u/MojoMeadow

I'm 29, married, and currently making around $50k/year while finishing my PhD (will be done within the next 1–1.5 years). My husband and I merged our finances after getting married in 2025, and overall we're in a pretty stable financial position. We frequently check in about our finances and are on the same page with how we manage our money.

Right now:

• We own our home and currently have a collective income around $130k.
• We have HYSAs with roughly $20k that we could readily access in an emergency
• We use joint accounts for all our household income, savings, and expenses
• We have separate "fun money" personal accounts that we each contribute the same, small amount of our income to each month. We use these when we want to treat ourselves to something that doesn't concern the other. I'm not on my husbands account, and he isn't on mine.
• My husband has an investment account with ETFs that he opened before we got married. We contribute a small amount to it together, but the account doesn't allow joint ownership, so it's only in his name.

I'm keen to start investing small amounts of my own money from my personal "fun money" account. My goal isn't to make a huge amount of money, I just want to build my financial literacy and independence so I can be in a good position to think about building wealth in my own name.

The problem is that I have very little knowledge about investing. I didn't grow up being taught about practical financial management or investments, so I feel like I'm starting from almost zero. I feel like I don't really understand the practical steps or how to decide what makes sense for me. My husband knows some about investing, but I'd like to learn this by myself so that I don't feel reliant on him.

I'm particularly interested in learning:

• Where should I actually start investing as a beginner?
• What should be my approach if I'm only able to invest a small amount each month right now?
• How do I choose what to invest in?
• Should I prioritize retirement investing or having investments that I can access before retirement?
• Are there any good beginner-friendly resources (books, websites, podcasts, etc.) that you've found useful for learning about how investing works?

I'd especially appreciate advice from anyone who may have been in a similar position - particularly anyone who taught themselves about investing/learned to build their wealth independently of their marriage.

Thanks!