I also don't disagree with your point that buying used will likely mean you're turning over your cars more often, so that is also part of the calculus. Although behaviorally, that actually may not be true since Americans seem to have the stereotype of loving them some new cars and don't hold on to them nearly as long as they should (I have no research to back this up).

Even if you're comparing a new car purchase, both with cash and a loan, that loan may make you feel a whole lot more comfortable with all add-ons you can splurge on, or the trim level that is $10k higher.

Sorry for the car detour, I just was surprised no one picked at the car loan tidbit in the OP.

Sounds like OP is in a great situation regardless.

My only other advice is to keep a regular budget and be on the same page with your wife.

gggmann said:

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I would add more to your taxable account. I think people underestimate the flexibility it gives them, especially if considering early retirement.

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This is something I've always believed. I split my retirement savings between my 401K at work and my own personal investments on which I work with my financial advisor. I don't see the final difference being that bad, especially because my managed investments with my advisor always outperform my 401K, so I consider any tax savings to be a wash.

I set my investment allocation where my advisor recommends, for my 401K, which helped me outperform everyone else in the company, during the 2020 BS. But even still, my managed accounts with my advisor performed even better.

On top of that, knowing I can pull out any amount of money at any time means I really don't need a separate emergency fund to be too big. Just enough to last a month or two. Everything else I allocate in different ways with my advisor, but I don't have to manage it.

Also, when it comes to investments, everyone has different careers. At least 60% of my income is from commissions. So when I consider if I should spend my valuable time and energy to manage my own accounts closely, I believe I can receive a better ROI from focusing on selling more and letting someone else manage my accounts.

10andBOUNCE said:

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I also don't disagree with your point that buying used will likely mean you're turning over your cars more often, so that is also part of the calculus. Although behaviorally, that actually may not be true since Americans seem to have the stereotype of loving them some new cars and don't hold on to them nearly as long as they should (I have no research to back this up).

Even if you're comparing a new car purchase, both with cash and a loan, that loan may make you feel a whole lot more comfortable with all add-ons you can splurge on, or the trim level that is $10k higher.

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All valid arguments.. more the reason why I don't understand why Ramsey pushes it so hard when not so black and white that saving up for a car cash is cheaper than financing one.

I didn't even mention in my comparison that the financed car would be new to begin with.. that was your assumption. Financing used is just as much a valid option as new.

because the average target audience that needs Ramsey's advice ends up buying more car than they can afford by doing dumb crap like extending payments out for 10 years at 10%.

Folks on this board are typically much better at leveraging credit to their benefits, but many people hang themselves with it.

If you are healthy, get into a plan that lets you max out a HSA and just dump that into an index fund. I wish I had that when I was in my 20s. So much was wasted on health insurance.

One of the best things I did younger too was if I get my yearly raise of say 4%, increase your 401k by 2% until you hit max (you already said you are maxing Roth).