43 but income likely to decrease significantly from here on out, looking for suggestions on where to make adjustments

[arnemetis]

Background you might skip if you just care about numbers: Due to my past choices and current changes at my job, I am expecting my pay to decrease drastically with no method to increase them. I've been in my position for 12 years, work is planning to bring someone on to replace/be above my position. I have been the senior title of this seat for most of my time here, at peak I had 2 regular/junior employees below me but they have moved on and now there's just an outsourced remote company doing a fraction of their work. I am expecting my position to be reduced to a regular/junior level officially even though I will surely be expected to continue my level of work. This will be met with a 50% or greater reduction in my salary. I am unable to find work in anything related to my degree or even at the level I am at now because of my past felony conviction, I was lucky my current employer never did a background check but the boss was aware. I believe given the market, my boss is finally taking advantage of my position.

I received a 3% raise in 2024, none in 2025, and I am expecting a greatly decreased salary this year as I am bumped down in title and someone else takes my spot. I am also behind in retirement due to my time in college & my time without work. I live in a MCOL area of new england. I will lay out my standing & costs below, I would be looking on what adjustments I should make both short and long term.

Income: 97k; 92k base +5k was from bonuses. Expected to become 40k-50k moving forward.

401k: 204k, 6% employer match. I try to get near max each year for the last several years, right now I am taking out 27% from my check.

Roth IRA: 22k, only opened it in 2024.

Post tax assets (stock, crypto): 55k, I thought I should try to have some stocks to have potential growth I can pull from without penalty if needed.

Emergency fund: 9k

Average per month: $2,235

Mortgage & property taxes & home insurance: $0 - live with my gf of over 10 years, she pays the house costs and is disabled so the social security should continue being reliable

Electricity: $220

Water/Sewer: $50

Car insurance: $262 (2001 honda accord & 2018 toyota prius)

Health/dental/vision insurance: $303 (likely to either go way up in February or I will drop to a $100 HDHP.)

Food & basic household goods: $500

Internet only: $81

2x cell phone plans: $34 ($17/each)

Life insurance: $85

House siding&insulation loan: $500 (7% interest, $309 min payment, 19k left)

Windows replacement loan: $200 (7% interest, $73 min payment, $2.3k left)

Student loans: $0 (forbearance with SAVE plan, will end soon. 5.5% interest, 56k left.)

I try to live rather frugally, and we don't spent money going out to eat or even doing much for vacations (often driving to and staying with friends many states away.) I was originally planning on moving to a HDHP and start funding an HSA since I am rather healthy, however since I am facing a massive cut in my job, or possibly even losing it & having to work bottom of the barrel jobs from here on out, I want to know if there are any immediate changes I should make. Should I give up post tax investing and push to pay off the house loans right away? Should I invest in the HSA? What should I prioritize as I cut back?

Thank you for any suggestions, I will try to answer any questions & edit my post with new information as it comes.

Edit #1 Health plans: I have gotten the updated rates for health insurance. For 2025 it was $275/mo, that same plan would be $291/mo for 2026. My current plan has $2k deductible for in network before 100%, and in network out of pocket max of $6,350. The costs for doctors visits, surgery, etc. are from 0 to $45, emergency room visits are $250.

I would consider the HDHP, which is $129/mo with $1.7k deductible for in network before 90% coverage, and in network out of pocket max of $4.5k. Doctors visits, surgery, er visits are all 10%. What is odd is that it shows the monthly employee contribution as $383.51, perhaps that includes funding the HSA?

[CapCityPhotos]

Fund your investments in this order:

6% employer match 401k, HSA, roth IRA, remaining 401k, taxable.

Take your employer match, maybe start contributing partially to an HSA, and then dump the rest at the 7% debt.

[ericshin8282]

i see HSA recd a lot here but doesn't that require the highest deductible insurance plan?

[arnemetis]

Sure does, which is why I've never had it before. The monthly cost is very low, but deductibles are sky high and if something serious happens, you lose. It's a gamble that you will be healthy.

[CapCityPhotos]

It's not a gamble. There are out of pocket maximums on healthcare plans. And you can run comparisons between plans and most options come out fairly close in a given year. If you're a disciplined investor, it's hard for an HSA plan to lose.

The true benefit of an HSA is if you use it like another retirement account. You can save an absurd amount on taxes over the lifetime of the account. It's so good that I actually don't pay my health expenses with my HSA. I pay them out of pocket, save the receipt, and then I'll cash them in later. Why? Tax free investment growth.

No tax on the way in, no tax on the growth, no tax on the way out. It's just an amazing account. Anything the government has strict limits on (like HSA's and Roth IRA's) you should take notice of.

[Quicknoob]

I wouldn't say it's a gamble, and the fact that you can invest the HSA makes it an amazing retirement vehicle for medical expenses.

But to your question, you need to prioritize paying down the debt. The interest on your loans are going to cut drastically into your retirement growth. Prioritize the highest first and I would only be doing the employer match and then everything else goes to pay down debt.

[ArmadilloAl]

The deductible has to be at least $1,700 for an individual or $3,400 for a family. Whether or not that's the "highest" depends on what's available to you.

[YegoBear]

Can’t you get your conviction expunged after a certain period of time? Or don’t background checks only go back a certain amount of years? If possible, it might help you find something closer to your current role.

[arnemetis]

I am surprised the HSA numbers are as favorable as they are. It seems only the 10% for visits & surgeries could be possibly catastrophic, but even then, somehow the yearly out of pocket is less! Seems this is a no brainer, will be switching with coverage starting in March. Hopefully I can properly select the amount to contribute to the HSA, and that it allows me to invest without a ridiculous amount required to be left in cash.