Hey, y’all!
I’m a 27F, and I have the (maybe?) good sense to start thinking about retirement now. I’m a lawyer, so I’m not worried about salary. What I’m worried about is what to do with it. Me and finances aren’t friends. I’m intelligent, yes, but retirement accounts and investing and all the shit I probably should understand just flies over my head.
I have SIGNIFICANT student debt (approx. $150,000), only $8,000 of that is from undergrad. About $12,000 was forgiven under Biden, but obviously that barely made a dent. The rest is purely from my legal education.
I also have other debts I’m paying on (car note, stupid credit cards that I shouldn’t have gotten, etc.)
Y’all have lived, and I’ve barely started. Help! I don’t want to be in my 40s and beyond freaking out about how I’m going to keep living and actually enjoying life when the time comes.
Comments
I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. Very digestible and sensible. Easy to understand and do.
You working for a firm? Max out your 401k and the firm will hopefully have an advisor with your 401k administrator who is available to meet with you.
Preface: I am a former credit counselor and financial education professional.
You need to visit a certified credit counselor about reducing your credit card debt. Find one at nfcc.org.
You didn’t tell us what your salary is. Tell your credit counselor everything…you don’t really have a choice but to tell them anyway. You do not need to say it here.
Your question is WAY TOO BROAD for anyone in an old people sub to completely answer and that is why I am referring you out. The short story is you have to get out from under this massive debt to even think about retirement savings.
After you’ve resolved your credit card debt, find a great financial planner to help you with how to invest what “could” be your massive salary………before you start spending it willy nilly.
I will say this: Law school ins unbelievably expensive and many law schools don’t tell their students that your salary when you walk in the door after graduating won’t even pay the rent. It’s a crime, really. A crime for which a great lawyer would be helpful!
A law school in the area where I used to live actually called on our nonprofit credit counseling agency to help them with their image because so many of their grads were infuriated with the fact that they were never told they would make so little money against what their student loan debt would be.!
I got into trouble with credit cards .. pay off the smallest one first. Cut it up. Then the next one…until done.
To echo the top comment, focus first on paying down any credit card debt.
I think the subs on reddit for r/Bogleheads and r/personalfinance are solid for investing advice. I’ve used the Boglehead method, which is fairly simple, and it works well. I’d avoid signing up with a financial advisor because it will save you a lot of money to come up with a plan and do it on your own.
Good luck!
Hey I’m a lawyer too but I’m 60. The great news is that at your age, time is on your side. Also you have the ability to earn a good income for many years. Give each dollar you get a specific task before you get it. By which I mean live by a budget. You got this!