Tax return?

[resjudicata]

@irishamerican4christ man you only make $1400 a month after taxes and tsp what are you doing with a $17k car loan. that's an entire year of your money. put the entire tax return on your car loan and if i were you i'd sell the crypto and put it on your car loan too. your car is way too expensive for your income that thing is a money sinkhole. i know all of your peers are doing the same exact thing getting expensive cars with big loans and investing in crypto that they don't understand because they see big numbers and get excited but trust me it's a mistake. i didn't follow that path and i have more money than anyone i know my same rank and time in solely because of it. 90% of people in the military are trash with money. stop following what they do. follow what wealthy people do and you will be wealthy follow what broke people do and you will be broke. right now you're doing what broke people do.

 

[raymo]

@irishamerican4christ We're you given a lot of tax credits? If not, I would adjust your W4 so that you do not get a large tax return.

 

[patto]

@irishamerican4christ What is the interest rate on the car loan? If it is less than 5% or so, it is probably best not to make extra payments on it. You have a good chance of doing better than that by investing. Is your $3,000 emergency fund enough to get you through for three months if you lost your income? If not, consider using your refund to get it to the point that it could. You can not directly contribute it to the TSP. Contributions have to come out of your pay. A way to do it indirectly is to increase your contributions and use the refund to make up for the lower paycheck. Once it runs out, reduce your contributions back to a sustainable amount. Absolutely do not put it in crypto. It is pure speculation and could go all the way down to zero. Crypto is one of the most risky things you could put your money in.

You should also reevaluate your withholding. You should not be getting a refund that big. You can log onto myPay and file a new W-4 to get your withholding where it should be.

 

[marina777]

@patto He could open a Roth IRA and deposit a lump sum into that. Just invest in a total stock market fund or even a total world fund.

 

[resjudicata]

@irishamerican4christ Treat Crypto like gambling. Never gamble what you cannot afford to lose. You don’t make very much, therefore you can’t afford to lose $2900.

You have minimal income with consistent expenses.

Place and utilize you’re money into safer and more proven options. An emergency fund is not a bad plan. I don’t believe you can just contribute a lump sum to TSP. However, nothing is stopping you from considering index funds in Fidelity, Vanguard, CS, etc.

Chipping away at debt is always a good option too, don’t overexert yourself on savings if it means you struggle else where, then you’ll be in a vicious circle.

 

[resjudicata]

@irishamerican4christ Roth IRA

 

[max003]

@irishamerican4christ Pay down your auto loan. Try to pay it off in a year or 2, not 4.

 

[jrsinct]

@irishamerican4christ Pay down your auto loan with your return. Take $1900 out of crypto and further on your loan. You run the risk of being stuck in a loan when you no longer want the car.
Us old folks tend to keep cars forever so the loans get paid in 5 or 6 years. Sometimes you get folks like to change more often and having a big loan is a problem.