<prompt> Human: Hey guys, I am a 28 yo male who just graduated pharmacy school and passed all my boards to become a pharmacist. I signed a contract to be a floating pharmacist at a grocery chain for 115k a year 2200 a week. My company also gives 9k worth of stock per year which you can redeem after you retire or quit. I was going to treat that as a retirement account. I am a very frugal person and like to live within my means. After living my whole life on a college student budget this is more money than I know what to do with and can easily live like a king on 650 a week. My expenses are around 1900 a month and that includes fun money and no car payment paid off 2008 Dodge. After taxes I will receive 1600 a week and that would give me an extra 3800 a month to put in savings. I currently have 20,000 cash at the moment in an Ally savings account.I wanted to know the best way to utilize that money without putting it in a 401k because I want the money to be somewhat liquid in case i want to buy a rental property or find an amazing deal on real estate. I was thinking about dumping it all in a vanguard index fund after a solid 6 month emergency fund is built up. i dont know if index funds provide tax lowering capabilities similar to 401k. thanks for all your help edit: The only debt that I currently have are my student loans which consist of around 200k. I am on the PAYE plan and my current payment for the next year is 0 which counts as a qualified payment. The following year after that the payment would be 308 and the loan would be forgiven after 18 years. My plan was to utilize my early years of my career saving and investing instead of paying my loan down just to have a net worth of 0.  <response>: and can easily live like a king on 650 a week.Just wait! LOL without putting it in a 401k Well, you do need a retirement account. Youd max out a 401k with only 360week, and a Roth IRA at 110week assuming a 2 week vacation.That would leave you with 1130month to build up a emergency fund and DP for rental property. 