<prompt> Human: Hi everyone, like many of us I didnt get much financial education and Im still trying to figure out what to do. My wife had student loans until early this year when we finished paying them off, so now we dont really have a focus or direction. SituationMarried, 27 year old who is an E-5 in the military enlisted for those of you who do not know and my wife is a full time middle school teacher. Income 2,871 every two weeks after taxes combinedNote: I live in free housing due to my job, so they automatically take about 2,000 per month. If I chose to live in other housing we would get that 2,000 extra but its not easy to get everything we want in a house in this area for that amount, plus this simplifies everything to live here because we have no payments for energy or anything else. Recurring Monthly Payments 110 Comcast internet and tv 165 Cell phone 120 Car insurance 419 Retirement TSPAccounts 10,004.69 Savings Emergency fund 6,000 New car fund saving up to 10k 600 checking 13,086 Retirement Fund TSP 12,551 Investments Mutual fundsTotal: 42,241.69Future Goals Buy a house In about 5 years using the VA Loan Have kids 3-5 years Assets Two cars, fully paid offSummaryBasically, I started following the advice from this subreddit about 4 years ago. We have paid off our loans now and dont owe any money to anyone, so now what? I almost liked paying off the loans because it gave us a direction and we always knew what the goal was. Now we are just sitting here trying to save money and while thats great and all it feels like we are not doing something we should be. I would like to open an account with fidelity or something and start trading individual stocks not a lot just to understand the process better and become more knowledgeable, is this a bad idea?  <response>: You could always look into opening a 529 plan for your future children since that doesnt seem to be mentioned yet. If something happens where you dont have kids, either you and or your wife could access it to further your own education.I think you need a shift in mindset in that you are now paying YOURSELF. If you want to call it a loan to make it easier, then by all means, name some random savings account that and make up an amount a month that you owe 300mo might be a good start. I realize a VA loan may not come with any down payment at all. Im not sure if they also pay your closing costs but at the very least, youll need to also start saving for that. And why not have a down payment in place? Just because you can go with nothing down doesnt mean you SHOULD. Look into possibly saving 5 so on a 300k loan, youll need 15k saved in about five years. Obviously double that for 10 and quadruple for a 20 goal. Bottom line is set the new future goal in place and begin the payment on it now. 