Ask Paula: Should I Buy a House or Catch Up on Retirement Savings?

#177: Imagine that your job is extremely well-paying, but you don’t enjoy it.

You’d like to switch employers, even though this will probably require a paycut. But before you make the switch, you want to accomplish two goals: buy a home and catch up on retirement savings.

Should you pursue both goals? Or should you defer the home purchase, given the potential future paycut?

If you decide to pursue both goals, which one should come first?

This is one of the five questions that former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer in this week’s podcast episode.

We also answer a question from a listener who’s self-employed and wants to contribute more to his retirement accounts. We talk to another listener who’s living on $600 monthly paychecks while maxing out his Mega Backdoor Roth contributions.

We talk to a 22-year-old with an $80,000 salary who’s debating between paying off her student loans vs. investing. And we answer a question from a listener who’s wondering what she should do with 401k accounts from previous employers.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode177