Next steps as income grows

[Anonymous]

I don't want a complete change of lifestyle, but what changes do you make as your income grows?

I don't need a new house or cars (my Hondas are just fine). We are good about retirement and college savings and will up that. Do the big house projects like the kitchen. It's nice to not worry if the AC or something dies. We have a good financial advisor.

Do you buy investment properties? Some other type of passive income? How passive is that actually, vs something else we need to juggle?

We had been making about 250, and possibly about to get to about 500.

[Anonymous]

How much do you have in retirement and college savings?

[Anonymous]

Congratulations! I don't have much advice, but if you don't need to do anything major I would keep the spending at your status quo and save the rest. Watch it grow and retire younger

[Anonymous]

See the various posts about how people allocate their investments.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you are on a good path.

You mention retirement savings. Is it all 401k/IRA? Are you contributing to a Roth (backdoor if necessary). If you haven’t done it yet, it sounds like it is time to open a brokerage (taxable) account.

Think about when you want to retire. If you plan to retire on the early side, think about how you will fund those early retirement years. We are planning on funding 3-5 years out of our taxable account. This will allow us to do Roth conversions out of our large 401k accounts.

[Anonymous]

1/3 invest, 1/3 save, 1/3 spend. Of after tax dollars.

[Anonymous]

I would work on exiting work force. Definitely 'no' to an investment property.
Invest in s and p 500 etf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1/3 invest, 1/3 save, 1/3 spend. Of after tax dollars.

I find this unrealistic for the vast majority of the population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want a complete change of lifestyle, but what changes do you make as your income grows?

I don't need a new house or cars (my Hondas are just fine). We are good about retirement and college savings and will up that. Do the big house projects like the kitchen. It's nice to not worry if the AC or something dies. We have a good financial advisor.

Do you buy investment properties? Some other type of passive income? How passive is that actually, vs something else we need to juggle?

We had been making about 250, and possibly about to get to about 500.

Enjoy life a bit more. Don’t wait until you are old and in poor health.

[Anonymous]

We invest a lot in a brokerage account (tax advantaged accounts are maxed out). Higher paying jobs tend to have less job security so we try to save/invest a lot.

We also spend more on our kids -- they are still in public school (I hate the idea of them having to change schools if our financial situation changed) but we do spend more on activities and camps.

We are still in a small house (and we never move because our interest rate is so low!!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't want a complete change of lifestyle, but what changes do you make as your income grows?

I don't need a new house or cars (my Hondas are just fine). We are good about retirement and college savings and will up that. Do the big house projects like the kitchen. It's nice to not worry if the AC or something dies. We have a good financial advisor.

Do you buy investment properties? Some other type of passive income? How passive is that actually, vs something else we need to juggle?

We had been making about 250, and possibly about to get to about 500.

Enjoy life a bit more. Don’t wait until you are old and in poor health.

This. Time to upgrade those Hondas. Nicer cars are... nicer. Also better safety technology.

[Anonymous]

Save, don't change your lifestyle and do things like pay cash for house updates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't want a complete change of lifestyle, but what changes do you make as your income grows?

I don't need a new house or cars (my Hondas are just fine). We are good about retirement and college savings and will up that. Do the big house projects like the kitchen. It's nice to not worry if the AC or something dies. We have a good financial advisor.

Do you buy investment properties? Some other type of passive income? How passive is that actually, vs something else we need to juggle?

We had been making about 250, and possibly about to get to about 500.

Enjoy life a bit more. Don’t wait until you are old and in poor health.

This. Time to upgrade those Hondas. Nicer cars are... nicer. Also better safety technology.

OP here ... The cars are truly not important to me. We do travel now and will start adding more bucket list type trips to our plan. But I really do enjoy life without a lot of "stuff."

We just increased or 529 contributions and student loans are paid off. We owe money on the house, but crazy low interest rate.

I guess what I'm looking for is help thinking outside the box on investments, like properties or something along those lines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would work on exiting work force. Definitely 'no' to an investment property.
Invest in s and p 500 etf.

OP here, why would you recommend against property? This is dh's idea, and I don't like the idea of maintenance on it.

Our financial planner is excellent and we were well diversified.

I don't know where I want to retire to or if I just want to stay put. (I guess it depends on where the kids end up).

And yes, exiting the work force is a priority! But we are 45 and 42 and only just started making this kind of money, so we have a ways to go.

[Anonymous]

If you aren't planning on moving for a while, you can make some home improvements that will be eligible for tax credits, like solar panels, replacing doors, adding insulation to attic.