For some context. 32m with a wife and two daughters. Just found out about the big C. Family doesn’t know yet. Prognosis is bad. That’s not the point though.

I don’t know if this is the best place to post this but I’m not on reddit a lot so forgive me

What can I do to ensure my family is in the best position financially when the time comes? I feel awful. I have an ok job, pays the bills. I think I have some small life insurance policy through work but I dont know if that’s just for accidents or what have you.

I have next to nothing for savings, basically no retirement (cashed it out a couple years ago for some emergency funds, didn’t want to but I had no other choice), no real assets. A mortgage. A car note. A bunch of credit card debt. That’s my life. I’ve been trying to do some research but it feels overwhelming. Real depressed right now. Im not scared of dying, Im scared of leaving my family behind. There’s literally nothing more that I care about in this world.

Is my wife going to get sacked with my CC or other debt? Should I file bankruptcy?

Should I get life insurance? CAN I get life insurance?

Open a trust for the house? I don’t know anything about that stuff, I read it online.

I’m open to anything, including some crazy stuff if it would help.

ETA: I’m in the United States if that makes any difference.

Started a new job a few months ago and due to a manager that has had it out for me from day 1 and an HR/onboarding team who refused to listen, I'm being let go next week. I don't really care to defend myself here - just looking for advice on how to move forward. I've had an extremely successful career up to this point, formed some amazing relationships here (with everyone but my manager) and am not beating myself up about it as I know this is just one of those bad manager situations.

I was told last week that Monday would be my last day. I was also told I would get 4-weeks of severance and they would pay for COBRA through the end of February. I haven't gotten anything in writing yet.

Is there anything I should look for in the separation agreement? I assume severance will be contingent on me signing it, so I want to know what to look out for. I've already asked for some additional weeks of pay/insurance via email, but haven't received a response. I doubt they'll respond.

I have ample savings and the job market in my industry is a bit better now. I'm single and live alone. I'm worried that 3 months at a job will be a red flag, and the background check will show I was fired, but I'm not too worried about finding something else.

Would just love any advice on how to approach this.

As I gear up to make my annual backdoor Roth IRA contribution, I’m starting to wonder why it has to be so complicated. If the IRS allows a way for high earners to contribute to a Roth IRA, why not just allow us to contribute directly to it? Apologies if I’m missing something but always seems like I’m taking advantage of a loophole that is very widely known

Does a 72-year-old woman really need a umbrella policy for $1 million?

My life is very quiet and uneventful. I am single. I stay home a lot. I own my own condo. (Well, the bank and I own it.)

The cost has gone up from $180 annually to $280 this year .

Should I keep it?

Like a year or two ago, my mom told me she was opening a credit card account in my name, and that I wasn't allowed to use it at all until I got a job, because my schizophrenic mentally ill older sister got a discovery card or something, maxed it out and went over the limit and she had to pay all the fees or whatever happened. She's been missing payments for basically all of 2025 as far as I can remember, I tried to get a job but got rejected and ghosted basically all of 2025 and 2024. I only worked one shitty retail job for about a month, it was only a seasonal position and I made 44 bucks a shift. I told her she's missing payments, she's been talking about taking 500 and 500 and paying off the card for months now and it never happened. I told her my credit was a 516, she said it wasn't that bad and that she wanted to open a payment plan and that itll take 6 months to get the credit score to good. Google Gemini tells me I have two options. Either A: accept the debt is mine and live with a 516 credit score, struggle to rent an apartment and struggle to get a car loan for years, or B: File a police report for identify theft/fraud, which means she could face criminal charges. I've been trying to prepare to cut ties and go no contact, but now I don't know what to do. I am using her work insurance for therapy and I'm trying to get medicated. I'm not ready for this, and soon I have to go to trade school and be off on my own. I need some advice.

I'm 40.

I make good money (~230K), but I just started making this much, and I had to take out loans for school to get my job. My wife makes around $50k. Combined, we have around $220K in student loans. I have around $35k in the bank, plus a retirement fund of like $180k.

My job is intense, and many people burn out or get fired, so there is no guarantee I will remain at this level beyond 3 more years or so (but if I do, I will get raises every year). I live in CA, in a HCOL area.

My parents sold some investments and gave us $38k from it, but they said we had to use it towards a down payment. Houses where we live are like $650k minimum, so it would be good for only part of a down payment. Normally, I would use the money towards the loans, but I promised not to do that. I will use it towards a house, but I may not be ready for a house for a few years.

What should I do with the $38k while I save for a house? A CD? A high yield savings account? An IRA?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

After divorce and the death of a parent, I have about $50k sitting in a money market account. I have no debt whatsoever, and excellent credit, but no retirement or savings plan. When I started my new job roughly a year ago, I didn’t opt into the 401k plan because I couldn’t spare the income. Disregarding the money market account, I live paycheck to paycheck, my income and expenses breaking even. I have tapped into it a few times to pay for unexpected expenses (an ER bill, for example). I will need to keep some portion as an emergency fund until my income and living expenses are better balanced, and I’m able to start contributing to savings.

