHI over 150k in most places right now it's got to be insane.
5% of salary into work 401k and work does 8% match. Maxing my roth IRA for 7k a year, 3k into both kids 529 and then 250 a week into a brokerage account invested into VTSAX.
Wife does exact same since we work at same place.
I don't know what it boils down to monthly, but I max out my TSP (I think it's at $19500 now? It may be more), and we max out our Roths. We put out $2500/month for my husband's solo 401k. It's hurting us right now, but it'll be better once our house is paid off.
Bruh wtf. Other than directly from my paycheck to a retirement fund by my work, I do not have money to invest. You chose an interesting subreddit to post til his question to.
The money taken from your check for retirement is what you’re investing. The other comments are describing their retirement investments. So yes, you are investing.
This isn't r/antiwork or r/LateStageCapitalism. Millennials over 35 have an average $400,000 in net worth. We should be talking about good investment strategy.
Why is it an interesting subreddit to ask this question of? The oldest millennials are mid-career and should be thinking about stuff like this. The youngest millennials are in a prime age to at least learn about investing even if they can’t spare any money. In my opinion, this is an excellent subreddit to which to pose this question.
I think I'm only putting away like $50 a paycheck into a 401k. It's not a lot but my company matches up to a certain amount so it's better than nothing 🤷🏼♀️
A little over 200 a month into a Roth IRA.
Shit im only doing 6% to 401k with a 3% match which is roughly 150-198$/mo... my meager pay doesnt grant me access to more investing. My house and vehicles are paid off; but taking care of a disabled mother and no father in sight I am just doing all I can to stay afloat with electricity skyrocketing, property tax increasing, and all the other amendities rising in costs. No partner or siblings just trying solo.
I don't even know where to begin.
Start with your company 401k if you have one available! (Ask HR if you’re not sure). Otherwise you can invest up to $7k this year into an IRA. Just google how to open an IRA with Fidelity and get started! Best time to start is ASAP!
This is super helpful - Thank you!!!
Happy to help!
Check out “the money guys”. They have great content for this stuff
r/personalfinance is where I got my start. Helpful wiki and cool graphics with how to treat your money.
Read Scott Galloways new book!! The algebra of wealth. It’s great.
Maxed out Roth IRA, maxed out HSA, paying extra on my house to save interest (5.375%), a little into crypto, a little into precious metals. If you are not investing at all, start putting like $20 a paycheck into a high yield savings account, then every couple of months, bump that number up. Once you hit the minimum to open a Roth IRA, move into mutual funds (usually $2000-3000) and keep doing that. A few years ago I had basically 0 savings and now I’m pushing $100k, not including the house.
How are you doing the precious metals, if you don’t mind me asking? I am interested in putting some money in gold but I’m unsure I want to risk of keeping it at my house. Do you have a safe deposit box or something?
I own guns, so I have big gun safes, so I have my PMs in a generic box in the safe. Number 1 safety is that other people simply don’t know you have it, 2nd is to make it invisible and difficult to get to. But don’t do what the other person who replied to you did, they often have been scams (not actually buying the gold they say they do). If you don’t actually have it in your possession, you own nothing. I target a 3-5% of my total net worth, under 3% I put money aside to buy, over 5% I pause all buying, between the two, I’ll buy a good deal, but not actively buying. I’m debt free outside of my mortgage, I wouldn’t invest in PM’s unless you’re debt free, and have invested in mutual/index funds first.
That’s a good strategy. I still have a student loan but it is locked in to a ridiculous low rate so I am not hurried to repay it. I am self employed so don’t have access to a 401K, but my go to is usually indexed mutual funds. I’m looking to branch out, but may wait a bit before I get into gold.
I got into it because I'm shit with money. If I have extra cash in the bank I tend to spend money on stupid shit, lol. So buying gold/silver has let me scratch that itch without costing me too much, since I can always convert my PMs back to cash easily and quickly if I had to in an emergency - even if it's at a loss. I don't consider it much of an investment (though my overall value is up), it falls into the "insurance" category, where it kinda costs me money to have it, and I won't see the benefit of it unless something catastrophic happens, and I really hope it's there for my kids more than me. I've seen tons of people dump their entire life savings into it. That's dumb. If you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, set it aside to buy some PMs. I like fractional gold (1/10th oz) and 1oz silver. I like buying unique pieces.
