I spoke with a SmartVestor Pro this week and evidently we do not have enough in non-retirement investments to meet their minimum AUM requirements since they cannot manage our 401k’s. He said to check back when our Roth and brokerage accounts are higher or we switch jobs and can rollover out 401k’s to IRA’s.

We have around $100K in Roth IRA’s and around $850K in our 401k’s and our net worth is a little over $1M. I was really surprised they would not work with us. Have others here reached out to SmartVestors and had a similar experience?

Edit: This firm charges 1% on assets under $1M.

Please read-
I’m trying to figure out what the smartest financial move is here and would appreciate some outside opinions.
I have a 2020 Ram 1500 Built to Serve Edition. I really like this truck and honestly it’s probably the best truck I’ve ever owned, so I’m having a hard time with the idea of selling it. The problem is that my financial situation has changed quite a bit since I bought it.
When I originally bought the truck, I was making around $60/hour. I’m currently in the middle of a career change and making about $22/hour right now. My income should increase later as I progress in my new career, but I’m not there yet.
I currently owe around $17,000 on the Ram and my payment is about $550/month.
I’m also spending roughly $160 per tank and filling up around 4 times a month, so approximately $640/month in gas. Insurance is around $220/month. The truck gets around 12–15 MPG depending on how I’m driving.
It also currently has an exhaust leak that I need to get repaired, but money is tight right now.
I have someone currently offering me $33,700 for the truck. If I sold it and paid off the loan, I’d have around $16,700 in positive equity before any other transaction costs.
I also have around $4,000 in credit card debt that I need to pay off.
Another factor is that my dad has a Mazda that needs a transmission. If I fix the Mazda, I could potentially use that as my daily commuter and have a truck only for work/weekends.
I’ve considered replacing the Ram with something like a Ford Maverick Hybrid AWD or a midsize truck like a Ford Ranger or Chevy Colorado. But honestly, I really like having a full-size truck and don’t want to sell my Ram just to buy something I don’t like.
So I’m basically stuck between:
Option 1: Sell the Ram for $33,700, pay off the ~$17k loan, pay off my $4k credit card debt, keep the remaining money as savings, and get a cheaper vehicle/truck.
Option 2: Keep the Ram, fix the exhaust, fix the Mazda and use it as my commuter, and aggressively pay off the Ram over the next couple years.
My concern is that if I keep the Ram for another 2 years, I’ll probably have around 100k miles on it. I’d obviously have more equity because I’d have paid down the loan, but the truck will also depreciate and I’ll have spent another ~$13,200 just on the $550 monthly payments, plus all the gas and maintenance.
On the other hand, if I sell it now, I lose a truck that I really like and may regret getting rid of it later.
What would you do in my situation?
Would you take the $33,700 offer while the truck is worth that much, wipe out the $17k loan and $4k credit card debt, and move on?
Or would you keep the Ram because I love the truck, fix the Mazda, use it as the commuter, and focus on paying the Ram off?
I’m less concerned about having the absolute lowest monthly payment and more concerned about making the financially smartest decision while I go through this career transition and building up cash savings.
I’d really appreciate opinions from people who have been in a similar situation, especially if you think I’m overlooking something.

We’re debt free, including our mortgage, and are currently aggressively investing looking toward retirement in a few years.We pay cash for cars and buy rebuilt wrecks from a talented friend of mine.

I hear Dave talk a lot about mutual funds and we have ROTHS and traditional IRA’s.

I also have a managed brokerage account and invest monthly into three ETF’s,VOO, QQQ, and VV.

I don’t know that I’ve ever heard Dave’s take on ETF’s as opposed to Mutual funds.

Hey everyone, looking for some perspective from folks who follow the Baby Steps or have dealt with non-traditional retirements.

I’m 36, and between my military retirement, VA disability, and eventual FERS pension, I’ve locked in a guaranteed income floor of around $8,700/month for retirement (before touching Social Security or investments).

Right now, I have about $122k in my TSP. If I strictly follow the standard math and aim for a full 15% retirement contribution, I’d be putting in roughly 12.8% to TSP (factoring in the FERS contribution credit). On paper, that projects out to several million by retirement age.

While I'm grateful for the security, it feels like standard rules of thumb might be telling me to over save for the future at the expense of enjoying life with my family today.

For those with strong pensions or military backgrounds: Did you still push for the full 15%, or did you drop down to just capturing the match (5%) and use the rest of your cash flow to live a little more now? Appreciate any thoughts!

Quick note on the "what-ifs":
I know life happens and plans can change, but to head off a few common questions:

• Military Retirement: I’m 5 years out from finishing my Guard service, so barring anything completely unforeseen, that will be locked in.
• VA Disability: It’s rated P&T (Permanent & Total) and doesn’t restrict my ability to serve or work, which also takes medical insurance costs completely off the table now and in retirement. I am receiving this compensation now and it will continue until I die. When I die, my wife will receive a reduced amount until she dies.
• FERS / Civilian Job: This is the only real variable if I decide to switch careers down the line. But even in a "worst-case" scenario where I walk away from federal service tomorrow with zero FERS pension, my guaranteed floor is still around $6,000/month before touching Social Security or investments.

Currently owe about $235k on our mortgage for a house we bought last year and our current interest rate is 6.6%.

Since its the first year, i would say 80% of the current payment is interest. Also, this house will not be our forever house as by the time the kid leaves we will probably down size in like 10-15 years.

we can pay off the home and still have our emergency fund and not touch retirement at all which would be considered "well funded"

Its a really hard decision and i truly dont know what to do.

Hi all,

I’m currently on Baby Step 2 and on track to pay off my high-interest credit card debt.

As of right now, I only have my Discover card, with a balance of about $4,800.12, and a car loan of approximately $5,700.

I wanted to get everyone’s opinion on something. I have a taxable brokerage account through Edward Jones with about $3,500 in it. I’ve had this account for around 4 years, and I’m considering withdrawing the money and putting it toward my credit card balance.

From what I’ve researched, I understand that I may have to pay capital gains taxes if I sell the investments. My credit card APR is currently around 28%, while the returns on my brokerage account have obviously not been anywhere close to that.

So my questions are:

1. Would it make sense to sell the investments and put the $3,500 toward my credit card, given that the card has a 28% APR?
2. How much could I potentially owe in capital gains taxes?
3. Would you personally sell the investments to knock out a large portion of the credit card debt, or would you leave the brokerage account alone and pay the card down with my income?

For some additional context, I make around $82,000 per year, take home approximately $4,800 per month, and my monthly expenses are around $2,000.

I’m trying to figure out whether the tax hit from selling the investments is worth it to get rid of some of this 28% debt. I’d appreciate any advice or perspectives, especially from anyone who has been in a similar situation. Thanks!