re: Just got a new job making nearly 50k.

The Roth 401K is good advice, especially for someone starting out. Something else that his company may offer is an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). It's important to have a good feel for the financial health of the company before putting significant money in. But with most of the ones I've been in offering a nice discount to market price (usually in the 20% range), a financing plan that allows the interest to go back to the employee and getting to keep the dividends on the stocks (prior to the loan being paid off), it's possible to make a very nice return on SOME of them.

And like someone else said, ain't nothing wrong with $50K a year for a young, single fellow. You're doing well.