u/sirikina

I can't tell if I'm doing okay or not

(I don't use Reddit often, apologies for any readability issues.) I just recently turned 27, am single, no kids, do not want kids. My parents instilled in me a lot of financial anxiety from a young age, and as a result, I worry often about if I'm saving enough, if I'm 'behind', if I'll be able to retire someday, etc. I became more serious about saving/retirement about 3-4 years ago when I graduated college and started full-time work, but still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing with my money. So, getting some outside opinions would be great!

Salary: $50K/year

HYSA (emergency fund): $11K

Roth IRA: $25K in VOO, I max it out each year

Brokerage: $15K spread across 4-5 stocks and S&P 500

403(b): $3.5K (no employer match unfortunately, I just contribute 6% Roth each month)

Checking account: $7K

My work does contribute on my behalf to a pension that vests after 5 years, but I'm unsure if I'll stay at the job that long (I'm 1 year in) due to the pay. I enjoy my job quite a bit, and can likely stay long-term if I want, so I'm debating if I should stay the 5 years for the pension. The downsides are that there's just about no room for growth, and I don't like the town I'm in. I feel stagnant. Ideally, I would like to move elsewhere for higher pay and a better location.

My take-home pay per month is about $3000 after taxes. Rent is $1300, groceries and gas around $250ish (I try to keep it as low as possible due to the aforementioned anxiety). With the rest, I contribute $1200/month that is split between my IRA and brokerage. My 'fun money' is whatever's leftover each month.

I have $4k left of my student loans. I am thinking of paying them off all at once using a chunk of my emergency fund. I'll also probably need to get another car in a few years, depending on how much longer I can make my current one (paid off) last.

So, does it sound like I'm doing okay with my saving and expenses? The dream is to retire early of course, but I'm really not sure what is possible. Thanks in advance for any advice!

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u/sirikina — 9 hours ago