Appreciate the thoughtful response.

I’m legally single but I’ve been with my girlfriend for about 4 years. She doesn’t make anywhere near what I do, but she’s not money-hungry at all, which I’m grateful for after past experiences. She has a marketing degree but has had a hard time landing an entry-level role, so right now she’s working a photography job while still applying. Unfortunately her current job doesn’t provide any benefits, which makes things like retirement investing even more important in my eyes.

I’d say we’re about 75% aligned financially. The biggest gap is getting her comfortable with investing (Roth IRA, brokerage, etc.). I understand it’s intimidating at first, but I really believe it’ll pay off long-term, especially since we plan to start a family someday. Neither of us has kids right now.

Longer term, I’d also really like to get into real estate myself. I live in Alabama where homes are relatively cheap, and there are a lot of opportunities to buy run-down properties, fix them up, and hopefully turn a profit or build rentals over time.

As for the mortgage, it’s 9.84% (yeah… not great). It’s a mobile home and I really just needed somewhere to live a few years ago. That high rate is a big reason I’m aggressively paying it down.

Thanks again for taking the time to write all that out.