What to do with windfall

We have 90k liquid and won’t be buying a house in the next 2-3yrs.

What do I do with it? Accountant says to max Roths this yr but that’s nowhere near using it up.

E-fund is covered.

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Do you have access to a 401(k) at work? Is it already maxed?

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Money market accounts are yielding around 5% right now – if you think you might buy a house in 3-5 years that might be a good place to park it for the time being.

Or maybe put 1/2 of it in an index fund if you want to try to get a bit more growth. Market is very high right now and might correct over the last few months, though.

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If you’re interested in chasing bank bonuses there are usually some of those floating around (like ‘deposit 10-15,000 and receive <some amount> in a couple months’ type things), or short-term CDs are also getting like 5% or a little above.

ETA: These are assuming you want it back in a year.

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Yes and no. Am I allowed to contribute to Roth and 401l?

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Definitely, although pretty sure you’d have to up your 401k contributions through your paycheck and use the windfall to make up for any lack day-to-day

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Absolutely. But like @kenner said, 401k must be payroll deduction. Limit on that is 23k this year.

Roth has the advantage of being reversible (withdrawable) but you’re already doing that. (7 each so you’re at 37k/90)

Does MrM have access to retirement? A lot of grad students do, but there’s no match and liquidity seems more important at the time.

I might set some aside for a non-emergency “we really want this” fund (Vacation? Classes for Meowlet?)

After that, savings, government bonds, or taxable investments?

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If you do it before April 15th you can max Roths for both years for both spouses (even if one isn’t working/making and income). So that’s a little over $24K.

It’s very easy to do this in Vanguard, you just have to open an account for both people and then link your bank account to contribute. Each step does take a couple days so good to start the process now even if you don’t end up funding them. (I’m always happy to set up a zoom call to walk people through the steps of actually contributing if you want to screen share).

Yes, you can max out a 401K and a Roth! If needed you can up the amount you are withholding from payroll and keep the $23K from the windfall to spend from your bank account to make up for it.

Vanguard also has a high interest savings/money market account that’s making 5% I think? So you could park it there instead of a CD and then if you decide to invest it at any point it’s all in the same place.

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ETA: You need to me making less than $220K (MAGI) to contribute outright to a Roth, otherwise you need to do a backdoor Roth.

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ETA 2: this is the Vanguard savings account. Vanguard Cash Plus Account | Vanguard

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After Roth I recommend Vanguard index funds - I have both Whole market and S&P 500 index funds.

ETA: so far (8-9 years) both funds have had very similar performance.

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Ditto to what everyone else is saying. Roth, Vanguard (target retirement date funds are a good, low-fee set and forget).

I’m gonna be the yolo friend here and say take 2-3% of it (~$1,800?) and buy yourself or your family some time/ease/rest/connection in this hectic season. Like splurge on movers/packers or a really awesome date weekend or something like that?

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Thank you all :slight_smile:

Bitcoin?
Beanie babies?

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Always with the solid suggestions there.

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