Trying to keep this to the pertinent info only..... The funds discussed here are completely outside tax advantaged retirement accounts and are a separate bucket. I'm 45 years old. For the next 6 years, I will begin making monthly contributions into a taxable brokerage account. The account will be funded for the 6 year period, and then will be withdrawn and spent over a period of 7 years from ages 51-58. If it is helpful...estimated total account target at the end of 6 year deposit period is between 400-500K. So total timeline= 6 years of deposits, and then a 7 year withdrawal period for an approx. total timeframe of 13 years. Since the timeline is fairly short, the goal is to avoid downside risk, yet still earn interest where possible. If this was you, what vehicles would you invest in the brokerage account? 60/40 bonds to equity mix? Bond ladders? CD's?

Throwaway account because personal info. How am I doing? I am just starting my financial literacy journey, but I’ve always prioritized saving and paying off debt. I just found this sub so apologies if the following info isn’t organized in the most coherent way. 30 year old making 145K living in moderate cost of living city, but with a hefty city tax. Take home is around 85K. Went to grad school so started working full time at 25. Had 75K in student loans which I paid off in 3 years. I still saved around 1000/month to HYSA and 10% to 403B during this time. I have no debt currently and pay about 1500 in rent (3000 split with partner). I recently changed my 403B contribution to 12%. Employer match is 4.5% I think? I have 116K in my 403B, 60K in a HYSA, 21K in a brokerage, 21K in a Roth IRA that was started when I was 16 and I intermittently contributed to, but have not contributed recently. I opened my brokerage last year with a lump sum and do not have a regular contribution schedule right now. I save minimum 2000 a month to my HYSA. Since starting to educate myself I know I need to max out my Roth IRA. I could in theory just move that from my HYSA now? I’m also planning to split my 2000/month between my HYSA and brokerage. My goal is to buy property in the next 2-3 years with my partner. They make 80-90K but save aggressively to 401K (10%) and brokerage, and is going to start transitioning more to HYSA given that we want to buy in the next few years. They have no debt. Unfortunately the minimum we would pay in this area for a house would be around half a million dollars. We already have the 20% down payment saved between the two of us, so the next few years are just optimizing our finances. My question is, should I move a lump sum to my brokerage now (10K? 15K?) if I know I don’t need that money now and I know I can replenish it all to my HSYA before I need it? Is there anything else I should be doing to set myself up to reach my goal of home ownership? Obviously I’d also like to retire as early as realistically possible, but I assume I’ll be working until around 60. TIA!