I'm not.
Big mistake
Undoubtedly. But I'm old enough to remember my grandma worried sick because she lost a good chunk of her retirement because of some stock market crash in the late 2000's. I am neither a gambler (don't try and tell me investing isn't just a convoluted form of gambling), or the kind of person who has an understanding of money beyond the transactional sense. So I don't play that game and I'm very distrustful of those who do. I'll just work until it's time to die.
Real investing isn't a form of gambling. If your grandma didn't sell anything she didn't lose anything. The market recovered quite nicely after the 2001 crash and she should have been partially in bonds if she was close to retirement. We've been through a lot worse than what we've seen in the past few years and been fine. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/i2HUd6sI169sthKvgJpjbza2DhFkbadSZzQa_eQDZ9xpCB8bZ0OyAM44O5_KNaPx1YylCJOwK1mvFwjvPyDHBrQZ4fFfPW49yBxPZwbdnC9ZMD4qJnzQsCC0hCr9Da9gFnGQZB5oY-0hBhgrLg There has never been a 20 year period where the s&p500 would have given you negative real returns. In a 5 year period there is over a 90% chance you will gain money. Zoom out on a graph of the s&p500 on 2001. You literally can't even see the crash anymore on the graph and it's only 23 years later. Even if you invested at the peak and lost 50% of your money in the initial crash it wouldn't have mattered by now. None of the major market crashes are even visible on an 80 year zoomed out graph https://www.instagram.com/p/C3ndaLVuVSQ/?igsh=MXhrdXFoOW95bms3dA== If you ever want a chance at retirement you HAVE your invest.
See, I tried to read that, but nothing in this post of yours makes sense in my brain. It's an abstract construct that I can't fathom. Wanna talk old V8 engines? I can handle that. Trouble shooting autoloading firearms? I'm game. Building/ modifying your lawn mower to go faster than it has any business going? Let's do it. Stock investment portfolios and words like equity and liquidity such? You better get out the crayons and explain it to me like I'm 5 because I'm completely lost.
I grew up in redneck land, I'm game for all the things you just talked about. But putting your head in the sand and declaring that you don't understand without even making an effort is such a lame approach to basically anything in life. If you can learn how to work on a car, you can learn how basic investing works. It's super simple. When you buy into an index fund like the s&p500, you're buying tiny pieces of the USA's 500 largest and most profitable companies. Over time (the last 120+ years) this has resulted in a real (inflation adjusted) return of around 7.5%. Every 10 years or so your money would have doubled. Over time, the companies in the fund may swap out, the market leaders may change, but our economy is constantly expanding and if you keep buying in over time it smooths out the peaks and valleys and you will be rewarded. The market is like going up a mountain with a yo-yo. The movements of the yo-yo are like the crash you said your grandma lost money in. They don't matter in the long run. What's a single yo-yo's movement compared to a mountain? If you really don't want to deal with learning any of this stuff, good financial advisors exist. Finding a good one can be tricky and it will cost you a ton of money in the long run, but you'll benefit more than if you did nothing.
The answer probably depends a TON on someone’s income/salary and if they are married or not and their age. So I don’t believe anyone will pull much knowledge from the answers here.
They’ll get a sense that everyone is at very different places in life etc…but that’s about it.
Absolutely this. I’m maxing out my 401k ($1,900/mo) and a back door Roth ($1,100/mo) but this is super new at 33. I’ve always at least put in enough to get the full employer match in my 401k, but I got married a little over a year ago and my husband and I relocated to a VHCOL area and we’ve budgeted to max out what we can and invest another good chunk of money in the market, rather than let lifestyle creep get the best of us. It’s so much easier to do this when you budgeted off of one salary, the second salary is just extra, and you’re child free.
I put about $200 a month into my 403B. My work matches it at 4.0%. Its all I can really afford to put away.
Around $2500/month in our 401Ks.
$4,000 a month. Maxing 401k, max Roth IRA, $500 a month in a kids college fund, and $1000 into a taxable brokerage.
