Comment by rgharris | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rgharris | Hacker News Reader

Lots of reading (books, blogs, etc.) has been helpful for me the past few years and it seems like I pickup new things all the time. A few things I use/reference:

- YNAB (You Need A Budget) - budgeting/tracking app, plus lots of great content on how to use the software and generally manage your budget/expenses

- /r/personalfinance subreddit - checkout their wiki [1] and flowchart [2] in particular for a really helpful overview

- For investments I use spreadsheets to track allocation, targets, etc.

- Bogleheads wiki - investing, heavy on index funds, low fees, etc.

- Whitecoat investor - a lot of good content, mostly aimed at high income earners plus some content specific to medical doctors [3]

- A variety of books - there are a lot of good ones out there

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

2. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics#w...

3. https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/new-to-the-blog-start-here...

The /r/personalfinance flowchart is actually the best summary I've seen on the priority on spending. Some comments I'd add:

* If you run out of money before getting to the employer retirement match, you are living beyond your means and you need to rectify that ASAP.

* Avoid credit card debt especially; the interest rates are not in your favor.

* If you're making tech sector salary, it's probably best to maximize Roth IRA early and hard--you're likely to hit the salary cap on Roth IRA before too long in your career ($120K is when the contribution is reduced; $137K is when it disappears entirely--although note that 401(k) contributions are excluded).

All good points. Roth vs traditional can be complicated when you think about the long term possibilities (change in tax rates, early withdrawal, lower/higher income in the future, etc.) but definitely max out Roth/Traditional/Backdoor Roth IRA if at all possible after getting max employer 401k match. I like the idea of diversifying with pre and post tax retirement options to an extent. Backdoor Roth IRA is useful for high earners that don't qualify for a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA deduction.

I'd second Bogleheads (both wiki and forums) as a great resource for personal finance and investing. This is a good starting point:

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_personal_fi...

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