re: We have saved 60k and my fiancée and I have no debt please help.

1.) never get divorced
2.) never buy too much car
3.) purchase term life or employer sponsored life insurance - avoid complicated policies
4.) Max out 401k
5.) Max out IRA
6.) talk with your spouse - determine how many months of expenses you want in an emergency savings acount
7.) ditch one of those credit cards
8.) based on age - look at Fidelity Contra Fund or Vanguars Total Stock Market Fund - invest 10% of every paycheck into one of those funds
9.) live well below your means - you did not state your age - but I assume you are young - you have the power of time and compounding interest in your side.
10.) investigate home ownership - most Americans have equity in their home and that could be passed down to children - I would start with school districts as the first research topic and go from there.

Max out on your Roth IRA. Dividend stocks or an s&p 500 index fund. Put 5,500 yearly for growth.

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That takes a ton of anxiety away knowing that we won't need 20%.

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I mean, ideally, you would do the 20%, because it lowers the cost of the loan. But, right now you aren't building any wealth with your rent payments. Now, that's not always bad - if you plan on moving or simply can't deal with the associated cost of owning a house (I'm renting now, for example, and for up to another 18 months or so, because I'm standing by for a relocation opportunity).

Quite simply, home ownership is the most tried and true way for a middle class couple to build real, tangible wealth. Since you're childless for the moment, this is the perfect opportunity to get into a 2-unit or 4-unit - you don't want to go too dicey, but a little dicey is good - you can generally get a good value and you'll have the opportunity to build sweat equity if the property is a little distressed. You don't want to buy a heavy reno project, but if it's floors, paint, maybe a little tile and drywall patch? That's a way to build equity fairly quickly, if the price is right.

And remember - you don't make money on a house when you sell it - you make it when you buy it. Buying the right property in the right location for the right price is how you make money in real estate. All the sale is marketing and a little timing (which we can't always control).

More broadly - you're out of debt, you're fully solvent, so don't do things that sabotage that - fancy new cars, jewelry, overdoing it on electronics, travel or really any recurring expense or depreciating asset is a suspect purchase at this point. You should budget and assign every dollar a job the moment it hits the bank account. You can't predict emergencies, but you can plan for them. You can also budget "fun money" or vacations, car replacements, medical expenses, etc. - do all of that in advance and you'll likely never face a true financial emergency. You've done well to this point, but never get in the habit of financing a "lifestyle." Figure out what you make and spend a little less. The excess goes into savings.

So, your very next priority, after investing in real estate in which to live (either single family or the suggestions herein about a multiunit - because that's a business you can hold forever if you like - generating income and equity every month), is to fully fund your retirement. You're going to want to be between 12 and 18 percent of your household income going into either tax advantaged or ROTH type vehicles, up to allowable limits, depending on your long-term situation - basically, if your income is higher now than you project it will be in retirement, then go tax advantaged (traditional). If it's the reverse, go Roth.

Why? Because every minute you delay costs you free money in retirement. There is no way, logistically, to get that time in the market back. And just go broad based index funds - generally S&P 500 funds. Assuming you will retire at 60 - money you save now will yield about twice (or more) as much at 60 than if you wait 10 years.

And never buy new cars. Always go used/certified. The depreciation on new cars is a staggering 70% for the first 3 to 4 years. Let someone else eat that. Regardless of your car of choice, it will be cheaper to go that route.

If you give me that $60,000 I'll give you $100,000 back in December.

Do you want my private email ?

I deal with blacks by the way

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Posted by Colonel Flagg online on 8/20/17 at 3:41 pm to AcetylCoA This is just my opinion and I am not an expert. Keep an emergency fund fairly liquid of 3-6 months of expenses. Pay off credit cards every month. Don't carry a bunch of open credit on many different credit cards. If you buy a house put atleast 20% down to avoid PMI. Don't buy too much house. I think I am somewhere between 12-15% gross or something like that. Obviously it can be higher, but keep in mind all expenses. Don't buy too much car. I would try to avoid debt as much as possible outside of house, vehicles (maybe), and business investment. Max your Roth and contribute to personal 401k to company match at minimum. Try to save 15% household minimum for retirement annually. Try to keep a balanced stock portfolio. There is some thought investing in a low fee S&P index fund is the best thing for the novice investor. You can also use a target retirement fund if you have a company 401k. Realize that children are expensive and don't have kids you can't afford to live the way you want. Basically plan out having a family. If you don't have kids take some time to travel and enjoy each others company first. When you get married don't separate your accounts. You should be a financial team. It is part of your relationship and it always seems to cause problems when you dictate it is an individuals money instead of the couples money. Obviously this is for after you are actually married. I don't see how being black has to do with anything regarding this topic. Race doesn't dictate decision making. It is just individual choices and in general society is clueless about financial management.

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I love this entire post!

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open up a Roth IRA, you can put up to $5500 per year

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That is PER person. $11k total for the both of you combined.

Have you considered "flipping" a property? I would not consider buying a rental at this time because you don't have enough cash to make it profitable right now. What is your gross monthly income? Could you carry your rent and a payment on a hard money loan? My last flip was 80k purchase price. Hard money loan from bank was 6% interest so payments were around $450 / month. I put $15k into the property and sold it for $124k. Flipping is always risky sure but I ALWAYS buy a house that I know will at least rent if worse comes to worse. Flip 4 or 5 over the next 2 years then you can star thinking about paying cash for a rental property. Get to know you real estate market like to back of you hand. Befriend a realtor and ask them tons of questions like "how much would this house rent for" " how many days are houses in xyz neighborhood on the market before they sell" "How much per square foot do houses in xyz neighborhood typically sell for" etc. Like I said flipping is risky but you can offset risk buy making a smart purchase. That 80k house I bought I could have rented for $850/month as is so my risk were minimal.