<prompt> Human: PF gives great advice on maxing out retirement accounts that jobs offer, when and how to back door an IRA, utilizing a Roth IRA etc. etc. But what Ive always been confused about is if someone middle-aged is putting as much as they can into retirement, what should be the goals for anything else you are saving outside of those, above and beyond an emergency fund?Lets give some a hypothetical example:Joe and Jane are 45 years old and make a combined 100k after taxes AND maximizing each of their retirement accounts, including a Roth IRA. For the sake of this example, they dont have and dont want kids which could complicate savingsexpenses. They own a home and have a comfortable mortgage payment of 2000month. They live modestly, pay cash for their cars and student loans are lone gone. After all expenses and saving into their emergency fund that is a healthy 12 months of living expenses in an online savings account, they have roughly 2000 a month left over to invest elsewhere.So what should Joe Jane do with that extra 2k a month? What is the best vehicle to utilize to maximize their return? I understand opening a brokerage account and plunking it down into an index fund but is that ALL they should be focusing on or are there other ways to use this money that are also tax advantaged? Is this the time in their life they begin to take risks and look into potentially more real estate or investing into a business? How much should they be locking up into these investments vs. keeping liquid? People in their 20s and 30s rarely have these kinds of questions but as I personally approach 40 years old, Im starting to wonder what to do as we enter a later stage of life Ill call pre-retirement.  <response>: Just going to say it because it is rarely brought up here, but you could give and donate to charity. Doesnt have to be cash donations either. Can be something more involved like going on Amazon and buying Christmas gifts for people living in shelters. 