Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you may not end up having a fancy retirement, but you can have one while maintaining your dignity. Index funds are your friends. Don't invest all your $1500 into it. You need to keep some cash in a high yield savings account this way you won't liquidate your investment to meet financial emergencies.

Second have short term goals. If you think 10 years from now it's scary. Revisit your goals every year and make adjustments.

Also Clint your blessings that you are in the United States. I am from another country. And I always find Americans' 100% confidence in their stock market very impressive. I think this is one of the few places (probably the only place) where people are guaranteed a good return on their investments in the long run

There is nothing wrong with using VOO as HYSA. She even gets to make sure it's long term, choose the right cost basis for her and her taxes for that you, sell it, and it will be in her checking account in 3 days.
That said, I assumed she already has $5k stashed away somewhere or what amount she may need. And other ways to access money in emergency. I have several ways.

Disagree. VOO is an index fund that mirrors the S&P 500. Just because it has done well over the last decade is no guarantee it won’t go down. HYSA will not lose money. Your rate may fluctuate a little but there is no chance of loss.

People use HYSA for stability. VOO has risk.

Anonymous wrote:OP you may not end up having a fancy retirement, but you can have one while maintaining your dignity. Index funds are your friends. Don't invest all your $1500 into it. You need to keep some cash in a high yield savings account this way you won't liquidate your investment to meet financial emergencies.

Second have short term goals. If you think 10 years from now it's scary. Revisit your goals every year and make adjustments.

Also Clint your blessings that you are in the United States. I am from another country. And I always find Americans' 100% confidence in their stock market very impressive. I think this is one of the few places (probably the only place) where people are guaranteed a good return on their investments in the long run

There is nothing wrong with using VOO as HYSA. She even gets to make sure it's long term, choose the right cost basis for her and her taxes for that you, sell it, and it will be in her checking account in 3 days.
That said, I assumed she already has $5k stashed away somewhere or what amount she may need. And other ways to access money in emergency. I have several ways.

No to 401k, because it is taxed as income once you start taking it. It can also cause you social security to be taxed.
The deduction and the small match do not make up for the money you will lose using 401k.
We do not know the future tax rates, but government will be waiting for your RMD from 401k.
That account has rules, fees, RMD, higher tax rate, lousy investment choices, and bad customer service usually.
People see what they get with 401k, but they don't see what they give up.
You are to learn about investing, personal finance, and taxes that pertain to you.
401k does not allow you to invest freely and learn like Roth and your own investment account do.
Your 401k will be half the amount of your Roth even when you put the same amount of money in and employer even matches 3-5%.
As you are filing HH for long time to come as you child is a minor. Your long term capital gains taxes will be $0 up to $63k for 2025. Up to $48k (2025 rate, goes up with cola) tax free if you file single in retirement.
State taxes it a little, but nothing like 401k.
Absolutely no to 529.
Again:
$8k into Roth with Fidelity and buy VOO/VTI. The rest of the money goes into regular investment account and again, buy VOO/VTI while you are learning about finances.
Had you put $1500 into VOO the last 15 years, you would have $850k right now. The VOO inside of the Roth would be completely tax free.
The VOO in investment account can be mostly tax free mostly in retirement just like I explained. People don't know that or don't want to know that.
There is zero chance money in 401k will be tax free.
Learning about all this and handing this knowledge down to your daughter is the best investment.
My kid got 30 credits transferred to college. Very nice surprise. 3 years to go paying in-state tuition. Not bad at all as he will be working.

Anonymous wrote:First forget about paying for your daughter's college. you cannot afford it. Put the maximum into your 401k as it won't be taxed. Then dump the remainder into funds.

+1 If you don't have much saved and don't earn that much, your DD might get some FA, but no one will loan you money for retirement. DD can also go to community college or live at home to save money. You don't want to burden your DD with helping you out financially when you retire. This is as much for her as it is for you.

You need to give us something more to work with. How about your SS? Have you been working? I agree with PPs that your priority should be on your retirement vs. kid's college.

OP you may not end up having a fancy retirement, but you can have one while maintaining your dignity. Index funds are your friends. Don't invest all your $1500 into it. You need to keep some cash in a high yield savings account this way you won't liquidate your investment to meet financial emergencies.

Second have short term goals. If you think 10 years from now it's scary. Revisit your goals every year and make adjustments.

Also Clint your blessings that you are in the United States. I am from another country. And I always find Americans' 100% confidence in their stock market very impressive. I think this is one of the few places (probably the only place) where people are guaranteed a good return on their investments in the long run

Anonymous wrote:
Please help me. I am 50
And have no savings and retirement whatsoever. I have a 15 yr old daughter who will be going to college before I know it. I have spent my entire life taking care of extended family becuse they are so poor. I am finally free of doing that and can now focus on myself. I will earn more and can save $1500 a month. How do I invest this wisely so I can have at least some money for retirement. This consumes me and I am so afraid of the future especially since I have no financial literacy at all.

What kind of work do you do? How much do you make?

The biggest risk at your age is losing your job and never being able to find another. If at all possible, find a job in government, within a department Trump is not likely to cut. eg. Immigration related branches. You can stay employed as long as you want and potentially get a pension depending on how long you work.

Yes. There are many ways to pay for college. There is only one way to pay for your retirement- saving. Now. And working hard to avoid becoming a burden on your child. She will need to figure out another option for paying for college but you can help her by sharing your hard earned lessons on financial security and strongly advise her against taking out loans unless there is a clear and straight line from her degree to a well paying job that isn’t going to be swallowed by AI. Meanwhile you save every penny you can on your 401(k) and IRAs. Google if you don’t know how to get started.

First forget about paying for your daughter's college. you cannot afford it. Put the maximum into your 401k as it won't be taxed. Then dump the remainder into funds.

Thank you!

If your employer offers a 401K with match sign up to capture the match amount. Example employer match 50% up to 6% of pay you make 1000 you put in $60 employer puts in $30

Split 75 25 75% in standard 401 25% in Roth you

If no employer match call Vanguard set up a IRA they will guide you in funds. You could use target date fund for planned retirement

If you plan on working to 67 that's 17 years and you put in $1250 a month and get average return of 5% you should have close to $400,000 at 67

Go read over at bogleheads.org— both posts and wiki and then ask for help.

Do you gave an employer retirement plan with a match?

Open a Roth IRA with Fidelity, send maximum into it every year ($8k for 2025 for you based on your age) and buy VOO and/or VTI with that $8k.
Do the same the rest of the money, but in regular investment account. The account will be right next to one another. Fidelity will help you.
Do this til you retire.
Fidelity over Vanguard any day.

Open a Vanguard account and invest each month into VTI. (Assuming you have an emergency fund that sits in a HYSA.)

It's never too late to start. Good luck, OP.

Please help me. I am 50
And have no savings and retirement whatsoever. I have a 15 yr old daughter who will be going to college before I know it. I have spent my entire life taking care of extended family becuse they are so poor. I am finally free of doing that and can now focus on myself. I will earn more and can save $1500 a month. How do I invest this wisely so I can have at least some money for retirement. This consumes me and I am so afraid of the future especially since I have no financial literacy at all.