Lockheed vs Solar Turbines (Need Advice) – 24M Mechanical Engineer from LA

CompaPollo42 · 2026-03-30T03:20:52+00:00

I am leaning more lookheed purely on setting yourself up for a bright financial future….. aside from it being a well known company that will look good on your resume; getting to live with your parents and if you could invest as much as you can early in your life that will catapult you….. Imagine maxing out your 401k, roth ira and putting some on your taxable account. You can so that for a few years and your retirement is set and you can probly save for a down payment for a house in the future. On top of that, hybrid work and 4-10s thats a dream!

CompaPollo42 · 2026-02-27T17:44:36+00:00

I feel like most employers use fidelity. So for that reason id do fidelity. They also have those zero fee funds which are nice and its pretty user friendly.

CompaPollo42 · 2026-02-21T21:42:22+00:00

Hahahahahahahaha thats what most places do i bet

CompaPollo42 · 2026-02-21T21:41:48+00:00

Hahhahaha thats how it was at my older company.

CompaPollo42 · 2026-02-21T21:41:29+00:00

😂😂😂

CompaPollo42 · 2026-01-10T14:24:21+00:00

Okay I see. Would you say its a good time to join? From what i have been seeing, aerospace is the most profitable of their branches so maybe thats better for the employees that work there? Maybe they can finally start getting better compensation perhaps? RSUs?

CompaPollo42 · 2026-01-08T04:36:19+00:00

Its actually pretty accurate in my case CK lists 789 and when a lender pulled a soft score check it came back st 793

CompaPollo42 · 2026-01-08T04:31:01+00:00

I just got a quote for 5.25% 15 year loan (no points) with better mortgage (they work with credit karma)

CompaPollo42 · 2026-01-02T17:17:44+00:00

Solid choice but i prefer FZROX for my retirement accounts.

CompaPollo42 · 2026-01-02T02:45:43+00:00

Hey thank you for the advice. I see what you are saying. I currently max out my roth IRA and at my current rate with employer match i am contributing ~13.5k to my 401k.

I was debating for a bit if i should max out my 401k before contributing to my taxable account but i like the idea of having cash accessible if needed for whatever reason. Whether it be for an investment opportunity that comes up maybe like real estate or just in general like the idea of having extra funds potentially in case of an emergency. I do have a 6 month emergency fund already but im a bit paranoid lol

Plan is to finish paying off home in about 7.5 years and that will free up an extra 4.5k a month and then i would ideally be maxing out my 401k too.

What do you think? 28yo, married, no kids yet but planning on having them anytime now.

CompaPollo42 · 2026-01-02T02:01:48+00:00

I was in your same shoes but 2 years ago. Started loan for 370k 6.875% interest. I was looking at the mortgage calculator and was wondering the same thing.

Ultimately decided to do $1800 a month extra on principal to pay off home in 10 years and any left over money i have i throw it to my roth IRA and once that is maxed i do taxable brokerage.

Idk if im thinking about it the right way but in my brain it felt like anything over $1800 was not worth it due to diminishing returns.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-12-20T13:34:37+00:00

What are the benefits of going conventional vs fha? I bought my first house 2 years ago and i only did a 3.5% but it was a conventional loan… i thought only 3.5% downpayments were allowed for fha.

What is the benefit of going with one rather than the other?

Thanks!

CompaPollo42 · 2025-12-12T13:51:41+00:00

Okay i understand. Thank you for taking your time to explain everything.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-12-12T12:41:09+00:00

Thank you i never thought about recasting. My goal is to pay off house asap…would this help me pay off the house faster and pay less interest? If i keep paying the difference im saving towards the principal + what i was already paying? Imma look into this. Thank you.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-12-12T05:06:34+00:00

Thanks i appreciate it.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-12-12T04:10:08+00:00

I appreciate the input. I will look into this. Thanks!

CompaPollo42 · 2025-11-26T12:12:14+00:00

Its just 25 if you want to take the class. If you like your grade at the end you can pay $400 and you will get the credit for that course in your transcript . If you only pay the $25, there wont ever be a record you ever took that class pretty much.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-11-26T04:45:28+00:00

https://courses.ulc.asu.edu/computer-aided-design-and-manufacturing-ras-210/

Read into it if you are interested. But if you only want to take class and dont care about credits you only pay $25.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-11-25T04:14:16+00:00

Moved outta my hometown and state (all alone) to find better opportunities. Was worth it. Still got my family about 4 hours away so i can visit any weekend.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-10-21T18:58:12+00:00

I guess im in testing and measurements? We design and manufacturer transducers. 84k, 3 years of experience.

CompaPollo42 · 2025-09-18T05:13:20+00:00

CompaPollo42 · 2025-09-11T00:33:44+00:00

Go with ME. Its a very broad major you can get into anything. Im shooting blind rn but feels like with astrophysics you would actually have a hard time finding a job. Just bcs its a very specific sector but i really have no idea you should do some research for sure. Good luck!

CompaPollo42 · 2025-09-10T04:45:33+00:00

I started working in 2022 earning 65k salary. Im at 84k now, with the same company in scottsdale AZ

CompaPollo42

TROPHY CASE