[USER]

For the first time in my life, I’m making enough to save about $2k per month and wondering the best ways to invest it. I know what chatGPT told me to do , but what do you think?

My situation:
40 years old, single, no kids, self employed
Only $25k in retirement savings

$45k in a HYSA (a year’s worth of living expenses)
Mortgage with $240k remaining, 3% interest
Car payment with $20k remaining, 6% interest
No other debt

An upcoming big expense will be dental bills – I have several dental issues and crappy Marketplace health insurance that doesn’t cover dental. Should I set the $2k/mo aside for that?

Is there a better way to save for dental bills than a HYSA?
I plan to max out my Roth IRA each year.

I would *love* to pay off my car and get out of that 6% interest…does anyone recommend this?

The mental boost I would get from being entirely debt free except for my mortgage would be amazing…

I would love any advice!

[Sharon]

As a self employed person, can you save into an HSA?
I have heard there are 0% loans for medical.

I haven’t looked into this but I do know there are 0% credit cards that possibly might work for your dental.

It would be typically a 4% fee and then potentially 21 months to pay off the balance / loan.
I’d leave your mortgage as is / perfect.

I would also be tempted to pay down the car loan. You can be finished in less than a year.

You’re in great shape – congratulations!

[Adam]

Great job getting to this point where you’re able to save. I would consider 6% on the lower side, so I would focus on everything else before worrying about that.

Stressing about a 6% rate when you’re not taking full advantage of every tax advantaged account you have access to is a good way of being debt free, but it’s not usually the optimal way of becoming financially independent.

Roth IRA, HSA, solo401(k) would all take priority in this case.

[Cecile]

I’d pay off the car using $20K from your HYSA. Use the monthly payment amount to build up your account back to a year. Look for another health insurance carrier that offers better dental coverage.

Don’t overpay for your mortgage. Make sure you have savings buckets for home maintenance and other expenses that might derail your plan.

follow the financial order of operations on how best to allocate your $$.

You don’t say what your goals are – are you planning to achieve FI, if so – what age?

Do you have an established budget? Look into the Ramit Sethi videos for living a rich life.

[Jay]

Money guy show financial order of operations. Pick one of the portfolios “VOO for life, three fund portfolio, golden portfolio etc…” and go hard at it.

[Jakki]

Knowing what I know now, I just have all my teeth pulled and get dental implants and be done with it.

Dental work is so expensive! I personally would get the dental work out of the way and then worry about other choices.

Mine ended up costing about twice what I was quoted.

[Maggie]

If time allows, could you get a part time benefits eligible position with dental insurance long enough to get the dental work done and use the PT income to cover those expenses?

Should be temporary, but won’t impact your savings rate

[Bobbi]

I am very new to this but regarding your dental procedure, I just had a big oral surgery procedure that I was quoted over $10,000 and I got a Delta dental plan that covered a lot of it.

My out-of-pocket is ending up costing about $3000.

They have some no wait plans, but you might want to check with your dentist or oral surgeon and see what coverage they accept.

I also used money that I put into my HSA to pay for it.

[Rick]

Most are right in pay off the car. But next step is to build a never have a car payment again fund. Then when you can buy the next car for cash, invest.

Now if some tax win can be had, save for a car could be done there but this can be delicate work.

[Lori]

I’d pay down the car aggressively. You have enough savings to cover dental.

Then aggressively invest in a whole-market fund.

[Author]

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