I'm in my early 30's and am finally getting to the point where I can start to put away more money and would like to optimize where it goes.
I make about $130k/yr and am putting about $750/mo into my 401k & $900/mo into my company's ESPP program with plans to increase contributions in the next couple months when I get my raise. My goal is to get up to about $1000 a month in contributions.
I've also got some bonuses and other money coming up which, after I pay off my credit card, I expect to have ~$10-13k that I'd like to invest somewhere. After doing a little research I have some questions.
Being in the 24% tax bracket:
- Should I be contributing to a 401k or should I look at an IRA. If IRA should I go traditional or Roth?
- Am I making a mistake having higher contributions in the ESPP program (10% discount on stock purchases, extremely well performing tech company) than 401k?
- Any advice on what to do with the $10-13k? I was thinking of putting it all into an index fund or buying more shares of tech stock.
- Would it be advisable for me to look into some kind of financial advisor, and if so, any recommendations?
Since some of what I've read said it matters, I'd like to add that I'd like to invest somewhere I can have access to the money before retirement without penalties. I'll need to use some of it to pull together a down payment next year when I'll be ready to stop renting, my current plan is to use a 401k loan & sell stocks.
Thanks
Submitted July 23, 2021 at 11:03PM by Darth-Caedus https://ift.tt/3kQ30QL
