My new job does not have a tax-deferred account option – other than an HSA. I don’t believe we can even *have* an HSA until the end of the year. We’re using Dad’s Health Care FSA (although, we can drop it when we update his coverages because our health insurance has changed – “qualifying event”). The new company contributes $1500/year to an HSA (high deductible plan – hope I can use Dad’s high deductible plan, and their HSA – since I hopefully won’t be there long). We may be able to contribute $6,550 to the HSA for the year (which I’m going to see if I can make happen almost all at once if we can contribute – might as well get in on the fun while I can).
I *was* going to max my 401(k) contributions starting in August, but well, that plan is shot at the moment. So, the best I can do is the HSA (if I can contribute), and try to get a deduction for a traditional IRA contribution – not sure if I can because I was covered under a plan for part of the year. And then sock away a lot into a taxable account. I *think* we’ll be able to contribute to a Roth, but our taxes will be *super* high this year without me being able to shelter some (at least 6k extra), so it probably doesn’t make sense.
I am getting ~$8,800 in accrued paid time off – no idea when that’s coming through or in what form (will taxes be taken out of it? will it be as part of payroll from the new company?). It will be a nice pad to our emergency fund – which I had just almost drained to pay off my loans (talk about bad timing).
We’re moving into “save a lot” mode where we’re going to try to save 90% of my net salary, or about 35% of our total gross (we still have to pay daycare if I work, so we can’t do 100% of mine). That extra money will be invested in a taxable account. I’ve so far only been investing in ETFs in my taxable account – in about a month, I should have enough to switch those over to mutual funds.
We’re going to use Dad’s health insurance, because it’s too annoying to switch again, and at the moment, his job is more stable. I’m hoping to find a new position in the next month. I already had to cancel my annual exam (originally scheduled for 6/2 and way overdue – should have been in April) because I had no clue what my insurance status would be. I just need to get the paperwork from our HR that says I was “laid off” to give to Dad’s company to start under their plan next week. From what I can tell, their prices are about the same as Dad’s.
Does anyone else have to deal without a tax-deferred savings? I’m already looking for another job, but aside from that, how do you deal with investing for retirement?
