getting rich slowly - beyond retirement and college savings

[Anonymous]

Savers, what are your next steps after you have maxed the retirement accounts and are on track with college savings?

That is where we are and we having trouble deciding what to do next. Pay off house, then? Taxable investments?

[Anonymous]

We've paid off our house. We max our tax deferred investments, including nondeductible IRAs, and then put the rest in taxable (but tax efficient) mutual funds and ETFs.

[Anonymous]

I don't look to pay off house - the interest is so low there's no need. Max tax free or advantaged first, then rest in taxable accounts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't look to pay off house - the interest is so low there's no need. Max tax free or advantaged first, then rest in taxable accounts.

But what kind of taxable accounts? index funds? munis? reits? pick-a-mix? Or, what about residential real estate?

[Anonymous]

For me it's all three - cash/-bonds for emergency fund, balanced mutual funds portfolio (large cap, small cap, international), and a rental property.

[Anonymous]

Echo 16:38.

We cashed out a chunk of stock (from a taxable account) last month and bought a residential property outright, basically converting the gains from this year's market rise into real estate.

I know some will disagree, but I hate debt, I love passive (rental) income and when the market inevitably turns down again, I'll feel like our assets haven't totally evaporated.

[Anonymous]

Our last kid graduated from college a year and a half ago and we're already maxing out our retirement accounts ($23,000 a year each since we are in our 50s). We decided to pay off the house. It might not be the most economically rational thing given how low interest rates are, but it helps me sleep better at night. The house will be paid off in a couple more months. After that, the extra money will go into low cost mutual funds with Vanguard.