Yvonne asks: I have been working for the past year and have not yet contributed to my 401(k). The common opinion around the office is to not bother, given the current state of the market. One co-worker had lost 40 percent of what he had contributed the previous year. What do you think? Am I better off placing money for retirement in another savings vehicle? My employer does not match 401(k) contributions. [...]

Anne asks: I’m a 23 year old making $60k a year. I have a $10,500 emergency fund, a fully-funded Roth IRA, and a partially funded Roth 401k (saving $250 a month after taxes, with no employer match). Both the Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) are in target date mutual funds. I save about $1,000 a month outside of my 401k, which has been going into the emergency fund/Roth IRA, but now I need to figure out where to channel these savings now that those two are nearing full funding.

I have no consumer debt, as I pay off my credit cards every month. I have $20k in student loan debt at a very low rate that I don’t have any interest in paying off early. [...]

Josh asks: I’m 28, make $129k per year, save $1,800 a month, own a property that I rent, $37k saved, and $82k in student loans. No credit card debt. How am I doing for my age? Could I spend more? Save more? What do you think? [...]

Chris asks: Both my wife and I are in the military. I am currently deployed and will be re-enlisting for another four years of service. My career field receives a bonus for re-enlisting which will be about $78,000. I’ll get half up front, and the rest in annual installments over the next four years (all of which is tax-free because I am in a tax free warzone). We were planning on buying a new vehicle when I returned, but other than that have no plans for the money. We know we want to save for our future (retirement) but don’t know where to start. [...]