<prompt> Human: So, Im 28 years old.I have a career that is in high demand nursing making at my current job, anywhere from 60-80k a year depending on overtime, this year will be right at 70k which translates into 1800-2200 a paycheck takehome pay.I am married with no kids, my wife currently does not work, she is finishing her Doctorate in Piano, so job prospects for her cant be predicted at this time.We rent a nice 1 bedroom apartment for 550 a month. We are in the midwestish area so cost of living isnt too high.We have no savings, investments, or retirement accounts, around 4k in the bank. 2 cars, one payed off and the other we owe about 7.5k on the car is worth at least 10k, I bought it for 11I have 25k of student loan debt which Ive been paying minimum payments for around 300 a month. Stafford Loans, most at 6.8, and about 8k of them at 5.6 interest.I am about to enter a masters program to obtain my Nurse Practitioner, it will take about 2.5 years and will cost about 25k. After completion my income should increase to at least 85-90k a year.Sorry for the long post, My question, if there is one is that I feel really nervous entering a school program that may have me cutting my hours at work to get the grades needed. Added to that is the fact that at 28 I have not even started saving for retirement, my wife doesnt work, and I dont feel like we have a good enough cushion to help with emergencies.Please make me feel better about where I am, or tell me what Im doing wrong and how to fix it. :TLDR- 70k income, rent 550, 25k student loan, 8k car loan, starting masters program getting into another 25k student loan debt. No retirement savings.Edit - the main problem with waiting to get my degree is that in a year or two its quite possible that it wont be a masters level degree anymore but a doctorate. I want to get in while its still a 2.5 year degree not a 6.  <response>: Yeah, something isnt adding up here...if you are paying minimum payments on your loans, a car payment, and only 550 per month in rent, where is the rest of your money going? Do you keep careful track of where every dollar is going? That is the first step towards a proper evaluation of how you are doing, knowing what your monthly expenditures look like. Making 70k per year with no retirement savings and debt is not doing particularly well. Will you continue to earn 70k during your NP schooling? If you do not have kids at home, why cant your wife work, even if not in Piano? There are a ton of retail jobs available for the holidays, which could help chip away at your debts. If I were you, I would start treating your debt like an emergency and buckle things down until you have it paid off, have some emergency funds saved, and have retirement being deducted from your check automatically. You make enough money to do all of that within a year or two, especially if your wife gets out in the workforce in some capacity. 