After a failed startup where I went without salary for nearly a year, I found myself 30 years old, with 2 car payments, 15K in credit card debt, and $0 in the bank. This forced me to reevaluate my relationship with money : )
Step 1 was digging myself out of the hole, which didn't take too long -- paid off the cars and the CC debt.
I use EmigrantDirect for a Savings Account, they pay 0.9% on balances currently, generally they are very competitive. Transfer are easy.
I use an EmigrantDirect Mastercard for all my purchases. If you maintain a greater than $10,000 balance in your savings you get a 1.4% cash back on all purchases. Doing this is a nice way to handle things, all your bills are consolidated, and you get cash back. Of course pay it off in full each month, treat it like a charge card, not a CC.
I do not currently get a match on my 401K, and I do not like the investment options much, therefore I do not use it -- I instead max out a Roth IRA, and put money into a taxable account.
I tried very hard during the downturn to push as much money as I possibly could into stocks, ignoring whatever fear I felt. As things have rebounded I am sitting on a portfolio with very nice paper returns. I favor companies with high ROE and what appear to be sustainable cash flows. I favor international exposure. And I like dividends.
I am however finding it difficult to find that much to invest in currently, my money has been going into cash for some time.
I'm not really sure what comes next...I still consider houses overpriced relative to rents, tho depending on what inflation may do, it might make sense to purchase one. Still pondering that one.
I agree with just about everything you're doing. I am still invested in the market but I know what you're saying about expecting a correction. I actually used the dip the market took last week to put some more money to work.
I totally agree on housing. Mortgage rates aren't going to get any cheaper ever again (although I said the same thing in 2003) so it is a good time to lock in a low rate. But, I live in the SF Bay Area and rents are so cheap compared to housing prices (still) that it would be really hard to up our housing costs by 50% (at least) and move into a worse place. Unfortunately, the wife has her heart set on home ownership so we might wind up going that way.
Step 1 was digging myself out of the hole, which didn't take too long -- paid off the cars and the CC debt.
I use EmigrantDirect for a Savings Account, they pay 0.9% on balances currently, generally they are very competitive. Transfer are easy.
I use an EmigrantDirect Mastercard for all my purchases. If you maintain a greater than $10,000 balance in your savings you get a 1.4% cash back on all purchases. Doing this is a nice way to handle things, all your bills are consolidated, and you get cash back. Of course pay it off in full each month, treat it like a charge card, not a CC.
I do not currently get a match on my 401K, and I do not like the investment options much, therefore I do not use it -- I instead max out a Roth IRA, and put money into a taxable account.
I tried very hard during the downturn to push as much money as I possibly could into stocks, ignoring whatever fear I felt. As things have rebounded I am sitting on a portfolio with very nice paper returns. I favor companies with high ROE and what appear to be sustainable cash flows. I favor international exposure. And I like dividends.
I am however finding it difficult to find that much to invest in currently, my money has been going into cash for some time.
I'm not really sure what comes next...I still consider houses overpriced relative to rents, tho depending on what inflation may do, it might make sense to purchase one. Still pondering that one.