Hello. I would please love to get advice and opinions from all of you. Family of four, my husband and I are both 37 years old, and we have an 18 year old daughter and a 7 year old son. We live in Puerto Rico. We make a total of 70k a year. We work government jobs. With this we pay 550 a month for our home, 400 a month in a car payment (the second car is paid for), electricity is 170, water is 50, cell phones 135, groceries 530, gasoline for cars 350, health insurance is paid for by work, internet 50, streaming services 60, private school for our youngest that has autism 400, and my daughter is in college but has a full ride scholarship. We are able to save 700 a month which turns into 8,400 a year from which we take about 4,000 for our yearly summer vacation and the remaining 3,400 goes to savings. So far, we have 5,000 in savings. We used to have more, but had emergency expenses and this is what we have now. We pay towards social security and also have a 401k that our employer does not contribute towards in which between my husband and I we already have about 40k. We will own our home in about 7 years. Does this look good? We focus more on experiences than on possessions. I am learning about how to invest our savings. We were never taught about 401k or anything else. Just the importance of having some sort of savings.
Ideally, your fixed costs—like housing, transportation, bills, and basic groceries—should be 50% or less of your after-tax income. Contribute at least 15% to retirement, but if you’re catching up, aim for 20-25%. Build a six-month emergency fund of your basic expenses; once that’s done, allocate funds as you wish.
Based on your gross income and accounting for taxes and medical expenses, you might have around $4,690 monthly before retirement deductions. Your fixed costs are 56% of your income, which is a bit high but manageable. Contribute $940 monthly to retirement (20% of your budget) and $700 to your emergency fund until it reaches $15,600. This leaves $415 for discretionary spending.
Once your emergency fund is complete, redirect the $700 to other goals, increasing your retirement contribution to $1,200 and setting aside $400 for travel. Prioritize replenishing the emergency fund if it gets used.
PR seems expensive for it being outside the US
You are on point, try to trim more to save, look into a diversified portfolio