I constantly feel behind
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Anonymous
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I constantly feel behind on saving, retirement savings, 529s and life in general financially. My DW says we don’t need to worry and we’re fine but I don’t feel like we are and I can’t stop worrying about it. I’m the primary breadwinner and I feel all the pressure. If I don’t work we die. Aside from mentally grasping the situation what else can I do? How are my stats?
HHI- $300k (DW makes $80k annually) Student debt-$250k 529 savings for 2 kids (5 and 7yrs old)- $30k 401k-$80k (I got a late start in my career, DW is self employed and doesn’t have a 401k) IRA:$30k Cash savings/emergency fund-$90k Brokerage account- $60k (ear marked for retirement or college tuition etc) |
Anonymous
| Op again, I should mention we own our home with about $400k equity in it and we owe $500k on the mortgage. The payments are $2,800/month. We are 36 and 37 yrs old. Our monthly FIXED expenses are $8,000/mo. |
Anonymous
| You choose to have $250K in student debt and buy a $900K house and are complaining? You have a spending issue. |
Anonymous
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Sir, you are RICH. I don't own a home, don't have a 529, 401K, brokerage or IRA.
There. Does it make you feel better to know someone is behind you? |
Anonymous
| That house definitely puts you under pressure. I guess you can think of it as a way to fund your retirement if you are willing to downsize then. |
Anonymous
| You are behind because you have a 900k home and 250k in debt. I’m not sure what you can do given these long term fixed debts other than one of you needs to get new jobs that make more money. What industry or field are you in? Can you move up in your organization? Can you make more if you jump? |
Anonymous
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I’m laughing at people saying the house is OP’s problem. It’s not.
$400 equity in the house. Only a $2800 monthly payment. They are in a great situation on housing. |
Anonymous
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Your cash savings is a good amount I think.
Your house payment amount sounds fine. You’re young. Are you interested in trying YNAB? You can get a 30 day trial. Your take home each month should be around $13K and this could help figure out what you want to do with the amount over $8k that you have to spend or save of pay off debt each month. |
Anonymous
He chose to drop money into the house instead of paying off higher rate student loan debt. That was dumb. Should have gotten less house, wiped out the debt, there’d be in a better position with savings. They are late 30s, they aren’t that young. |
Anonymous
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When interest stops being paused on student loans I would use at least 30k of the emergency fund or the brokerage for student loans.
You are behind on retirement but can work another 30 years. I'd try to max out your 401K ($22,500 this year) since you are the only one who can contribute to one and the tax advantages of doing so. I'd stop putting money into the brokerage until student debt is paid off. |
Anonymous
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Should've paid off the student loan, invest heavily from 2008-2022 and then buy a house.
Most people go for the house as soon as they have the income and qualify. Is the equity big down payment or you've been paying 15 years? Your 529 grows slower than you pay interest on the student loan. Pay off the student loan and you free up cash in case kids go to college. Start paying off the loan unless it disappears somewhere some day. |
Anonymous
You have NO idea if he dropped money into his home or not. I also have a home worth 1M with a FINANCED amount of 475k and a mortgage of $2100/mo. My purchase price was 550k. It’s called appreciation, payments, and then refinance. The house is the very last of OPs issues. You cant get a 2800/mo anywhere in the dc area anywhere these days. OPs problem is his wife. She needs a real job with real benefits and a higher income. |
Anonymous
You can aggressively pay off a 250k student loan and aggressively invest. You people are literally idiots. |
Anonymous
I agree that the house payment is fine, but disagree about the wife. I think she just needs to start acting like she has a "real job" so OP doesn't feel so much pressure. For example, I'm self employed and have a solo 401K, because I wanted the option of significant contributions based on that year's tax situation, but the wife should at least have a SEP IRA. OP feels like he's paying the bills and responsible for retirement and that's going to cause resentment. |
Anonymous
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OMG people you are crazy. Op is fine.
OP ez wor for underfunding 401k you are fine. You do need to figure out to max out your 401ks and IRAs for both of you. At $80k your wife should have access to a 401k so maximin it includes that too. You have plenty in emergency funds so this can be a priority. As for the student loan debt something seems a bit off there given your age and income. A lot of deferral and maybe only recently as this income? That said you have expenses that match your income. You will be good, but you do have good handcuffs. You just need to pay everything as scheduled (with increasing the retirements) until it’s done. It is that simple Make sure you have long term disability and life insurance and I wouldn’t worry. |