What's a decent household income to live in Bethesda?

[Anonymous]

OP, what is your version of the dream? So it doesn't involve museums. That is ok! Maybe DC just isn't the right city for you guys. What does it involve? Going to the theater a lot? Outdoor sports like skiing, hiking, kayaking, and so forth?
Going to the beach? Learning to surf? What do you like to do in your free time?

[Anonymous]

OP, it seems like you don't understand the benefits of living in Bethesda and why it is so expensive. (BTW, this is not a knock on other neighborhoods in the area, just talking about Bethesda since that is where OP lives).

The main one is that if you work in downtown DC, your commute is much shorter than if you live father out, regardless of whether you drive or take the metro/public transportation. This is particularly true if you are close to DC. This is a huge quality of life issue for our household, because we both WOH with two small children, and my spouse works long hours. It maximizes the time we get with the kids during the week.

Others include good public schools and close/easy access to groceries, parks, restaurants, movies, childcare centers, churches, swimming pools, gyms etc. Again, for my family this is a quality of life issue that I can drive about 5 min, and not more than 10 even during rush hour, to run an errand.

For us, these benefits made it worth it to pay so much for our house, and also the price bump that is added into everything because we shop at nearby businesses. We felt like we were tight financially when we were making about $300K HHI in this area, but we knew what we were paying for and it was worth it to us.

If you don't need these benefits, I am not sure why you would want to pay the premium to live somewhere like Bethesda - move farther out. There are a lot of great neighborhood in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a similar HHI, live in Kensington, and have a house mortgage for $720k.

We have two kids under 5, a full-time nanny, house cleaning twice a month and a yard service. No car payments or student loans.

I feel like I'm living an absurdly privileged life and am well able to afford everything above while still taking vacations, funding 529s and putting LOTS of money in the bank.

I think you're doing something wrong OP. If your numbers are right, and you currently have only one daycare cost, then you're saying you're netting somewhere around 7k a month AFTER all expenses.

THat's 84k a year for savings. That is A LOT of money. What on earth are you expecting??

Wow, how much are you able to save each year? Our HHI is around 330k and mortgage is 420k. One kid in daycare. I wasn't willing to pay much more than we did for a house (~600k) even on our income - although we are able to invest something like 90k a year, all-in.

We both max out our 401ks at work annually, are shooting for 20k in the 529s annually, and have in the very low six figures saved in the bank currently. We had to put almost 50k into the house in repairs/appliances/and closing in a porch last year so our savings weren't as significant last year as they will be this year or going forward. But basically we can live very comfortably, without worrying about money, and easily put 50k beyond all other savings into the bank (or bonds, mutual funds, etc...) each year.

[Anonymous]

OP, there is a lie here somewhere. $14.5K after taxes works out to $174K per year after taxes. If your HHI is $350, then you pay $176K in taxes, which is over 50%. Is your Bethesda located in Sweden?

Or is $14.5K take home per month calculated AFTER your full retirement contributions, FSAs, and other savings? If so, your left over amount is just fine.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. OP stated:

$350k per year is about $14.5k per month after taxes

This is not true. It should be closer to $17k per month after taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with PP. OP stated:

$350k per year is about $14.5k per month after taxes

This is not true. It should be closer to $17k per month after taxes.

I wonder if there's a 401(k) loan in there, for which there are automatic payments every pay period. At least for us, that's what brings down our take-home by $800 per month.