Hello all. 48yo. My company may be downsizing me in the next year or so, and there is a possibility I may not find a new position with the same salary I am making now. I was doing pretty well attacking my budget until I went a little crazy about 18 months ago and splurged on a new vehicle.
My big hitters right now are a mortgage with about 10 years left, a 30k HELOC from some repair work that hit me a few years ago, the car payment, and about 8k in credit card debt. At the moment, the highest interest rates are the credit cards, and the HELOC.
So, I am considering taking two steps. Aggressive, and probably stupid. First up, the HELOC has enough room to absorb the credit card. The card has a 13% rate, while the HELOC has 7%. I will also be able to combine my principal overpayments into one $800 monthly payment. So I will be basically paying about the same, but dropping the rate from 13% on some to 7%. Is that smarter than stopping the overpayments on the HELOC, and just attacking the credit card?
Next is the stupid thought. I currently max out my 401k yearly. Company matches 4%. Should I consider lowering my contribution to the match, and then using the extra $15k to chunk down my debt? I’m still trying to figure out the tax hit for not putting that money away too. I have about $550k in my 401k, plus I’ll have a home worth about $150k. I’d realistically like to retire or semi-retire by 60. So that gives me just over a decade to do what I can. I don’t have any fancy aspirations for retirement. Just me, my dog, and a used RV chasing the sun.
Finally, as I started with, my current position will probably be gone soon. 3 months? 2 years? I am not sure, but who is? I am trying to maximize what I can with my current salary, before I may be forced to take a lesser one. I know people will ask, I’m in IT, my skill set is based around a lot of technology that is going overseas, and at my age, I’m not looking forward to suddenly being a road warrior consultant chasing the contracts. I can always hope for the best, but I am trying to be conservatively realistic.
Submitted January 15, 2019 at 09:41PM by weasel2k http://bit.ly/2ROMHW8
