Finances for Newly Wed

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45% me and 55% her

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Pay off high interest debt first. Most likely your CCs, then your cars, then your student loans. Don’t ignore her aunt’s money either, that would be taking advantage of your family, and you don’t want that

I’d shoot for paying off everything in 10 years, but you could easily do it in 5. That’s very doable with your income, your estimated tax bracket, and projecting that you’ll want to buy a house and probably have a kid or two. And that’s considering your income as flat, which it probably won’t be, as you stated

If I were you, I’d put all of our money together in one joint account, and agree to ask the other person if you spend more than a certain amount on one purchase, and same if you spend more than a certain amount total every month on unnecessary purchases. Basically if you buy a set of golf clubs, you ask her. If she buys 5 pairs of shoes over a month, she asks you. Some people buy a lot of small things, so that’s a way to manage small purchases in large quantities or few big purchases

Budget for everything before the month begins, and review your bills when the month ends. This is a good to manage your financial expectations, make sure you’re hitting your goals, encourage saving, and make sure no one stole your credit card and you didn’t realize it. Reviewing bills together makes it easier to have discussions like “hey honey can you turn off some lights before you leave for work today”

Go to whitecoatinvestor.com

There have a forum where you can ask the same questions. Plenty of people there willing to help that have both high incomes and have paid or are paying off substantial educational debt.

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whitecoatinvestor.com

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This. Its geared towards doctors, but it's a fantastic source for high income individuals who have limited knowledge of personal finance.

Shoulda been a welder for SWAT to avoid any student loan debt. $40+ an hour and double time not time and a half.

I was just coming to tell you to go to white coat investor. You have got to learn to live like a resident as they will say over there. I spend a good bit of time over there.

I'm gonna sound like a dick, but I'm going to be frank and honest. This is how I treat myself and our path to debt elimination and hopefully early retirement.

Are both of you on the same financial journey? I think you should both have a joint account.

You have golf clubs already? I doubt you need new ones. My buddy was a pro at a golf course and had the same clubs for 10'ish years. You could do without for a few years.

One account, a tight budget, and some slight room for miscellaneous expenses. You should be able to get this honed in within 4-5 months of spending.

$300k is a decent amount of debt. 10 years amortized won't be too bad. We had $248k. It fricking sucks but you get through it. Ours is a little more aggressive. We pay $2,510 a month, it balloons in Nov 2020, we'll pay $100k, refinance for two years, but I should pay it off by Jan of 2022.

Someone needs to ride that accord until the friggin wheels fall off. Trade in that MDX for another used, affordable car. You guys aren't ballers yet. Be frugal.

Ameritas has really good DI with great rider options that go up with salary. My wife had it from residency through fellowship and now as a sub-specialist.

How much CC debt are we talking here? Rate on that?

We'll come back to retirement stuff after we know the Cc debt amount.

Is your wife a partner or just staff? W-2, K-1, or 1099 employed? That could dictate a lot of routes you could take re: retirement vehicles.

$2,800/month rent. What in the hell are you renting? A 3,000 sq. ft. house or some brand new, swanky condo on the battery? You need to rent for a few years and seriously look for something more affordable. Maybe I'm out of touch, but we have a 2,200 sq. ft. house in Metairie and our mortgage is $1,467 a month. Physician lonas tend to have slightly higher interest rates I think. WCI has lots of posts on that.

The credit card you need is not having one. You need to buy things as you can afford them and the original CC debt is gone or greatly reduced.

You don't need a 529 plan. You don't have a kid. What if you can't have kids. You have bigger priorities right now, will have substantial income, and little debt eventually. They'll be fine and they'll live if they have a little skin in the game.

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I mean they are bringing home $250K they can afford a $2800/mo rental

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They're not though. Factor in their student loan and TBD credit card debt and they're saddled with some pretty big negatives right out of the gate.

I'm just saying, that seems like a shite load for rent. Is there really nothing reasonable for $1,500-$1,800? They rent for three to four years and potentially eliminate $36k-$48k in student loan debt that much sooner.

Federal taxes, state income taxes, and potentially city taxes can make that $250k go quick with all of their extra expenses.

OP -- sounds like you need to cut down on some of your big expenses. Almost $6k a month just for housing/student loans is insanity.

Everything Wiz posted is good advice. While you have a substantial enough income to survive the mountain of debt you have accumulated, if you don't sacrifice now for several years to mostly eliminate that debt, it will significantly restrict your freedom to make more important choices down the line.

With that debt load, you may find yourselves stuck on career paths that make you unhappy and strain your marriage. Your wife may want to go out on her own in a few years. That will require substantial capital for office space, equipment and initial overhead. Children have a way of altering plans as well. Not to mention sometimes things just don't work out with employment. Not aggressively attacking that debt while you are DINKs would be a huge missed opportunity that will significantly limit your options in the future.

You could pay that debt off with your income in 5 years if you made it a priority. Think of the opportunity and freedom you would have with little to no debt/payments and $350k in annual income before you turn 35.

It's a lot easier for me to say than it will be for you to do, but I guarantee you won't regret it if you do it.

If you “pay yourself first”, you will be fine.

Maximize your retirement accounts.
Pay off the debt as quickly as you can because interest never takes a holiday.

As long as you are spending less than you make after saving for retirement, I would not sweat shoes or clubs. At the end of the day, you are working for your future self so make sure you put lots away for retirement. Also, after kids she may cut back her work schedule to spend more time with the kids. Live on one income. It makes it easier when the kids come.

As far as saving for college, if you still have money after maximizing retirement, it’s a great idea. You will eventually not be able to work. Your kids may get scholarships,join the military, etc.