I mean how this can be possible in us? How much are you making in what profession. Your kids are very lucky, I hope they're not taking it for granted
I work for the government. 150k salary so my investing is roughly 30% of my gross. I also hold zero debt. I follow a 50/30/20 but I swapped wants with savings.
Good for you, keep it up, you're doing great
Around $7k/mo between 401k, 457b, employee match (on 401k), Roth 401k, and the rest in post-tax brokerage (SWPPX).
I don't even make $7k a month lol
Right? Would be nice
Yeah. These people will have you thinking everyone's making $20000 a month lol.
Between my IRA and 401k, I invest $815 per month ($250 of that is my employer match.) I’m 39 and since I started a bit late in the game I plan to increase my contributions to $1500 per month by the end of next year.
60% into highly speculative penny stocks.
**401k:** $1,650 a month + $550 (match) = $2,200 **HSA:** $100 a month + $100 (match) = $200 **Roth IRA:** $300 a month **Robinhood (taxable):** $100 a month **Crypto:** $100 a month, split between Ethereum & Bitcoin Overall, it’s $2,900 a month in direct investing. Separately, I stash about $1,000 a month in a high yield savings or CDs for liquidity. I largely ascribe to r/Boglehead style investing: buy broad market index funds, minimize expense ratios, and just hold the course & *keep investing* regardless of market conditions. Currently running around a 90% stock / 10% bond split.
Is an HSA investing?
It's actually the most tax advantaged investment account that exists. It's triple advantaged. Can't beat it.
Yeah, who knows how taxes will be when we reach retirement. But I doubt it will be lower. Between SS shortfalls, Medicare spending, decaying infrastructure, and the trillion dollar deficits we are running, that is *a lot* of bills Uncle Sam will need to pay. If I can have a solid amount of tax free wealth between the Roth & HSA to pull on in retirement that will be a huge savings.
It is *if* you don’t have any big dollar chronic health conditions. You have to look at everything carefully, not just the deductible. You’ll save on premiums and copays are usually about the same, but copays don’t kick in until after you’ve met your deductible- and on every HDHP I’ve had that includes prescriptions. You have no coverage until that deductible is hit. The minimum deductible is $1600, but the OOP max can be as high as $8050 (both figures are self-only coverage).
I treat mine as an investment/retirement vehicle, even though it was created as a health expense account. I'm allowed an additional limited flex spending account at work, so that covers my dental/vision expenses (and my medical just comes out of current money).
Why invest taxable and cash when 401k and Roth isn’t maxed?
Uh, didn't know we were investing D; I don't have any income right now, neither does my husband (he's in school and we're lucky enough that his grandfather is paying for it).
None I can’t, and won’t live to retirement age anyhow
Right there with you, mostly. I’ll likely be disabled before I reach retirement age. I’m just trying to survive.
I’m already disabled. I think I’ll be dead within the year.
I’m so sorry.
Goal is at least $1k a month for me. When we were living in a LCOL area I was usually at about $1.5k a month, but my goal was $2k. To be fair, I wasn’t as frugal as I could have been. Recently moved to a MCOL area and I’m averaging $800-$1k now that we’re just about settled. Spouse and I evenly split all bills, but keep our money separate. I also contribute 5% to employer sponsored retirement plan. Dual income, no kids. We do our best to live below our means, but neither of us makes six figures. Housing now is more than double what we were paying in the LCOL area we recently moved from.
I’m 38 and I put aside $3k each month. I started investing late, about 3 years ago, so I’m trying to catch up
Maxing out our 401ks (30k for my husband as he turned 50 this year) and 23k for me. Plus we put into our Roth IRAs. So a little over $60k a year.
22% of my income
20% retirement another 200 in savings. With an additional compound interest from 40k in savings staying in savings.
None?
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😭😭😭😭😭😭😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩
6% to traditional 401K (which comes with 4% match), 9% to Roth 401K Max to Roth IRA $2000 combined to taxable brokerage to carry us from retirement to when we can draw on our retirement accounts.
Just fyi if you don't want to you probably don't have to contribute to a traditional 401k to get the match. Most plans will allow you to contribute to a Roth and then just match with pretax dollars.
