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hawley1
Hi,
I am 34 and married with one child and my wife is 30yrs old. 10 yrs of marriage under our belt(thought this information might be important for any help offered)

I am trying to improve my overall finances and credit and retirement as well as start a college fund for my 6 yr old. I am interested in any help any one is willing to give me to point me in the right direction. Here are some details about where I am at right now. Thank you all so much for all your help, expertise and intelligence.
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My debt information:

I was in major credit card debt 5 yrs ago and went to a nonprofit consumer credit counseling service sponsered by united way and they will all be paid off come december after being in the program for 5 yrs.

I do not own a house, however I would like to be in one by the end of 2007. Right now I live in a Mobile Home in a Mobile home park and owe $16,128 on it. I have been trying to sell it but no luck so far. I rent the land the mobile home is on.

I have a car loan that will be paid off in july 2007. The payments on this are 378.41 a month
I have a personal loan through the same bank which is 107.41 a month

I also have a loan through a company called beneficial that I pay 227.42 a month
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Savings

I have two open savings accounts however there is no balance in them.

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Retirement

I am putting 5% my conpanies 401k and my compnay matches to 4%. I was invested very aggrerssively and just called my companies finacial advisor and reallolcated my funds per her advice. My rate of return up to now has been between 7 and 8%. I also have a pension which I am fully vested in.

My wife also has a 403b with her company that she invests 4% in aggressive stocks.

My Son's College Fund

As of right now I do not have a college fund for my son.
Alan
Congrats on paying off your credit card debt. That's great.

IMO, I think the first you you need to focus on is paying off all other debts as quickly as possible. Without knowing your monthly income or how much the monthly payment is on your home you state that you currently have 713.24 per month in car & personal loans. The car will be paid off in July, but what about the personal loans? That's $334.83 per month with unknown balances & payoff projections.

Personally, I might stop putting money into retirement accounts for a while and use the money to build a savings account and pay off the other debts as quickly as possible. Although it's a great idea to start saving for retirement early it seems like you have an immediate need for that money.

So, what I would do (in this order):
1 - stop the retirement savings for a while
2 - put money into savings, enough to cover 3-6 months worth of living expenses. Think what would happen if you or your wife lost a job.
3 - pay off all other debts as quickly as possible
4 - once out of debt start retirement savings again and start a college fund. For the college fund, get estimates on how much it would cost when the kid is ready and start saving accordingly.
5 - vow never to get into that much debt again and live within your means

I've been in debt and I've been out of debt. Being in debt sucks.
NARC
I think it's very important to have a budget that details out how much you are intending to save, and how much you are intending to spend in any current month.

A well tracked budget will tell you exactly how much you are spending, and where and will give you very valuable insight into where you might be able to cut back a little.

And if you see a large portion of your budget going to groceries, hang out in the Grocery Coupon forum. There's some amazing information there that will save you hundreds of dollars per month if you are willing to learn.
AMS
Sign up at upromise. It will never pay for your son's college, but it is a painless way to save a bit extra. Since he is only six, this will add up over the next 12 years. Basically, upromise uses your purchases to save towards college. I have my Tops, Quality, Pathmark etc (grocery store) cards signed up, as well as my CVS card and a Credit Card. This program costs nothing to join but rewards you with $$ for college for buying products you would have purchased anyway.

I would stop the retirement contributions that are non-fund-matching until you are completely out of debt. The fund matching would continue as none of your credit cards cost 100% interest - the rate of the match (100% matching). Any other contributions should stop and go towards debt reduction.

I would pay the debts off before I would save, and here is why: Credit Card debt is costlier than the amount of money you can earn in a savings account. So, in order I would do the following:

* Stop unmatched 401K contributions
* Pay off CC debt
* Pay off loans
* Once the loans were paid off, use that cash to pay off debt. Do not fall into the temptation of thinking of it as found money.
* Start a savings plan. Optimally, you should have six months in reserves.

In the short-term, you can always get a second job. It is no one's first choice, income taxes go up, etc., but it can help that squeeze you will be feeling until mid-2007.
hawley1
Thank you all so much for your advice it is greatly appreciated
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