Struts are something you'll have to replace periodically on every car you'll ever own. That's called a "wear" item. The electrical problem is probably worth just fixing. And I wouldn't rush into a new car for tens of thousands of dollars just because the engine MIGHT fail again.

What car? Make/model? What is the mileage? And what are the $3k in repairs that it needs?

Then it would be tough to give a good answer. With the numbers you gave, you'd be stretching yourself very thin. What happens if you have a several thousand dollar emergency repair on the new house?

Also, why do you need a new car? If I'm reading this right, you're just about to pay off the one you currently have. Why are you jumping into a new monthly car payment right away?

With a horizon that short, the common advice will likely be to just stick it in a HYSA.

Well now you're getting into "timing the market" territory. How do you know for a fact that the market will go down much further, and can you tell me where you bought your crystal ball, so I can get one? Just regularly contribute each pay period, and you will end up in a good place by the time you retire.

> I do my own contributions to 401k/roth but haven't done any this year d/t the market. I know you cant time the market or whatever. But being semi-young, I thought I was doing very well with my 75k in 401k/roth. That 75k fell to 60k, then 53k and now it is sitting at 44k. Granted, I only had about 51k of my own money invested but to see a 31k loss hurts.

You didn't "lose" anything. You don't realize a loss until you actually sell. What you ARE doing right now is missing out on buying stocks while they're on sale. If you're investing in target date/index funds, they will bounce back eventually, and you will have missed out on excellent gains.

You have a couple of decades until retirement, so you shouldn't be worried about some temporary dips and dives. I would get back to contributing yesterday.