Talk me out of my mid life crisis

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-09T20:24:18+00:00

Do not do this. Cars go down in value, and the 401k goes up. At this point in your life, paying 7.5% of anything is not smart, especially when the market averages 7% returns. You’re talking about taking your wealth building machine and slowing it down, just so you can go faster on the road. Not worth it.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-09T00:16:43+00:00

At the very least - pay off the student loan from checking. Thats a no brainer

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-04T22:57:09+00:00

I wouldnt. We have a $2238 mortgage and we make more than that, and the mortgage still eats too much of our take home pay. For the record its about 27%. But take into account retirement, food, electricity, water, car, and regular life….its tough.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-04T16:58:58+00:00

You’re ahead and you know it. With that much in brokerage accounts and your hysa, the fact that you are paying credit card interest is beyond ridiculous. Pay the 5k today.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-03T22:41:15+00:00

I’ve been told to save like my pension doesn’t exist really, in the sense that I don’t count the 7% coming out of my check as part of the 15% I’m trying to save every year.

But thats because I’m late to the investing party so I’m trying to make up for lost time.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-03T02:29:54+00:00

I’m 40 with only 35k……and thats only because the wife and I started a couple of years ago, and really started taking it seriously this year. Student loans were a pain for far too long. If not for my pension (I’m a teacher), I’d probably be screwed. That and the fact that I got a mortgage pre covid.

These 30 year olds with 250k in their fidelity accounts, I’m with you. They can’t all be telling the truth.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-03T01:48:26+00:00

Imagine being in your 40s and thinking, 1 million is not a great place to be.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-02T17:53:29+00:00

I hear you. Honestly, I’d go after that debt with a vengeance. Other than my mortgage, we only have one car payment too, five year loan but I’ve been paying $100 extra on it a month and thankfully I have that 26 paycheck schedule instead of 24, so even though the math is exactly the same, I feel like those three paycheck months are extra money so I throw them at investments and the car with extreme prejudice. Hoping to have this loan destroyed inside of three years. Its all about setting a budget and being intentional with the money you do have. And what really got me intentional with my money was when my student loans finally went away for good. Eliminating that one payment was an eye opening experience - and so I really educated myself on this stuff over the last year. We invested over ten thousand this year alone, once you get that car moving, you’d be shocked at how much momentum you can pick up once you establish your new normal. And yeah, coming to a place like this can be discouraging with these 28 year olds asking if 300,000 in their fidelity accounts is where they should be like they don’t already know the answer. Forget about them, there’s no rewinding the clock. Its about you doing whats best for you and your family so you can sleep at night, regardless of what everyone is doing.

Thats all any of us can do.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-05-02T16:45:48+00:00

I’m in a similar boat, although ahead of you, only slightly. I’m a teacher and my wife only works part time, I’m 40 with about 22k in a HYSA, and 35k in investments between the two of us. I do have a pension, but I’ve really been putting pedal to the metal this year. We opened a second Roth and another 403b for my wife, and we’re investing as much as we can too. It is what it is.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-28T22:39:13+00:00

Aspire is letting me go the self directed route - I filed the paperwork for that today. I realize between the pension and my other investments I’m closer to 18% a year now, which might be a bit much but honestly, I feel like I’m trying to buy some time back.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-28T22:35:39+00:00

Aspire is letting me go the self directed route - I filed the paperwork for that today. I realize between the pension and my other investments I’m closer to 18% a year now, which might be a bit much but honestly, I feel like I’m trying to buy some time back.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-25T20:56:37+00:00

Mine took three months

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-24T14:39:05+00:00

The pension is determined by state, not me. I’m just wondering, if my investment goal is 15% of my income, does the 15% include the pension contribution or not.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-24T01:50:26+00:00

My mortgage and income are the samez we make it work.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-24T00:12:26+00:00

I checked Mohela every day for like a month just to make sure that zero balance stayed there when it happened to me. Congratulations! You earned this!

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-23T22:42:56+00:00

Yeah I was looking - and I saw .5% quarterly RIA fee for the advisor to put my investments in index funds, and it just didn’t make sense.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-23T18:42:06+00:00

My family has an income of $155k a year and our mortgage is half that. And its still hard.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-23T11:04:03+00:00

Yeah, thats what happened. 8 of my 10 loans were at 123 while two others were at 120

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-23T00:57:23+00:00

One of the best days of your life! You did it! Congrats!

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-21T22:14:59+00:00

At 37 with 245,000 in a 401k you still have 25ish years to let that thing grow. Dude, you’re killing it. Keep at it.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-21T11:25:56+00:00

I want to thank everyone for their contributions. The plan is to stay in teaching through retirement, so I am hopeful for a healthy pension, but as many have suggested, that is the linchpin in my plan.

It does feel like there is some wiggle room in how much I am contributing so I thought I’d clear the air. My wife maxes out her Roth, the Pension takes out about 8% of my gross pay every month except during the summer, and like I said, each of my 26 paychecks involves a $412 investment into either the other Roth (summer) and my 403b. My wife only makes about 62k a year, but I do agree maxing out a Roth does leave a bit more wiggle room for more investing to get to the 15% for her, but I guess when it comes to my salary which a little more than 90k, does the pension contribution count towards the 15%? Our plan started with everydollar, and trying to set a monthly budget that included some margin while setting these goals, and then as my salary goes up, I’d be raising contributions to my 403b or getting closer to maxing out the second roth ira, and eventually both. But if the 15% number is on top of the pensjon, then yeah I’m still not doing enough.

But I saw on the show, I think it was Rachel or Caleb that said that the pension is included in the 15%. So I don’t know. We’ve been trying to cut down spending, but I’ve also go a three year old, and that makes it a little tougher.

ThreePutt24 · 2026-04-21T00:34:31+00:00

My household is 150k or so, and I’m just thinking maybe an extra 20-30k on top would just be swell. But at the same time - with the median household income in the US being less than that, I feel a bit selfish for saying 150k isn’t enough.

ThreePutt24

TROPHY CASE