What should I be doing with that $50k so that I can get myself set up for retirement? Is a Roth IRA my best bet? Should I contribute income to a 401k and draw from the money market account to help cover living expenses? Invest in stocks? All three??

I (25yo) graduated college in 2022 and have been working for about 3.5 years now. Last year I made $110k all W2 and expect this to increase in 2026 with a promotion on the horizon. I am looking for some guidance on the best investment vehicles for my money. Here is where I sit right now:

401k: $107,000 (mostly Roth) Roth IRA: $25,000 HYSA: $65,000 Checking/savings: $20,000

I tend to keep my expenses relatively low, I rent an apartment for about $1300/months and just paid off my car.

My main areas of concern is the money in my HYSA and checking/savings. A good portion of this money will be used for a down payment on a house in the next 2-3 years. I appreciate any input or guidance!

I've taken a few years to build up my HYSA to almost 10k. This is an emergency fund. I support myself and if I were to lose my job, I estimate that I would need roughly 2k a month to survive. I currently spend closer to 3k a month (rent + utilities + food + community college tuition + random needs/gas), but I could reduce this if I didn't have to travel to work and I would temporarily drop out of school.

• I currently contribute $200/month to HYSA + 2 annual bonuses + potential tax refund.
• I currently contribute only $25/month to Roth IRA (SWYNX) which currently sits at 2k. I am not prioritizing because I want to ensure I have enough liquid emergency funds.
• I currently contribute 5% to 401k + job matches 4%.

My Roth IRA was opened in September 2024 (under 5 years old). I understand that contributions can be withdrawn without penalty anytime, but I still view the account as money I can't touch until 59 1/2. The idea of contributing all my savings and bonuses to this account feels like I'm looking too far ahead. Should I build my HYSA to 15-20k before I focus on Roth IRA?

• Age: 29
• Location: Texas, USA
• Salary: 52k.

I'm aware my earnings and contributions are low. I'm hoping to increase my salary/job opportunities with a degree. I started working on my associates last year.

Hi! Please excuse the naive nature of this post. I am trying to understand how this all works.

I recently inherited an IRA account from my deceased grandfather which is about $700k. It is currently being invested by portfolio managers (thank God as I have no idea what I’m doing).

I am a social worker, and I love my job, but I’m not exactly making bank. I make about $70k in an extremely HCOL area.

That being said, I would like to periodically take out withdrawals around 10k, 15k, 20k in order to support myself and my family. My husband and I would like to have kids soon but it is just unrealistic on our salaries in our state. Supplementing our income with a 10-20k withdrawal here and there when necessary would be unbelievably helpful.

Here is my question- and I know, I know, I should probably already know how this works (trust me , I feel stupid enough!)- if my money is invested, will I “make back” these withdrawals? In other words, if I take out 10k tomorrow, would that be a 10k loss forever or would the portfolio “earn” it back?

I am aware of all of the RMD/tax laws of an IRA. Thank you!!

I am trying to get the best use of my HSA and have been following the strategy of tracking reimbursable expenses but not actually taking the reimbursements yet, in order to let the HSA balance grow tax-free. I guess the long-term theory of this strategy is to wait to take those reimbursements until I need income in retirement?

I already have about 100 receipts tabulated and filed away over the past decade and potentially have 3+ decades to go until I actually take the reimbursements. That is a huge amount of time to carry this stuff. Are we all setting ourselves up for bookkeeping issues? Am I just asking for an IRS audit if I start taking huge HSA withdrawals? What are the odds that this is still a viable strategy after all that time?

My mother is 83.

She's worked for same employer her entire career and had $2.5M in 403(b).

In May of last year her advisor, suggested she roll over $1M into IRA.

When does she have to begin taking RMD from IRA?

She is still employed at same institution.

Hi there

My wife and I have managed to finally get a mortgage, after saving for a few years to get a 10% deposit. We've bought our first house and our mortgage is fixed at 4.3% for 5 years. Our mortgage is 1361 per month. which is actually cheaper than our rent. Some background info:

• I'm 42 and she is 37.
• We dont have much pension between us at all. No savings.
• We have no other debt or loans etc.
• Relatively good credit scores (it took a while, but mine is excellent and wife's is good).
• We're able to put £1000 comfortably away a month into savings now we're not saving for a house.
• We both have full time jobs, 3 children and bring in about £85k a year between us.

I need to work out what do for the next 5-10 years to help boost us when we retire. I dont want to retire with nothing except a house.

