There are no taxable events within a 401k. The taxation occurs either when funds are deposited into or withdrawn from the account, depending on whether it is Roth or traditional.

At your income level you should only do Roth. The wiki has a discussion on what marginal tax rate is "best" for switching from Roth to pre-tax.

You should never do "after tax" 401k contributions until you make enough money that you're already maxed on of your other contributions and your employer has a 401k where are you able to do a "mega backdoor Roth"

You already bought the car. Had you come before buying your car, I would have advised a different decision, but your choice wasn't unreasonable. Don't spend too much time on buyers remorse.

I'd cash them out and buy broadly diversified, low fee, tax efficient index funds. If you're not currently maxing your retirement, I would increase your contributions to the maximum and supplement your income using these funds.

Figure out how much you will earn per month from your film apprenticeship. Then make a budget for monthly spending on rent, groceries, utilities, transportation and insurance.

Because most index funds are only "sort of" diversified. Target Date funds are a single fund that you can buy for very high diversification, but they have somewhat higher expenses than index funds and are not customizable.

Yes yes yes even in California!!!

Here's the law. Read Section b1E

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1946.2.&lawCode=CIV

"the tenant has refused to execute a written extension or renewal of the lease for an additional term of similar duration with similar provisions."

OP could try to hire a lawyer to argue that a 10% rent increase isn't "similar provisions." But that's something we'll beyond what should be considered here at r/personalfinance

You don't have a long term lease. You're just being asked to leave now that your lease is over. Eviction is when you're told to leave during the middle of your lease for breaking the contract.

Your month to month lease likely gives either party the ability to end the lease with X days of notice. They're exercising their option to ending the lease.

You're buying way too much car. You should be looking for a ~10 year old sedan with around 100k miles on it in the 8k to 10k range maximum. And you should only buy it after you save up and pay cash for it.

You have no money. You can't afford to spend $300 on getting your hair done.

Pay off the cards. Currently, you've essentially borrowed $7000 at 28% interest so you can keep it in your bank account.

I'd plus up the emergency fund a bit more considering how large your mortgage is relative to your incomes.

I was simply responding to you having said "if you all found any smarter ways to make a big purchase like this". An engagement ring should not be something you consider a "big purchase". So whatever you think "big purchase" means, don't let your ring be that.

>I can just save over the next few months the best I can and we’ll just wait longer,

This is the only smart way. You can put it on a card to get points, but only after you have the cash to immediately pay off the balance. Also, don't make your engagement ring a "big purchase".

>Do you just not like to travel?

No. I travel extensively. But I keep my travel budget entirely separate from my emergency fund. I only use my emergency fund for emergencies. That's why I have an emergency fund.

>plan to buy a house in 2030 based on my projections. We’d be paying cash. Why would we need to dial back retirement savings?

If you think you'll be able to save enough cash to purchase a home with cash in 7 years and continue to save 25+% of your income for retirement, then you don't need to dial back. However, most people intend to spend a lot more than you apparently are intending to spend on their home.

>What would you do differently?

I wouldn't save for "travel and emergencies" and then also

>into a high interest savings account

unless I was certain I would be buying a house within 5 years. If you're going to do that you probably need to dial back saving over 30k per year for retirement.

When you tip a waitress, she's not suddenly your employee. But the tip is still income, not a gift from you to the waitress. The tip is considered a "transfer for the benefit of an employee" from the quote in my previous reply.

It sounds more like a tip than a gift. Your husband performed a service for Mrs Someone and received a payment from her because of that service.

"Section 102 of the tax code instructs us that “Gross income does not include the value of property acquired by gift, bequest, devise or inheritance.” It helpfully clarifies that this exception to the income tax does not apply to “any amount transferred by or for an employer to, or for the benefit of, an employee.”

https://www.palisadeshudson.com/2013/09/if-gifts-are-not-income-why-tax-gratuities/

Why are you using a taxable brokerage account for investing when you haven't maximized your tax advantaged accounts?

The wiki explains it very well. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask them. Saying "explain" however is not a specific question.

Read.

https://reddit.com/r/personalfinance/w/budgeting

Make a zero sum budget. Then you know what you will be spending and on what. It makes spending less stressful.

That's why you should have a fully funded emergency fund. Follow the order of the steps in the prime directive from the FAQ.

You should maximize your 401k contributions before using a taxable brokerage account. Taxes are expensive. Tax advantaged accounts are excellent for minimizing both your current year taxes (for traditional 401k accounts) and future capital gains taxes, or for future taxes altogether (for Roth accounts).