Submitted by samuraidogparty t3_10crkke in personalfinance
I could tell a whole background story as to how I got here. But, to summarize, I went to college at 30, graduated at 34, and became a teacher making just $34k/yr. I graduated with $58k in student loans.
Somehow, after paying $440/mo on those loans for 5 years, I now have $65k in student loans. So that’s cool! Go interest!
But, I recently quit that job and moved to the private sector. I’m 42, and I have about $50k in retirement savings (and still have that stupid $65k in student debt).
Thanks to my job change, our household income doubled (from $98k to $204k gross) and our expenses have not. I am putting much larger chunks toward my student debt (half of the loans are 6.8% the rest are below 3% APR). I’m maxing out my 401k and Roth IRA, but I know it’s not enough.
I’m mostly curious how much extra I will need to save to actually retire. Do I need to find an extra $5k/mo? $10k? Should I be saving the entire extra income? I would like to travel and enjoy my life more while my kids are still young if possible.
For info, we have a 15-year mortgage at 2.5% on a $130k home. We have 13 years left and our payment is $1,440/mo. One car payment that’s $280/mo since I know people will ask.
We are no longer paycheck to paycheck and have the ability to save. But I’m struggling to figure out the exact amount I should be saving vs applying to debt to get back on track.