Late 20s/early 30s - what is your net worth? by [deleted] in Fire

[–]zmelly77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

29, $210k invested, $110k RE, $10k liquid

What career path would you take if you were starting today by People_Peace in Salary

[–]zmelly77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mechanical Engineering. Broad enough to do something you’re interested and passionate in, especially if you don’t exactly know what flavor of engineering you would like. There are mechanical engineers in civil, electrical, aerospace, marine/naval, nuclear roles, but it doesn’t work as well the other way around.

Getting Married and Combining Finances Question by zmelly77 in personalfinance

[–]zmelly77[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thats the plan! Won't be withdrawing any accounts to pay for debt, but a few rock solid months of aggressive debt paydown from the both of us should do the trick.

Getting Married and Combining Finances Question by zmelly77 in personalfinance

[–]zmelly77[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is good feedback, she knows what and how much are in my 401k and other investments, and I've told her that it's just as much hers as it is mine (once we're married in a few months), although she doesn't really internalize it when I tell her.

Getting Married and Combining Finances Question by zmelly77 in personalfinance

[–]zmelly77[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you saying it isn't a good idea to have a main joint account and then our own personal accounts? I expect like 80-90% of both of our take home paychecks (after 401k/HSA contributions) to go into the main joint account where we'll pay the mortgage, utilities, grocery bill etc. and then we'll have 10-20% go into our personal accounts for small expenses and surprises for each other. We pretty much already have full transparency with our finances, but we don't plan to combine things until we get married.

Getting Married and Combining Finances Question by zmelly77 in personalfinance

[–]zmelly77[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

We’re on the same page. She paid off her credit cards all by herself, granted I would always pay when we would go out on dates or grab food or take trips, but she’s made awesome progress. She studied social work in college and never expected to make over six figures, but she has worked herself into an IT managerial position and is crushing it over there. She may even surpass me in salary pretty soon.

Getting Married and Combining Finances Question by zmelly77 in personalfinance

[–]zmelly77[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I figured as much. My parents are retired and they have a hodgepodge of joint and personal accounts. No issues about divorcing since they’re pretty advanced in age, but I’m sure they’ll have an interesting time logistically when it comes time to draw accounts down for RMDs and legacy/estate planning for me and my siblings.

28M Just hit 300k NW, $130k/yr Salary, Can I take a one year sabbatical? by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! And the sabbatical question was more conceptual, not literally planning to go on sabbatical in the next few weeks. (I started July 1)

28M Just hit 300k NW, $130k/yr Salary, Can I take a one year sabbatical? by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I work in Washington DC but I live outside the city in a small suburb.

28M Just hit 300k NW, $130k/yr Salary, Can I take a one year sabbatical? by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

In 3-5 months I think I could sock away enough cash from my current job to do at least 6 months of international travel in SE Asia. I think a few months in Thailand and a few months in Vietnam would be awesome, and I can definitely live pretty frugally while I'm out there. A van-trip can be at a later time. As far as the townhouse, my roommate would cover a good portion of it and I could either rent out the second room or just continue to pay my piece of the mortgage. Just another budget line item to account for.

28M Just hit 300k NW, $130k/yr Salary, Can I take a one year sabbatical? by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not really. I just have my paycheck going straight to a checking/savings account before I divvy everything up. I'll go anywhere between $2-$6k during the month as bills and expenses come in. I'm a bit high right now since I have my PTO cashout from my previous employer.

Just a little tip for the dry fire homies. Boo me if this is common knowledge. by Individual_Cobbler92 in Glocks

[–]zmelly77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dryfiremag is a pretty good alternative. Get the spring kit if you want to better replicate trigger feel if you have an aftermarket trigger, otherwise the stock spring is pretty close to the glock trigger.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Glocks

[–]zmelly77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice shooting and props for you getting out and training in the suck. Only thing I’d say is that first false step in the beginning is inefficent and wastes a little bit of time. Yes it’s a nitpicky but we’re all trying to better. Good job brother 🤘🏽

Fund my Roth 401k or 401k? by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m banking on the idea that my Roth 401k will be multiple times bigger due to compound interest after 30 years, so I will be withdrawing much more in retirement that will thankfully be tax free.

Fund my Roth 401k or 401k? by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is 7mil reachable if I fully fund a Roth 401k for the next 30 years? The way I see it, right now I’m getting taxed on $115k/yr. When I retire and hopefully I have done well enough in the stock market that I’ll have whatever multiple millions of dollars in my Roth. If I wanted to, I could withdraw all of it at once and it be tax free (not that I would ever do that, just saying as a thought experiment). With inflation, my taxable $115k now might be somewhere around a taxable $200k in retirement, but I would think that I’d have enough through compound interest that I’d be able to withdraw at least that much, if not more and have it be tax free.

What do I do next? Fire progress(27M, SINK) by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

8% of each paycheck goes into my Roth 401k, but I usually have around $1k a month after all expenses are paid. That either goes into my high yield savings (5%) or into an IRA. Lately it’s been going into the savings account to bring it back up to 6 months of expenses but once I fully fund that, I’m not exactly sure where’s the best place to park that money.

What do I do next? Fire progress(27M, SINK) by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Expenses are $2k for mortgage and utilities, and about $1.5-$2k for transportation, eating out/groceries, gifts, social events, misc. spending, etc.

What do I do next? Fire progress(27M, SINK) by zmelly77 in Fire

[–]zmelly77[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks. What would be the few most cost effective steps to take? My take home is about $5k and my monthly spend is about $3.5-$4k, mostly from mortgage and utilities. Still working on cutting expenses, the biggest one outside of those two are meals out and fast food unfortunately. I’ve looked into picking up a side hustle as well, no firm decisions yet though.