<prompt> Human: Up until this point, Ive just been dumping everything I could save past a three-month safety net into my student loans; now that I have them paid off, frankly, I have no idea what the best strategy for investing and guaranteeing a safe, secure future is. Vanguard? One of the increasingly-popular wealth management sites like Betterment? Which seem to generally devolve into dump everything in Vanguard. Investing in real estate within the next 2-3 years? Another more pointed question I had involves company stock options--should I be exercising them even though the company isnt publicly-traded yet? Well-established, profitable tech startup numbering 130 people, so Im not particularly concerned about potential risk; I was one of the early hires, so my options arent trivial. No expectations of an IPO or acquirement any time soon, although I suppose its possible. No 401k matching from the job, but should I look into setting one up anyway?Halp. How do I real life.  <response>: If youre in NYC youre not going to be able to afford real estate an investment. I would advise that you start working on your emergency fund 6 months of expenses and start by fully funding your IRA and other tax shelters 401k even if not employer matched is important as it reduces your taxable income given that you are a high earner. What kind of health plan do you have? A lot of startups have HDHP, which means you can dump some more money into a tax advantaged HSA as well. Other than that try and save as much as you can, which is hard as an NCG in an expensive city like NYC. 