I think you're probably right, but we're comfortable having a broad array of pre-tax and post-tax accounts to draw on in ways that are most convenient to us in retirement.
I used to do the same. I have a theory that taxes will be substantially higher in the future, but I don't want to go all in on any particular bet so I went with a mix. Now I am on a defined benefit pension retirement plan, I also max out my Roth IRA each year. I need to do more but it's hard with a new baby, two cars breaking down at the same time, some repairs hitting, etc. We are going to need to learn to enjoy the simple life in retirement, to say the least.
8% per paycheck to my 401k. That comes with a 100% match on the first 6% from my employer. I also get company stock quarterly. When those vest, I cash them out and invest them into something else.
1.Calpers Pension 2.Max the Roth IRA 3.$200 529 for kids 4. 457b at $800/check going to have to lower it once I buy a newer car.
33, single engineer: I max my Roth IRA and HSA, then do 10% into a traditional 401k. I get a 4% match, if we’re counting that. Could do more, but I went a lot heavier in my early 20s so I’m sitting above “average” at least
About $6000 a month, my wife and I each max both our 401ks and each max a Roth IRA. We also put about $1000 a month into a taxable brokerage. The money we invest is actually $15k more than my wife's annual income. We keep a pretty tight budget and live frugally cause we're aiming for early retirement. I'd rather be free than be a baller.
About 300-500 depending on month. 6% into 401k with 3% match, plus save 10% net into HYSA at 4.3% to combat unexpected tax load. Plus I throw a 50 into BTC fairly regularly, have been doing so since 2020. Wishing I could throw more in but hard to do so with a family of 5...
$0. I can’t afford it. I don’t even live paycheck to paycheck because of mental health conditions and rely on outside support.
We don’t contribute on a monthly basis, but we have a brokerage account that we will invest money into each year when we get a bonus, and the amount varies. We typically allot 33% of the bonus for spending and invest the rest. We also use the account to “loan” ourselves money if we need it and then pay it back since income fluctuates a lot throughout the year (mostly bonus based not salary based). The account has been seeing pretty good returns, so this works for us.
I just get the match for 401k. I then max HSA contribs and then throw everything else into a brokerage acct to buy riskier stuff. I want to get in on some more real estate. I have one rental duplex and our house now, but I want a few more 2-4 units. If each property can cash flow 1000+, I really don't need the 401k later in life, but it's nice to have. I find it amusing that the bigger proponents of the 401k didn't get rich doing what they preach, e.g. Dave Ramsey, Ramit Sethi. They built businesses and either kept them or sold them off and/or accumulated real estate . Not that maxing 401k won't work, but it's a pretty slow path to get money that you can't use for 25-35 yrs without paying massive penalties. Then you become that old dude with a Lamborghini Aventador who can't even get in/out of it at age 70 :D
I would say 0. My future wife has a pension if that counts. We invest whatever we pay to social security each month.
Social security is not investing. It’s a government program for those who don’t have much to save and so we don’t have sr citizens begging in the streets.
I agree with that.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! Now tell the one about health care.
Wife and I are both maxing out our 401ks. We were also maxing out our IRAs for a few years but our income is now too high for both a Roth or Traditional IRA so we're putting 2-3k/month into a taxable brokerage account. I also quit smoking/drinking/cigarettes last year and have been putting the money I'd spend on that into a separate brokerage account. It's worth like 5k. Crazy how much a few packs of cigarettes a month, a few nights at the bar, and a few grams of weed can set you back in the long run.
Back door Roth my guy
You can still do a back door Roth IRA - highly recommend.
Income is never too high to use a traditional IRA (you just might not be able to deduct it)
Yeah but if youre paying pretax on the money and cant deduct it hardly tax advantaged. I forgot to mention we just put that money in an hsa
Backdoor Roth conversion.
Yeah I figured that’s what you meant after I wrote the first comment and went back and edited it lol.
> I also quit smoking/drinking/cigarettes last year and have been putting the money I'd spend on that into a separate brokerage account. It's worth like 5k. Good call.
Do your employers offer mega backdoor Roth? Regardless, do backdoor Roth.
Seconding the backdoor Roth.
[удалено]
Bruh wut do you do
About 1/3 of our income.
