<prompt> Human: Maybe do a little of both? I just have never made this kind of money before so I am not sure what to do...I am 40 and would like to retire between 57-60?  <response>: If youre 40 and have nothing in retirement and want to retire in 17 years you need to be maxing your 401k, like others said, refi your car, check the rates of a local credit union. Keep the mortgage, its low interest and a tax deduction. But you need to realize to retire on 40k a year you need a million dollars and your investments will only double every 7 yearsish so youre going to need as much money as ya can put away to make up for lost time. 