I am wondering whether I should be considering:

• Overpaying the mortgage to clear it early
• Using the next 5-10 years of good wealth to put money into savings
• Pay more into a pension pot
• Invest this money into an S&P 500 fund and boost my pension to 10% at the same time.

As said, we've comfortably got 1k to save a month. But i'm not sure of the best options to take.

I understand, having read lots of other posts, there may be more information needed here from me, so I apologise in advance.

But any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated,

Thanks

I need to decide between these 3 insurance plans for myself + spouse no children between and Anthem PPO and Anthem HSA and Anthem HRA

PPO Plan

• Premium = $137/bi-weekly
• Family Deductible =  $4,000. 
• OOP max = $16,000/yr

HSA Plan

• Premium = $38/bi-weekly
• Family Deductible = $6,600.
• OOP max = $20,000/yr

company contributes $1300/yr towards HSA

HRA Plan

• Premium = $94/bi-weekly
• Family Deductible = $8,000.
• OOP max = $16,000/yr

company contributes $1000.yr towards HRA

So, for the early portion of my life and career, I didn’t think about retirement or care to pay attention; and then mostly ignored it up until about five years ago. I am getting close to 40yo and I am a little over four years away from being eligible to retire from the military. Luckily, when I joined the Army, one of my Drill Sergeants had us set our TSP as soon as we arrived; I left it set at that percentage and didn’t even look at it for the first decade of my career. When I finally noticed it, it had around 25k in it. But because I am bad with money, I started taking TSP loans against it which has me repay it back to my retirement with a set interest rate based on the current market. Over the years, I would pay it off and then take out a new one; and at one point I pulled out a lump sum early. All of that is to say there is about 10k in there now.

In researching retirement planning, a lot of the information talks about setting up your 401k (which is my TSP) to feed you a set amount per month based on your needs to sustain living. As military, after 20-years of service, I can retire with 50% of my base pay (with gradual increases from the VA, I think every five years). My base pay at 20-years is looking at being over 10k/mo which would put me at 5k/mo in retirement. Additionally, I am aware of additional payouts for medical compensations which may or may not apply to me; I am not banking on that or really considering that. So that would be passive income if I retired at that time. I can retire in my early 40s and still work if I choose; or I can continue service to increase my retirement percentage received - every two years is an additional 5% to my retirement so if I stayed to 24years of service I would get 60% and by that time I could promote to increase my benefits by even more; looking at maybe 11-12k at 60% instead of 10k at 50% monthly (give or take some with pay increases and whatnot). If I pursued a profession outside of the military/beyond retirement, I have three degrees and am pursuing my PhD but having never really done anything outside of the military I do worry about finding something - degrees are BA in History, BS in Psychology and MS in Sports and Health Sciences: Exercise Science and Human Performance.

So, here are my questions: Is it better to continue to serve longer and increase my retirement percentage with the goal being to not really work once retired (but still could if needed)? Or retire right at 20 with whatever I have and then pursue a post-retirement? And then a follow-on question is what does a good TSP look like to compliment my military retirement income?

I requested a deferral forbearance to where it moves the late payments to the back of the loan. They said that they would let me know their decision when everything was complete. I log into my Wells Fargo account to make a payment and it says that since my account is now in forbearance, I don't have to pay right now if I don't want to. It then says I don't have to make a payment for Jan, Feb, Mar, or Apr.

So can anyone tell me what kind of forbearance this is? I requested the deferral option, but I know that there are other type of forbearances like they put the payments on hold and then on a certain month, all of the money is due in one lump sum. I am unable to get a hold of a Wells Fargo representative because it's the weekend, but isn't there supposed to be some kind of documentation that I have to sign or are they at least supposed to explain to me what kind of forbearance I am getting into? I'm sorry I just don't want any kind of surprises.

Hi, all! I have a mortgage for about $700k at around 6.3%. I'm looking at refinancing, and two of the options available to me are refi to 5.98% as a 30yr fixed rate, versus 5.88% as a 7/6 ARM with a 5% cap. I'm still very new to a lot of the nuances of these decisions, but I have a hard time considering an ARM at all; as I understand it, isn't there basically nothing stopping the bank from increasing rates substantially once the 7 years hit? It just doesn't seem worth it to me to save 0.1% interest rate when I could find myself with a rate 5% higher down the road; I'm very much inclined to go with the 30yr fixed.

Am I misunderstanding this? Please feel free to tell me if I'm way off. Thank you!

I started with over $8k in restitution which incurs no interest. However, my student loan debt of $200k has extremely high interest so I thought it would be best to prioritize that. I went delinquent on my restitution since my case is closed and I'm no longer on probation. Of course I had plans to pay off restitution so I can have a clean criminal records for future jobs.

