S/O American Dream. Would $500-750k HHI be enough for this lifestyle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Don’t have kids. You’re already talking like you’re giving up too much for them and you don’t want to adjust your life around them. Saying that as someone who’s also planning to start a family soon who makes more than you also working 100% remote. You need to be 100% in it if you’re having kids today. Otherwise don’t bother, or wait until you’re ready to think about their needs vs accommodating your travel needs.

+1

As someone who experienced infertility, I don't often say that delaying having kids is a good idea, but in OP's case, I'd give it at least 3 years before starting to try. Regardless of current age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

How do you spend $17K on 1-2 weeks in Europe? Are you staying on Lake Como or in Capri? Flying business? Spending $1K / night for lodging? We go all the time and I struggle to find luxury experiences to take my $ outside of Paris, London, Lake Como, etc. Even supposedly luxury places have a very low ceiling. Idk how I’d spend $17K lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Kids come in like tornadoes and you have to adjust your life a lot. It is just how it is. Even if you hire or have a lot of help. If you plan on having 3 kids, your life will change a lot. A lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

My recommendation to you is to get as much of the travel out of your system as possible before you have kids, if it is so important to you. Traveling with little kids is not fun or easy. IME, kids are not as likely to enjoy the same things that you do, and your idea of a vacation will likely have to include family friendly places, such as Disney (speaking as someone that has never been, but I only have one kid, and yes we have to consider her interests while planning vacations). You will likely need to take a nanny with you on your vacation when your kids are young, especially if you plan to do things. If 3 kids are say 1, 3, and 5 years old, you'll probably need someone to watch that one year old while you and your spouse take the other two out skiing (for probably very short lengths of time). Keep in mind that you'll be doing that until each of the kids is at least 3, so that's about 8 years of dragging a nanny along with you, wherever you go.

You really need to accept that traveling with kids absolutely sucks, and the more kids you have, the worse it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Sure, if your trips are to the Poconos.

Just remember, you’ll be on a tight budget with that salary and lifestyle, so your 4 vacations will have to be very cheap.

500-750k is tight with no childcare costs and a low mortgage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

I tend to agree with you...but you have to appreciate that stock market returns are likely responsible for a huge portion of your savings.

In our example, we only had to sock away about $100k per kid in 2 529s starting in 2004/05 to produce $400k per kid (currently in college, so we have been spending down)...because the market has really been fantastic since essentially 2013...it didn't feel great at the time when the market collapsed in 2008/2009, but we just kept investing each year and so buying at those lows helped produce outsized returns.

I think most posters are responding as though you literally have to save $600k per kid for college (this anticipates future inflation for private colleges), which is the very conservative thing to do, but if you believe the market will produce a return then you really only have to save like 35% of that and the market will do the rest.

[Anonymous]

How much are you spending on travel now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

You saved an average of 600k a year on a 750k income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

You saved an average of 600k a year on a 750k income?

Apparently that PP doesn’t pay any taxes too. Truly amazing math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

You saved an average of 600k a year on a 750k income?

Savings = savings and liquid investments

We also have our kids college funds, which together are worth about a million, and our house, easily another million. But we don’t count them in net worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

You saved an average of 600k a year on a 750k income?

Savings = savings and liquid investments

We also have our kids college funds, which together are worth about a million, and our house, easily another million. But we don’t count them in net worth.

People are winding you up, probably out of envy. It’s a legit insane to say that an annual income of 750k is tight or middle class or that you’ll only be able to afford to vacation in the Poconos. INSANE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Best laid plans….my normally very healthy spouse was diagnosed with a rare cancer and died 6 months later. Can your mom handle all 3 kids? Is she retired and healthy? You sound so immature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

College tuition, retirement, cars & insurance for family of 4, utilities, health care costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’ve been reading all the replies and people seem to be really stuck on the 6 weeks of vacation thing.

My H and I both work remotely right now and are digital nomads moving from AirBnB to AirBnB. We really like to see different parts of the country and world and I don’t want that to change too much when we have kids, though I know we’ll have to pick a place to live to give them stability. To answer some questions, my in laws are gifting us a large down payment and my mom is planning to move near us when we have a baby to be our nanny. She’s very excited about this, it’s not something I asked for.

On the subject of vacations, do you think 4 trips would be doable on 500-750k?

Not with your other expenses. We have two kids and do, on average, a long ski weekend, a week or two weeks in Europe/similar, and two in Maine every year. Our europe trips, which are not budget but are not at all high-spend, are at least $17k each. Skiing is another several thousand, and Maine is also several thousand. Add in another kid and even more travel, I think this is at least $100k in travel alone.

I really question how people are finding an income of 750k tight. I posted earlier in the thread about how we are pretty sloppy spenders (we don’t budget, we don’t look at grocery prices, we eat lunch out frequently or get takeout for dinner, our kids do costly activities, and we take really bougie trips for a little of probably ~ 75k. My husband has a porche which he pays to store in the winter. We belong to an expensive golf club etc. I can keep going on here).

And yet even with all of this spending, we still managed to save up 6 mil for retirement in the last 10 years. Could it be more without all of the above? Sure. But you also have to enjoy life. We might get cancer and die young.

What are ya’ll spending your money on aside from mortgage?

You saved an average of 600k a year on a 750k income?

Savings = savings and liquid investments

We also have our kids college funds, which together are worth about a million, and our house, easily another million. But we don’t count them in net worth.

People are winding you up, probably out of envy. It’s a legit insane to say that an annual income of 750k is tight or middle class or that you’ll only be able to afford to vacation in the Poconos. INSANE.

OP if you’re both totally remote I’m guessing you’re in tech - what’s your actual guaranteed cash comp?

To the PP above - we make more than OP (by a lot) and until we made this $ we never understood how much you get slammed by taxes at this income level. They aren’t taking home anywhere close to $750K. More like half.