<prompt> Human: 25 years old, no children. Last year I was laid at the beginning of November from a standard entry level engineering job 60,000year, I earned 55,000 in 2015 and spent a few months living off unemployment. This year I chose to move to a different state and take a short term, high pay contract with a well known company beginning February 1st. After about 3 weeks I took a higher paying contract that is projected to last until the end of the year. Unfortunately, there is a very real chance this contract could end at any time. In addition, there is a chance of getting hired full time if a position opens up although the total compensation would likely be about 20 lower. nbsp;nbsp; Projected income this year: 95,000-120,000 as a W2 employee through a contracting agencynbsp;nbsp; Debt All federal student loans : About 21,200nbsp; 4700 6.55nbsp; 4200 4.25nbsp; 7200 3.61nbsp; 5100 3.15nbsp;nbsp;Total Monthly Expenses: 2050This includes rent, utilities, gas, food, insurance, phone, internet, health, dental, and full HSA contributions and minimum student loan payments. nbsp;nbsp;Yes, I have read the wiki. Currently my plan is:nbsp; 1 Security fund. Have 4000, plan on increasing to 10,000 in the next month. nbsp; 2 Pay down my student loan that is at 6.55, possibly the one at 4.25, likely keep the others at minimum payments.nbsp; 3 401K. There is no matching, but I have elected to contribute 18 from now until the end of the year.nbsp; 4 Max out my HSA. This is already included in my monthly expenses.nbsp; 5 Maybe a roth IRA nbsp; 6 ???nbsp;nbsp;This is where I am stuck. Doing this still leaves me with a massive tax liability and large amount of cash. This summer I plan on getting engaged and some time in 2017 getting married and purchasing a home shortly afterwards. nbsp;nbsp;Is there anything I am missing? The only other idea I have is setting up a traditional IRA for 2015 and filing an amended tax return.  <response>: Youre pretty much not going to get around paying those taxes, at least until you buy a home and can begin to itemize deductions.Given the instability in your current position, Id also strongly recommend an emergency fund higher than 10,000, which is around 5 months in your case. You should definitely carry at least 6-9mo in an emergency fund. 