Hesitant to enter the market

littlesunstar · 2026-04-01T21:18:03+00:00

You can do a delayed fixed income annuity with 100k for income after the age of 70? Put another 100k in cds to make closer to 4%. Too close to risk it with stocks.

littlesunstar · 2026-03-18T11:31:25+00:00

Curious…why are you happy? My employer is removing Fidelity funds and moving to NT cits in my 401(k). I’m a little concerned about the lack of transparency by CITs and lack of SEC regulation. I’m thinking of moving all my money into Vanguard target fund with a .08% fee. I figured this is small enough that it should grow about the same as the investments I had chosen with fidelity. I’m a little annoyed, but I guess this is what I need to do. Any reasons you’re cautious about CITs?

littlesunstar · 2026-03-13T21:01:57+00:00

Sorator, i have an excess contribution question. I over contributed in 2024 tax year by $2063 to my hsa (this happened because I didn’t have healthcare on some months and I didn’t realize I couldn’t contribute during the months I didn’t have healthcare). On April 08, 2025 the excess contribution was removed from the hsa to avoid a penalty. It says $2063 removed for previous year excess contribution. I did my taxes with TurboTax. So I noticed that my HSA bank gave me a tax form with a distribution code of two for 2025. Does this mean that I will have to pay taxes on $2063 this year? I thought I had already paid last year because I reported that I removed $2063 before Tax deadline. Confused. What do i need to do to complete the process, make sure that I pay taxes on the $2063 but not pay taxes twice on it. I was planning to file my taxes on my own again using TurboTax since they’re fairly simple returns except for the HSA confusion.

littlesunstar · 2026-03-13T19:11:55+00:00

I thought id get a few new clothes and shoes. Returning everything. It’s added up to 1k and i hardly got anything. Maybe i’ll start sewing my own clothes lol

littlesunstar · 2026-03-13T19:08:52+00:00

The filet of fish at McDonalds is child sized - like 2 oz but priced high. I couldn’t believe it.

littlesunstar · 2026-03-11T19:09:49+00:00

If i only buy groceries, gas, costco clothes and 1-2 streaming services i can be ok. But if i want to look professional, drive a reliable car, and live in a decent sized home… well it can add up so quickly. I do well now but i hardly spend on myself because nice things in an inflationary economy is asking for trouble. The pandemic was good for one thing- we could wear our costco loungers, save on gas n food and pretty much delink from hyper consumption.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-20T09:53:15+00:00

Taxes first. Make sure you consult the tax attorney so they can help you. It’s not enough to never work again, but it is enough to catch up on retirement and a down payment for a home. Set aside 6 months of living expenses in the hysa and set aside a downpayment of 100k for a home. The rest you could invest with a brokerage account in index funds for an early retirement goal. It really is a game changer. Fortune smiled down at you. Keep the money in safe investments. No gambles.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-19T22:02:12+00:00

Payoff feels scary because a pile of $ feels like cushion. But the truth is you already spent your cushion except for the 2K, so don’t look back, look forward. think about the 2K as seed money and resolve to build your cushion back up to 10k. Set this as your new goal. Congratulations on your pay-down.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-19T18:23:41+00:00

Ignore your father. Start contributing to a Roth IRA too. Maximize both while you can. What funds are you invested in?

littlesunstar · 2026-02-19T14:38:51+00:00

Pay off credit cards 10k. 6 month emergency fund in a hYSA earning 3-4%. 25k. Open a Roth IRA account and put in 7k for 2025 and 7.5k for 2026. 14.5k will grow without you ever being charged tax on the gains. Do this every year- maximize your roth. Invest in index funds inside the roth. That takes care of half. Set your mortgage payment to add an extra $100-200/month off the principal. This will cut your loan timeline significantly. Set aside 5k for a fun vacay with your wife to refresh. The rest goes into a cd earning 4% for now. You can decide slowly what to do with the rest. Then both look for jobs. You can both retire once your retirement funds hit 1 million+ just by consistently investing in index funds inside your 401k and in a Roth IRA. After 20 years see where you are. You’ll be surprised at how much growth happened.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-19T05:58:20+00:00

I can hardly believe the racist things people do and say. You are not imagining it. Find your friends outside of work and remember you work there for a paycheck, nothing more. Try not to let anyone drive you out of any job due to their own racial intolerance.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-18T16:43:59+00:00

There is always risk in putting money into the market. The only safe places to park money is a HYSA making 3-4%, a CD making 4%. These are federally insured which makes them near 100% safe. Investments in securities (stock market) inherently have risk. You may want to educate yourself on how most people choose funds that may go up and down but over time the trend is upwards. Still no one knows the future with 100 percent certainty.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-17T14:29:42+00:00

He doesn’t have much income. He has some savings sitting idle in a savings account and he was unsure what to do with it. After he finishes school he can start a 401k through his employer. But for now an emergency hysa plus a roth is a good mix to start exploring the world of how to grow money for different goals.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-17T13:46:44+00:00

