Hello everyone, I’m a 20(soon 21) year old E-3 in almost a year into a 5 year contract, and regrettably haven’t made the best financial choices in the past year, but now that I know I want to start saving I don’t really know where to start.
I’m not in debt at all but am sitting on a measly 3800 in total nw, with $2k set aside to save for a new car. I’m PCSing to SD soon where I’m going to stay for the remainder of my contact, and I don’t really have any concrete goals in mind for the future. A place of my own seems very far in the future considering that I’m comfortable enough to live with my parents if need be (and I have a good relationship with my parents to where I will eventually have the house to myself in the far future), I have 2014 Mazda paid off that I’m sure runs fine and probably has a few years left in it in which the only thing I’d have to worry about is insurance (don’t know the exact condition for sure as I haven’t been home/driving it in a long while). So I’m relatively financially secure with a good safety net.
Should I go balls to the walls for retirement/I got the minimum 5% ROTH TSP match right now because I don’t envision myself staying in for the full 20 to really reap the full benefits. Confused if I should do like a 15% ROTH IRA/35% HYSA/20% Stocks. Just curious on how someone more knowledgeable would handle my situation. Appreciate any input
Gained Consciousness and don’t know where to start
byu/TheMeta14 inMilitaryFinance
Posted by TheMeta14
1 Comment
You can roll TSP into your IRA when you get out. I’m not sure if I’m reading your last paragraph correctly
You’re in a decent spot and the fact that your aware of you money decisions puts you ahead of your peers lol. Everton on this sub was dumb with their money in their 20s to a certain extent
I would avoid stocks but yes to HYSA/IRA/TSP. As high as you can go in TSP/IRA would be ideal. If the market has a similar trajectory as it’s had in the past, the money in the market should double every 10 years. For every 1k in your TSP, it’s 16k for you in retirement at 60
Big thing for now is to budget, save, and spend money on having fun (meaningfully though). Don’t waste money on a new car or going out to lunch every day