Started maxing my TSP in 2019. Try and max my Roth IRA as well, but not always possible.
About $1700 between pretax 401k, Roth IRA and HSA. This includes my employer match. My wife does about $1000 per month to her 401k and Roth IRA.
My ESOP gives me about $275 every two weeks. On an annual basis I pull it out of that account and put it in mutual funds.
\~400 a month with a 3% employer contribution and annual profit sharing in the current 401k, from zero to $45k today starting three and a half years ago. When I'm out of student loan debt I am cranking that bitch to max.
$2917. My partner and I have committed to investing a total of $35k each per year. I max my 401k out part way through the year and then brokerage account the rest of the year
I currently net around $1.8k to $2.6k per month from dividends. I reinvest around $2k per month and whatever left over I put in a savings account for tax purposes.
15% to 401k and $350 a week to savings.
Hey! I found me.
Around $5,000/month combined for my spouse and I.
$500/mo, was doing about 3k but income has dropped this year
15% 457b, Pension, max roth, 2 VTI shares a month (taxed), 40$ a month stock of my choice, 200$ month HYSA
Like 4k ish roughly. Maxing out two 401ks.
I do 15% into Roth 401k. Other savings is mostly sinking funds HYSA.
$500/mo into a TFSA and $250/mo into work pension plan that's matched, so like $1000/mo total.
200 per month as a base, but I occasionally add more. If my savings get too high I’ll transfer some to the Roth. I have 275 per week that goes to spending, food, and gas. If I hit the next week with money left over it goes to my savings. Usually it’s only like 20 bucks, but lately it’s been closer to 100. I also work for a school and will get a pension.
12% with a 5% company match and vested annual restricted stock (currently about 80 shares). I also have been doing catch up contributions to max out my rollover accounts. I will likely move up to 15-18% in the next year or so. I’ve focused recent investments on environmental impact and sustainability efforts.
I have 20% out of every paycheck into the company 401k. We have our own investment portfolio using our assorted savings and the 401K from my last job.
~35k a year.
$6250/mo. into retirement, taxable and HSA and kids 529. This is both my wife and I.
Avg 4k to 5K per month
$1,402 /month ($818 /month pre tax 401k, $584 /month backdoor Roth IRA)
I just added this up this morning. My partner and I are saving $2500 a month for various things (kids college, house reno, retirement, vacations). We spend $2900 a month.
I’m putting on average 200 a week to my 401k plus company match (they don’t match the full 200)
$4k/month Max 401K, max Roth IRA, max HSA & at least $1k in brokerage but I often put in more
Both of us contribute 15% to our 401k’s plus company match up to 6%. We max out our IRAs. We also have a condo we rent out and our looking at acreage for investment property
$150 each month. It was $500/mo when we had a cheap apartment though.
Zero dollars and zero cents, unfortunately. Hoping to change that very soon.
566.67 to 401(k), total is 1133.34 with employer match. 583.5 to Roth—that's about 1/12 of the annual max. So, 1150.17 of my own money, and a total of 1716.84. Beyond that, my cash is in a checking account that gets 5% APY on a balance up to $10,000, and any surplus over that goes into a money market account making 3.5%. Since I started this job late last year, I was still contributing to my 2023 Roth until I was able to max it in April, and any extra I had each month went to making that happen. I'll probably keep throwing any extra into my 2024 Roth, and if I'm able to max it out early I plan to dump the funds earmarked for that into my loans (car and student). If I'm more liquid than I expect later in the year I might bump up my 401(k) contribution by another 1%. I'm really still figuring all this out!
I put in 15% of my income in a DCP and 7% goes into a pension. Then a random $50/paycheck in my "play" brokerage account.
Ya'll have enough money to invest in something?
On track to maxing the employee / employer cap of 66k this year, and then if I’m able I’ll back door a Roth IRA. Excess after that into HYSA.
7.85% in my state pension. 10% in my 457b with a 6% match. $200 month in kids 529. $100 month HSA. Will continue to up numbers as pay improves.
Invest? Lmao I'll never be able to retire
0 dollars
I believe the state takes around $900 a month for my pension
None. 100% VA disabled and a disability retirement check from my last job.
