When do you decide to spend today instead of save for tmw?
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Anonymous
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We make 250k. Our only debt is our mortgage, and that payment is 2k. We fully fund the TSP/403b. We have college savings. Dh is a fed, so we have the 'pension' when he retires + health care will be affordable. We will have SS.
We have about 2k to do something with each month. Roth? Brokerage? We have both, and we fund both randomly. How do you decide when to spend it now (vacation) and when to save it? I feel like our goals for retirement will be met (our financial person agrees). We travel, but conservatively (we have 3 kids, so we usually drive). |
Anonymous
| Well, our HHI income grew from 500k to 800k and we were saving for a renovation. Now spouse lost lucrative job and has other things lined up (quickly) but without the level of excess income and probably will not accumulate enough for the addition as fast as we had hoped. In the end, I'm glad we had the savings in case this was a long winter of joblessness. |
Anonymous
| This past year when I almost had a mental breakdown, one of DH's younger colleagues in his 30's had a brain aneurism, and one of my younger colleagues dropped dead of a heart attack in his mid-30's. |
Anonymous
| You “have college savings” and three kids. How much? |
Anonymous
| We have set monthly transfers for retirement, college, home improvements, and "new" cars. The rest gets put in the spend today pot. We are very lucky in that it tends to grow, so every couple of months we empty it into our retirement pot. Then every year we reevaluate our savings targets and make sure we are on track. Nominally, we should be spending more now, but we don't really want a bigger house, nicer cars, or fancier vacations. |
Anonymous
| For most people it seems to happen when you either meet all your financial goals (typical goals might be fully funded 529 accounts, fully funded retirement accounts and paid off mortgage) or when they hit a certain age (40-50) and realize life is short and they don't want to miss out. We're in the latter group right now: 529 and retirement accounts aren't fully funded but they are definitely on track at our current savings rate: the kids could currently go to any public college and we could have a UMC retirement even if we completely stopped saving. We're still saving for both but we're not trying to superfund anything anymore and are instead taking better vacations. |
Anonymous
+1. You are going to need a minimum $160k-$200k per kid for instate tuition and expenses. |
Anonymous
Yes. I had a major stroke at 40 after running a marathon. It was then that I spent money on a car I always wanted and decided that I would be less frugal and enjoy my life. I still have my child's college fund fully funded, max out on retirement, ensure that we both have long term care insurance, life insurance (which is damn hard to get when you have health issues), and can support our lifestyle on one income (this is huge!). However, I also know life can be very very short and change in an instant. Enjoy yourself OP but be responsible. Go on that vacation. |
Anonymous
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I have about $6,000 of discretionary income each month (does not include college savings). I split it equally across 4 accounts - two 529s, one vacation, one general savings. My emergency fund is funded already at one year required expenses (about $55k).
That’s how I balance now v later allocations. |
Anonymous
| My FIL has accumulated quite a large investment portfolio and is literally saving it for "legacy" (my wife and daughter). I appreciate this but it is born out of a deep nihilism and inability for himself to experience joy for himself. He eats PBJ on white bread so as to not spend a dime on "frivolous" things. I'm no spendthrift lavish luxury spender, but the forced austerity is bizarre for a 75 year old feeling the pinch of mortality. |
Anonymous
Sounds like David Sedaris’s dad. Such a strange psychological makeup. |
Anonymous
Shoot. Lucky wife though! |
Anonymous
Huh? UMD cost of attendance is 29k per year. If you're talking UVA then your numbers are correct. But there are tons of cheaper in-state schools in most states than UVA |
Anonymous
I disagree. I have a kid in-state now and it’s about $30k/ year and that’s only because we’re paying for a much more expensive apartment than needed. It could be closer to $25k if we needed to be more frugal. |
Anonymous
Agree this isn’t clear enough. If your goal is instate, funded by you, you’re going to need 450K in the college accounts. If you’re goal is private for the three kids, without merit, you’re going to need $1M. That’s where to put the extra 2K OP unless you already have this accounted for. In which case, save some in a brokerage account and enjoy a bigger vacation occasionally. |