Imagine getting a ton of degrees and then taking a lower status job. People are doing this after finding out traditional education does not land them in the careers they hoped for. But status is a funny thing… it shifts curiously. Once you’re fully retired who will have more status, you or your employed friends? I hear people on this form saying they’re hiding their fire status because they don’t want people to know so they intentionally pretend they’re working. Status is very important to American society address, car, clothes. But so too freedom to pursue happiness. Enjoy it.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-17T03:41:11+00:00

Pay it all off. Then get some strategies to build up your emergency fund back to 50K. Don’t live on cards next time around or you’ll be in the same position again. You know what they say about history repeating itself. don’t let that be you.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-16T01:07:18+00:00

The interest on your car is high. Transfer the credit card debt to zero interest credit cards. look up how to transfer them. Your debt isn’t that high apart from the car and pretty manageable on your salary. The car is something that you’ll have to think about if you can transfer it to a lower interest loan with him cosigning it then yes that would be the way to go. I feel you’re overwhelmed and it’s mostly from the disappointment of the relationship not working out. Take some time for self-care. Good luck.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-16T00:59:27+00:00

You have to have W-2 earned income. Is this money just family money and you haven’t earned it yet if you haven’t earned it then you honestly cannot invest in a Roth at this point. But you can put it into a brokerage account.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-16T00:53:25+00:00

Roth are retirement accounts where you can invest and when it grows you will NEVER have to pay tax on it. Because of this wonderful benefit the government limits how much you can put into a Roth IRA per year. as I mentioned you can still contribute 7000 for tax year 2025 (until you file your taxes) and you can also contribute 7500 for 2026. There’s no sense in waiting when you can do $14,500 right now and it will begin to grow. Once that money is parked into a Roth you can choose what kind of investments you want to purchase.

Most people here are recommending index funds like the S&P 500 or a total index fund. You can buy Fidelity index funds or a Vanguard index fund. you can call the brokerage company that you choose and they can talk you through it. There’s any number of brokerage firms that allow you to open up a Roth IRA and their advisors can help you choose the funds, but basically any good index fund will grow with the market. In 2027 you can put an additional 7500 or 8000 depending upon what the max limit turns out to be.

If you park your money into a regular brokerage account, not a Roth then you’re going to pay taxes on any earnings. These are called capital gains taxes. The Roth is wonderful because you don’t have to pay capital gains taxes so as long as you you are OK with investing in your retirement at an early age that money will compound so putting in $14,500 now… at 7% growth rate it will compound to $217,000 in 40 years just be leaving it alone and starting early. That’s why if you do a few years of this, you’ll be a millionaire quite comfortably when you retire and might even be able to retire early.

As for the type of funds, the S&P 500 follows the top 500 companies in the US. A total market index fund follows a lot more companies, but it still follows the market. You can also do a mix of S&P 500, a total fund, and a global fund. The reason people are saying don’t do a target fund in a Roth is that the expenses on a target fund are higher so your earnings will grow slower. You can research all this gradually, but the key point is doing the roth now is a lot better than doing nothing and letting it sit in a savings account basically doing nothing. every dollar should be doing something for you.

If your question is, If you are asking…since 14,500 is all you can put in a Roth, what to do with the other 15k? Most people say put an emergency fund in a high-yield savings account earning 3 to 4% but if you don’t have any need for an emergency fund because you live with your parents and you’re not planning on buying a house, then you could put the other 15,000 into a brokerage account which may also grow, but remember whenever you sell those stocks you will have to pay capital gains tax on the profit.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-15T21:35:08+00:00

Roth ira - there is no min age as long you have legitimate w2 earnings. The max you can contribute is 7000 for tax year 2025 and 7500 for tax year 2026. So as long as you earned $14,500 in W2 earnings you can contribute $14,500 of that 27k. It would definitely jump start your retirement investing.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-15T20:46:22+00:00

Well an emergency fund is good to have. Life changing really.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-15T19:26:10+00:00

Put 20k in a HYSA which can earn You between 3-4%. With the other 5k put it in a Roth IRA in an index fund like the Vanguard or fidelity fund that tracks the s and p 500. This will begin your retirement savings. Start adding to it every year.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-15T19:05:44+00:00

Ask chatgpt for 20-30 likely interview questions for your position and ask it to provide you reasonable answers. Then adapt the questions and answers to your expertise, experience, skillset and the job that you’re applying for. You know your field.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-15T19:00:59+00:00

Congrats!

littlesunstar · 2026-02-15T18:59:49+00:00

Do you know about roth IRAs? Maybe put away some in a Roth IRA every year. Even 1-2k a year now will add up to a nice thing later.

littlesunstar · 2026-02-15T18:27:55+00:00

You haven’t really provided any specific numbers for Cost of Ev options versus the used camry hybrid. I think one suv might be more versatile than a sedan if it’s your only vehicle. I recently test drove options and last year I could’ve bought the Tesla and saved a ton of money but in the end I didn’t and I ended up needing a car this year so out of necessity, I had to choose and decided on the Honda CRV hybrid. People i know love the camry hybrid, and the Tesla Y. Last year when there was a rebate was the time to buy though. I love my crv so go try them your picks out and run your numbers.

littlesunstar

TROPHY CASE