How do I prioritize investments for my family?I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband is working part time while going to school. We paid off all our debt this year by staying with my folks and are now in a savings mode. We would like to buy a house eventually (probably when husband finishes school and gets a good job). Husband is using GI Bill so he will have no student loan debt. We are able to save some since we are not paying rent right now and use a budget. We have no car or cell phone payments or anything except one credit card we pay in full each month for other living expenses: food, gas, clothes, etc . Right now we have 3K in a CD that we're growing for an emergency fund. We also have a 529 for our child (birthday/holiday $ from relatives fund this). Things we need include health insurance, saving for a house, and retirement (Roth IRA?). We have about 2K to work with each month for all our expenses and savings. After a year, I will work part time again. Thanks.

What will you do if you have a medical emergency? Your little bit of savings will not cover you in a catastrophe. Get some catostrophic health insurance ASAP. This will cover you for any emergency and costly surgery you may need. You seem to be on the right track and I wish you well. Shop for bargains and ask yourself, do I really need this? when purchasing anything.

I'm not an expert, but it seems to me like the two biggies would be the health insurance (because if anything goes wrong that can set you back really fast) and the house (because eventually that will be a tax shelter for you). You might be able to combine this with your IRA savings - I think that there is a way for first time homebuyers to take money out of the IRA for a downpayment. So you'll be able to kill two birds with one stone.

The first thing I would do is put enough money away in savings to cover six months living expenses. Be sure to adjust that amount when you get a house.

You seem to be on the right track. If your credit is good, then getting a good rate for a mortgage loan shouldn't be hard. You wont need too much cash on hand for the house if you get the seller to pay the closing costs, etc.. After a while, I would dabble in mutual funds and maybe next year, open a scottrade acct and conservatively trade securities. You are actually better off than most people because you actually sat down and planned a budget strategy.But once you get your house, that'll be the biggest investment, thus possibly being the largest opportunity for gains. The stock market fluctuates, but real estate is mostly reliable in the long and short runs. Just do your due diligence before buying.Just my 2¢.Best wishes.

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