I've been trying to restructure my goals a bit. My original plan was to get my emergency fund up to $5000 (3 months living expenses, more or less), then start putting $333 a month ($4000 over the course of a year) in a Roth IRA and the remaining $667 (b/c I've been able to save roughly $1000 a month) in my emergency fund until it is up to $10,000, or 6 months of living expenses.
What changes is that I've told my boss that I'm planning to leave my job at the end of the season (mid-January).
Suddenly, 3 months expenses doesn't seem like enough. Though I'm still pretty anxious to stash some money into an IRA... Especially now that prices are down a bit. But my current fears about the economy (I don't like the amount of personal debt in this country, and I'm not comfortable with the real estate market right now) are really making me wonder whether it's better to wait, until I both:
A) have found a new job
B) have a 6-month emergency fund.
If I meet those conditions, I think I'll feel better about the market, whether it goes down or up. I'll know that I have a job and savings and I can provide for myself. Still, $10,000 feels so far away...
I guess all I'm saying is I don't know. I still don't know what I'm doing. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon. I need to pick one plan or the other, and each has advantages and disadvantages. I'm just really scared about the future, I guess. Moving home is always an option, as is moving to Canada to find a job, though I don't want to leave my friends and my boyfriend.
I need to sit down with a calculator and project my expectations through January, and through the spring and the summer. Maybe that'll help me make a decision.
Update, after a while
October 23rd, 2005 at 09:57 pm
October 25th, 2005 at 04:09 am 1130213372
ROTH is great but you have till Mar/Apr next year to contribute to ROTH for 2005. Also, right now with the way the stock market is I don't know how comfortable you feel putting your money into stocks/funds etc. With ED you get 4% return, its not great but its gauranteed for now.
BTW $1k a month savings is better than what most people with 6 figure salary can save, congratulations! you're on the right track.
October 26th, 2005 at 03:16 am 1130296563