r/FinancialPlanning

We’re currently renting, but considering buying a house to raise a family and put down roots. It will cost more to own, but we will be in a better neighborhood, closer to family, and love the house.

After all expenses we will have about $2500/month left over to save or invest in our brokerage. We already put 12% into our 401k and don’t plan on changing that.

Estimated expenses include:
- mortgage (PITI, utilities, internet, etc)
- child care
- food
- transportation
- dining out/entertainment
- misc expenses
- extra we can’t predict

Is $2500/month enough cushion with 1 kid and a new build house?

Thanks in advance for any advice. Just a new dad with no one to talk about this with other than my wife.

EDIT
- 29M & 26F w/ newborn
- HHI of $280k-350k
- Investments $260k
- Cash $200k - higher for down payment. Will keep 60k for emergency fund
- House $550k, 10%-20% down, 7.25% APR

We max out our Roth IRA via back door, but want a brokerage account for a bridge account to retire at 55

The positive, I currently have $100k in the stock market which is still growing.

The negative, $50k sitting on HELOC at 8.5% interest. Mostly remodel costs.

I feel like selling the stock to pay off the debt would be a bad move? The bulk of the stock is 2x original value so the income tax would be fairly high. After core expenses I have roughly $4k of flexible spending. Would you buckle down and pay off the debt or sell stock to be done with it?

Hi all!

Some background info: I’m married, filing jointly, and my gross annual income is ~$77,230 and my husband’s is ~$80k. I just started a new job that offers both Roth and Traditional. My husband is only doing Traditional through his job. I was trying to do some research into it and was getting mixed answers.

I was originally going to plan to do full contribution of 6% to Roth only, then eventually shift to Traditional when my income increases, based on some things I’ve been seeing online, but I wanted to see if anyone had any additional thoughts or advice on this? I just want to make sure we’ll be comfortable when we retire.

Thank you!

I'm not talking about modelling whether you need Roth conversion. I mean specific calculations if, e.g., you're maxxing the 24% tax bracket this year and you want to hit its AGI spot on. Is there a form or tool built to help estimate exactly how much you should convert, relative to the rest of your income etc.

For anyone new to this, the problem is that you don't have all the W2s and other year-end summaries like you did before retirement. You have to estimate all these values and do all your actual converting before the end of the calendar year ... you can't wait until April 15. Some values are pretty straightforward but others aren't, and there can be quite a few wrinkles.

I have tried using last year's tax form, but you can't do calculations or keep extensive running notes right inside a Form 1040. I've also tried Excel, but for me it turns into running "stream of consciousness" calculations over the course of a given year, especially since I pick it up at least twice each year (some conversions at beginning of year, and the finish the rest near the end). Last year I used over 300 rows in Excel, sigh.

There's lots to consider:

• Calculate how much conversion "room" you have between e.g. 24% bracket ceiling and predictable values like Social Security income, IRS Standard Deduction, pension, etc.
• Plug in estimated dividends or interest income (before the end of the year).
• If you sell stock to pay for conversion taxes - possibly incurring NIIT - track that, because it decreases conversion capacity.
• Keep in mind IRMAA cliffs, if you have more than just Medicare A. (Actually I don't, so I don't need this. But most people do.)
• If you do some conversion early in year (stocks usually lower) and some later in year, track the amounts so you still hit the bracket total just right.

I'm not sure there really can be any software or tool that can do all this. But I'm sure there are some that can help, or at least help point out some things you might miss.

FWIW for tax year 2025 I was ~$11k low; I could've converted that much more. I was being a little careful and leaving some extra wiggle room to not go over but, in the future, I figure it's better to just try to hit it spot on, and it's okay to be slightly over. (A.k.a. I'd rather be a few thousand into 32% territory than 11k under the 24% ceiling. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about IRMAA.)

Thanks if you can help!

Hopefully this is a good forum for advice for my 61yo mom after my dad’s passing.

Lost dad to suicide 2 weeks ago (retired first responder - check in on the strong ones in your life). He had a $4k/month county pension (and health insurance), $600 state pension, $2.5k social security payment. 401k has been spent.

They owe $208k on the house (where it happened…). 2 cars and 1 camper paid off. 62k in credit card debt. He was definitely “on the credit card float”, paying bills with cards then paying minimum and a bit more when he could. Ran his social security # on CreditKarma and all 62k is in his name only. We live in Georgia. Mom has a serious illness and will likely ultimately need nursing home care.

How can I help my mom plan and keep her protected? She is absolutely clueless about finances and really life in general… dad did everything for her. I want to support, but I know it’s best that she learns how to do everything without him. Where do we start?

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I dropped out of college after 1.5 years, loans in default ~25k debt no degree.

I later took classes for a CNC machine operator certificate, realized it's not something I liked and quit.

Years later I attended a community college, I struggled balancing it with full time work, it was difficult to pay out of pocket, my most recent tuition bill got sent to collections.

I've been working with a staffing agency since 2025 taking on short term jobs - they're mostly clerical or customer service roles.

I want to continue schooling but I can't afford it I'm constantly stressed going from contract job to contract job.

I spent the last two years spending my money into helping my now ex long distance gf, I saw it as an investment for the two of us.

Things did not work out and I lost a lot of money and now I'm full of credit card debt.

I can't blame anyone but myself, I am trying my best to improve my situation but I don't know who to turn to for advice on how I can create a plan to create stability in my life.

How can I plan for a better financial future?

My Mother in law has a paid off home, a rental home income, an emergency cash fund, and social security. All of which cover her expenses. I've recently learned that there is 200k being managed by her "investment guy". It hasn't grown in value for over 10 years. Who knows what's it's invested in but obviously its very disappointing to have learned this.

What are some simple, low risk alternatives at this point given her age ? CD/HYSA? It seems Ike at this point it may not be worth doing anything else

Hey everyone, wanted to get some input on my situation and what steps I should be taking from here.

28M, Currently working full time making just over $60K/yr before taxes.

I have $7,000 in a HYSA at the moment. Shooting for $10K before the end of the year, and have roughly $6,000 in various investments, mostly in index funds.

I have $25,000 in my 401K as my employer doesnt match. So these have been all of my own contributions.

I have a Roth IRA as well, but have not started contributing until I reach my $10,000 HYSA goal.After hitting this goal, I will switch from funding my HYSA each pay to my IRA. I will be able to max this out per year.

I have no CC debt, no school debt, paid off vehicles, and my credit score as per Experian is 797.

What steps should I be taking right now to build myself further? Currently living with 3 roomates to lower expenses as much as possible.