Hmmm 30k questions

[law87]

if you have 30k, would you A. max out your yearly contribution or B. pay down your mortgages @ 2.15% for 15 years and you are 6-7 years into your mortgage.

 

[DirectKarma]

Ohhhh Man. I’ve been watching these threads, mostly as a closet stalker, and this is a reality for me. I have never been an investor. My parent were broke nobodies who seemed to celebrate mediocrity. So , even saving a little money makes me surpass life goals I thought that I would never achieve. I have about 33 grand(thanks to my much more sensible wife) in savings. I just started my ROTH TSP in October and don’t have a freaking clue. I’m putting in 20%. I’m 30,30,30,10%. C,S,I, and G. But what about the savings??!!? It’s just sitting there. Sucking. Doing nothing. We own a rental in CO Springs (Fountain). Do we pay it down??!? Buy more into mutual funds(we have 6000$ in UCAGX usaa cornerstone aggressive which we just established in November).
This is my first post because I HAVE NO CLUE what I’m doing but want to learn. What should I do???


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[DirectKarma]

Oh yeah. I’m E6 Army, been in 7 years. I have about 60 grand in equity on the rent house.


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[evilanne]

if you have 30k, would you A. max out your yearly contribution or B. pay down your mortgages @ 2.15% for 15 years and you are 6-7 years into your mortgage.

Recommend you max out your yearly contribution first and then pay down your mortgage if able. Also make sure you have some type savings in case of an emergency. You are already ahead of most people with a shorter mortgage and a very low rate. You should be able to make way more that what you are paying on your mortgage, which will increase your wealth in the long run.

 

[evilanne]

DirectKarma,

Since mortgage on a rental is an expense that is deducted from rents earned, paying it down isn't that advantageous since it will increase your taxable income. Other factors to consider is whether you can cover the mortgage from other sources in the event that it isn't rented out for a period of time, you get a bad renter that doesn't pay their rent; your financial capacity to cover any damages, major repairs or expenses that could arise--basically anything that would impact your cash flow and the impact on you personally in meeting your other obligations. A lot depends on your specific situation but you may want to seek advice from a financial advisor, accountant of tax advisor as many of the issues are interrelated.

 

[DirectKarma]

DirectKarma,

Since mortgage on a rental is an expense that is deducted from rents earned, paying it down isn't that advantageous since it will increase your taxable income. Other factors to consider is whether you can cover the mortgage from other sources in the event that it isn't rented out for a period of time, you get a bad renter that doesn't pay their rent; your financial capacity to cover any damages, major repairs or expenses that could arise--basically anything that would impact your cash flow and the impact on you personally in meeting your other obligations. A lot depends on your specific situation but you may want to seek advice from a financial advisor, accountant of tax advisor as many of the issues are interrelated.

So, I want to talk to an advisor and I’ve had leaders and friends recommend people but I don’t want to go in there with a lot of cash and no sense of what high fees are or high commissions would be. I just don’t want to get treated like a mouth breather, even though I feel like one when it comes to investing..... maybe I should start a thread instead of high jacking this thread. Sorry


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[evilanne]

A separate thread is a good idea as well as reading as much as you can about financial issues & investing. Most of the stuff you can probably figure out yourself, even taxes, if you have a basic understanding of how things work and enough knowledge to know when you need to seek professional advice. There is a lot of good info in this and other online forums but don't totally rely on anything you find online unless you can verify from a reliable source. When you are starting out, you probably don't need a financial advisor and are probably better off using discount brokerage for other investments.

 

[RazorCat]

I'd max out my yearly contributions firsts. That's the gift that keeps on giving through the magic of compound interest. Depending on what you have left, maintain a healthy savings secondly. Maybe consider a Money Market account through a local Credit Union. Mine pays 1.25% on MM accounts right now. Not stellar, but makes it easier to keep a healthy balance that I can readily draw from when needed. Also, look at a Kasasa checking account. They have several variations of which one might fit your current situation. Some pay fairly generous interest rates if you maintain a minimum balance and meet their monthly account transactions requirements. As for that mortgage, that's a really low rate which you're almost halfway into. Plug the numbers into a mortgage calculator and see where paying down some of the principle get's you in terms of reduced interest, and shortening the term of the loan. Here's a site I use frequently for calculating compound interest on my TSP. Click on Online Calculators at the top of the page to find the one you need for estimating mortgage.
https://financial-calculators.com/compound-interest-calculator

 

[law87]

I'd max out my yearly contributions firsts. That's the gift that keeps on giving through the magic of compound interest. Depending on what you have left, maintain a healthy savings secondly. Maybe consider a Money Market account through a local Credit Union. Mine pays 1.25% on MM accounts right now. Not stellar, but makes it easier to keep a healthy balance that I can readily draw from when needed. Also, look at a Kasasa checking account. They have several variations of which one might fit your current situation. Some pay fairly generous interest rates if you maintain a minimum balance and meet their monthly account transactions requirements. As for that mortgage, that's a really low rate which you're almost halfway into. Plug the numbers into a mortgage calculator and see where paying down some of the principle get's you in terms of reduced interest, and shortening the term of the loan. Here's a site I use frequently for calculating compound interest on my TSP. Click on Online Calculators at the top of the page to find the one you need for estimating mortgage.
https://financial-calculators.com/compound-interest-calculator

I actually knew the answer to this question, just want to see if anyone surprised me with a different idea. I'm so sick of paying a mortgage. Its a home that I'm currently renting out, however the rental fees doesnt even cover the cost of the mortgage.

 

[evilanne]

I actually knew the answer to this question, just want to see if anyone surprised me with a different idea. I'm so sick of paying a mortgage. Its a home that I'm currently renting out, however the rental fees doesnt even cover the cost of the mortgage.

Why are you holding on to it? Do you have any passive income that you can offset any losses with? Are property values increasing or decreasing where the rental is located? Rentals can be great investments, but it isn't for everyone. Another option would be to sell it, which would also get rid of the mortgage