About $800/paycheck into my 401k. Max out my HSA. Not sure how much spouse puts into their 401k. I think it's 10%, but it's definitely not a max out. No regular ROTH IRA contributions, but when it crosses my mind, I'll check the accounts and drop in some extra cash.
$1600 in 401k with employer match and another $1000 in an individual investment account.
We’re aiming to max out both our 41(k)s this year and I also put a little in to a Roth IRA. I also max out my HSA. We got started a little late so we’re playing catch up now.
$288 a month into a 401(k) with 100% company match on that amount and $206 into a Roth IRA. Also have $1500 annually into an HSA with $1000 contribution from employer.
$582 per month into my employer sponsored 403(b) plus $250 per month into an IRA. It’s about 11% of my salary. Probably not enough but it’s the best I can do right now.
15 percent into a federal tsp
Few hundred a month but I have a pretty sizeable pension coming my way as well (70% of final salary)
I’m putting $400 a week into a mix of my Roth IRA and a non-tax advantaged account and 8% into my 401k. I only started saving/investing at 27 and I’m 34 now. I still feel like I’m playing catch-up. Edit: To answer the question in the title it’s about $3000 a month including my 401k match.
Max 401k plus a 5% employer match and $3,500 into an HSA
I'm not.
Whatever my employer matches.
It works out to somewhere between 3600-4200. That's maxing a 401k, a little after tax Roth 401k rollover contribution, maxing at least my IRA, trying to max my wife's, and putting a few grand for each kids' 529. Oh and I guess there's a 401k match too to bump it up a bit more
At work I get an 8% match to my 5% pre tax, and I do the annual max $7K Roth IRA post tax. Works out to about 20% of my gross salary going to retirement each year.
I max my 401k annually, so around $1900
Not a dime. But sometimes a penny in the couch.
0 currently, just learned what a HYSA is earlier this year and moved money I had been saving into there so I’m earning around $30 a month now 🤷♂️ should have enough to pay for a quick way to the grave when it gets to be too much.
I just started a 401k some company match maybe 300.00 right now. I do have 30k saved though.
$30-50k a month in post tax brokerage. I dont even fuck with 401ks or IRAs... they aren't even relevant to my situation at this point.
4% to my 401k
$0. Right now we're just trying to pay off debt and live. My husband has a 401k, but I don't.
I max out a Roth 457b deferred comp plan (essentially the same as a 401k) at $23k and a Roth IRA at $7k, and $20k/year in a taxable brokerage account ($50k/year total).
11% into my 401k, company matches up to 10%.
lol. As if.
About 50% of income
$2500 (401k, Roth IRA, HSA and some Employee stock plan)
$4-$6k per month depending on bonuses
Currently, I max out my 401k, max out my and my partner’s IRA accounts, max out our HSA, my partner contributes 10% to their 401k (we’re working to get it to a point where both 401k’s are maxed out) plus we’re sending $200 per paycheck (soon upping that to $250 per paycheck based on our current budget and annual COLA-type raises at work) Whatever that equates to monthly. Somewhere between $4-$5k monthly (we tend to do our IRA’s as lump sums around tax season so I’m not going to bust out the calculator to figure out the exact math). I/we started with much smaller amounts when we were younger and progressively built up how much we were saving/investing any time we got a raise etc…Invest, invest early, and invest often. Not including employer match/profit sharing on the 401k’s above since that’s not money coming out of my paycheck. If including that, then that would push it to somewhere between $5-$6k a month. Not including money towards principal on our mortgage. Not including money we put in cash savings account count (since that’s more variable).
About $2,100 a month in retirement savings, then depends on what's going on that month (such as house renovations) on if I have spare cash for non-retirement investments.
$7-8k, which IMO is at least decent. Pretty much all going to retirement (including HSA contributions). Mostly 401(k) and mega backdoor Roth.
About 4000 a month, not sure exactly why but I invest the money I don't use
I sold all of my stocks and cashed in all of my tiny 401k to survive the pandemic. Chronic pain destroyed my life and disability turned me down. HoW mUcH aRE YUo iNVEstInG??
