How much should we be saving?

How much should my husband and I save a year? I don't work (going to school) and he's in the military. He has a TSP account through the Army that he saves 5% of his pay in. We have no 401ks or retirement accounts although we do have a $5500 cd. He makes about $42000 gross pay/yearly. What amount should we be saving?





Also, is it wiser to save as much as we can now and get subsidized student loans for my education or should we save less but not get student loans?





BTW we own our house (well the bank does but at least we're not renting lol), have about $5,000 credit card debt/personal loan and one car payment.|||You need to try to save up at least 3-6 months pay (net), just in case anything happens...new roof, medical expenses... At the same time you should be putting away in the TSP like you are doing now; however I would try to up that to at least 10%.





Everyone should strive to save 15% of everything they make, so 10% in the TSP, and then the other 5% in the bank account until you have saved 3-6 months worth of pay, then you can think about investing it in an IRA.





Save as much as you can, then get the stafford student loan for as much as you can...the interest rate on those are so low, it doesn't matter too much.





I would also recommend that you try to keep track as much as is possible all of your spending. I started doing this a few years ago and we really surprised at how much I wasted on going out to eat!|||You should always be saving 10% of your income. Instead of using the TSP, try a Roth IRA. As you are in school, your income may be much higher in the future and the Roth IRA provides the best tax incentives. Besides, the TSP does not match any of your investment.





Use the Stafford loan, as the rates are low and the government pays the bill while you are in school.





Take a look at your credit card rates. If they are higher than 8%, pay them off as quickly as you can and try to build up an emergency fund. Hope this helps.|||I know it will be hard, but try to save 10% of your hubby's


paycheck on top of the 5% already being put away.





Also save as much as you can now and get subsidized


student loans, because as time goes on, loans will only


increase in price.





~ good luck!!