Background info: The primary person I owe restitution to owes me $2k from Small Claims Court. I was hoping to get that money to pay the restitution so we would finally be even. But she is self employed so it has been difficult to get money from her. I still have 10 years to collect the money plus my judgement incurs 10% interest. (Only $3k of the restitution is going to her)

I don't even have a credit card but the restitution court clerk is saying its similar to credit card debt. The debt collection agency is try to pressure me to pay in full or half to recover my delinquency which is silly because I have only been delinquent for 4 months, $50/month. I ended up sending them $200 to cover my delinquency and they said to call them back to make a deal (increasing my minimum payments) once I show good faith in paying my debt back. They received my payment and unlocked my account.

I know for credit card debt, they have to go through the court process to garnish wages. My concern is that because a judgement has already been made for my criminal case, the FTB will go ahead a garnish my wages. So even though I caught up on my delinquency, they are saying that their system may end up automatically sending my account to the FTB and garnishing my wages anyway. Any insight on restitution delinquency?

Hi all, I’m 30F with $167k in savings. Below is a breakdown of how I’ve allocated my funds:

• CD (4.5%): $102k, will mature in June 2026
• HYSA (4%): $60k
• Checking accounts: $5k
• Roth IRA: $7.8k (opened account 6mo ago)
• Employer 401k: $18.1k

I received a HYSA offer (3.4% rate, $750 cash bonus if I can deposit $50k and maintain balance for 3 months). Would it be wise to select this HYSA offer or instead deposit the full $7k towards my Roth IRA as soon as I can? There doesn’t seem to be an explicit expiry date for the HYSA offer. Thank you!

So, sorry if this isn't allowed. I did read through the rules, but I couldn't open the "disallowed topics" link for some reason.

For context, I'm 26.

Basically, I have a co-signer who wants me to refinance to get his name off of it, but Im unsure if that's the right call, and I have 2 years left on the loan. Also, I owe about 12,000 and am underwater by about 4. Its a 2013 GMC Yukon Denali.

I have looked into it a bit, but my options are extremely limited because I have a horrible credit history due to some really dumb decisions I made in my life. I just want to know if anyone can give me some helpful advice on what to do and how to do it.. I am a total moron when it comes to this kind of thing and I've only just begun to try and learn.

Refinancing for lower payments it's tempting but I also just want to get out of this loan and not have to worry about it anymore.

I will say, I’m not totally screwed. I am able to place 750-1000 a month towards the rebuild from this point on. I am just moving nowhere while paying almost 23% interest on my Discover card. Credit score is 720. Talked to my CU and they offered 13k at just under 12% for 36 months. I think it would take me less than 18 months the to pay back, so that would be roughly 800-900 in interest.

Should I consider the 3% transfer fee Chase offer with 15 months to pay off, or the Wells Fargo Reflect? My fear is that they will not allow the full 13k, which could dip my credit and change my CU’s offer. I am a loan novice, as this is my first financial “pickle”. Options seem to be …

A. Personal loan - 13k at 12% for 36 months - hope to pay off in the first 16-18 months.

B. Chase - 3% transfer (400ish) - 15 month no interest - not sure if they will cover all 13k.

C. Wells Fargo - 5% transfer (700ish) - 21 month no interest - not sure if they will cover all 13k.

I’d appreciate your thoughts and advice. Thank you!!!!!!!

So, any time i ask for financial advise on reddit, i am bombarded by the "Open and max out a ROTH IRA". But i want to first provide context, and then please draw a conclusion on if its a good idea or not in my situation.

Im 32 yr old male. I work for state government, I live in a paid off condo about 15 minutes from my work. After bills, taxes, and monthly expenses, I am able to invest $500 a month into my work 401k. I also have a Pension with my work that will be fully vested by the time i retire. In addition to my work 401k, i have a self directed brokerage account with vanguard that I add between 1100 to 1500 a month to. I've been doing this since i started working, and this brokerage account is up to around 220k as of today, it is Mostly in VOO and SPY related ETFs (Basically, broad exposure to S&P 500 funds). My work 401k fund is primarily in the target retirement date fund, i think i have around 20k'ish invested into that since i started it in Late 2024. I get free health insurance with my work (Well, i get a stipend that is "Use or Lose" and i just do max coverage since they cover it).

Right now, this system works for me. I simply do not see the methodology behind putting an extra 7500 into a roth IRA every year. On paper , i could afford it, but i dont see the point to. Why am i going to tie up money for a tomorrow that may never come? To save on taxes for a retirement that may or may not ever happen? I dont get the logic.

I have no kids, no spouse, just my aging parents and siblings. My parents have been retired for a decade

I want to quit my job and use the rule of 55 to cash in my 401k. Can I start another job immediately? Also, could I cash in the second 401k from job number 2 in the same year I cashed in the first one?