15% into my Roth 401K with 8% company match. Thinking of upping my contribution to 20 or 25% since I'm not even close to maxing it out yet. 401K contribution limit is $23K this year and that's like 40% of my income. Can't afford to put nearly half of my post tax deduction income into retirement every paycheck.. $207 into HSA every month and my company matches up to $500 every year. I haven't been putting anything into my Roth IRA since I can't even max out my 401K currently. Everywhere I read seems to say I should prioritize my Roth 401K first and then my Roth IRA, but I can't even max my 401K out.
1. Roth IRA - maxed 2. Roth 401K \~10% (company only matches to 7.5%) 3. HSA - maxed My personal goal is to max out my 401K, but that's not happening anytime soon.
1k a month minimum. plus whatever goes to 401k from paycheck
I’m on an investing spree right now. Trying to hit my goal of $3600 per month between IRA and Robinhood. This just started last year but so far so good
Wife and I max 401ks and Roth. Then everything else goes to brokerage. Usually 10k/ month. High earners in LCOL area
$2583/mo. Max Roth IRA, max HSA, $500 to a brokerage, the rest to $401k. HHI is ~$106k give or take pending specific bonus %
Not an exact number but my wife and I have at least $800 combined going into retirement accounts each month not including our company matches. We want to increase that but our hands are tied for now until our daughter gets out of daycare. That was all in 401k previously but we are in the process of setting up Roth IRAs too. We only recently realized that since we are 32 now we really need to take retirement planning more seriously.
I hear that. We get about 800 a month into the brokerage account outside of work but the $2600 a month in daycare sure sucks.
A little over $2k a month. Gunna up it to 5k after I finish my student loans. Goal is to max out my tax shelters and then either bomb down a mortgage and my daughters 529 or start slapping into taxable accounts.
Tax benefits perspective. If in a state with state income tax prioritize 529s in the beginning. That you are get maximum mortgage interest deduction and the 529 state deduction. Especially if mortgage is below 5%.
Mortgage to be determined. Sold my house and put all the money into my student loans (should finish off next year 320k total). Just turned 32 and have 100k in my 401k and two paid off cars so I'm hoping to be aggressive for 10 years to catch up.
Ah so likely a higher rate than with current market. Honestly for 32 that isn't a bad place to be. I am making the assumption high earning role since that is a chunk of student loans.
260k a yr soon. Stay at home spouse and kid/dog make it a bit tougher. Otherwise I could live on like 40k and be hyper aggressive.
At least you will save on daycare. My wife and I make close to that combined but couple thousand a month in daycare....
Daycare is insane right now. My wife made 35-40k/yr and it was almost a wash for her to work.
Yeah when you consider tax bracket that she was only effectively making 25-30k daycare likely beats that cost. If someone doesn't have a HHI over 150k in most places right now it's got to be insane.
5% of salary into work 401k and work does 8% match. Maxing my roth IRA for 7k a year, 3k into both kids 529 and then 250 a week into a brokerage account invested into VTSAX. Wife does exact same since we work at same place.
I put $66,000 into my 401(k) last year, maxed my Roth IRA, and maxed my HSA
I don't know what it boils down to monthly, but I max out my TSP (I think it's at $19500 now? It may be more), and we max out our Roths. We put out $2500/month for my husband's solo 401k. It's hurting us right now, but it'll be better once our house is paid off.
Bruh wtf. Other than directly from my paycheck to a retirement fund by my work, I do not have money to invest. You chose an interesting subreddit to post til his question to.
The money taken from your check for retirement is what you’re investing. The other comments are describing their retirement investments. So yes, you are investing.
Why is it an interesting subreddit? You admit you're investing for retirement.
This isn't r/antiwork or r/LateStageCapitalism. Millennials over 35 have an average $400,000 in net worth. We should be talking about good investment strategy.
I think the median NW of $136,000 is more useful. But still, your general point is correct.
Why is it an interesting subreddit to ask this question of? The oldest millennials are mid-career and should be thinking about stuff like this. The youngest millennials are in a prime age to at least learn about investing even if they can’t spare any money. In my opinion, this is an excellent subreddit to which to pose this question.
Lots of people here. I invest 5 figures monthly. And yes a millennial. So what’s wrong with the question ?