Extra $1000 per month - what to do?
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Anonymous
| My student loans will be forgiven at the end of the year, meaning we will have an extra $1000 per month. Combine HHI is $360k. One 5 year old who goes to a cheap parochial school. No debt besides mortgage. Mortgage payment is about $3100 per month. Retirement accounts are at about $1 million combined. 529 has about $50k and grandparents say they will help pay for college (but I have no idea what that actually means). We both save the max in our 401k & TSP. We have about $70k in savings and a brokerage with a few thousand. We are both 45. We don’t really budget and live to travel. Should I just dump the extra $1000 in the brokerage? I’d like more in savings so maybe build that up a bit? No large purchases or remodels in our future. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| I'd put it in a brokerage and mentally earmark it for college. If grandparents come through and pay for college you're golden; if it turns out their idea of helping is buying an extra-long twin comforter set and a school hoodie on move-in weekend, you're not up a creek. |
Anonymous
OP here. Haha, I feel you! I have a sense they are clueless about college costs these days!! |
Anonymous
| Yeah - I would absolutely be saving it for college. Make sure you save the max in the 529 to get the state tax break (you can each of account for each of your kids) and then any extra can go in a brokerage account or a HYSA depending on how old your kids are. |
Anonymous
| *have* not of |
Anonymous
I'd funnel at least $500/month into the 529 and shore that up. Also, do you plan to have another kid? If so, you will need a 529 for them. Then put the other $500 into vacation fund |
Anonymous
Thanks—no, no more kids. We are 45 and no way am I going through IVF again. |
Anonymous
| Another option would be to increase your mortgage payment each month. |
Anonymous
Good point-- what is the mortgage rate and could you get it paid off by college? In addition to brokerage I'd probably consider putting a chunk (maybe half?) in ibonds. |
Anonymous
OP here. Mortgage is 3% and we have 22 more years left. I can’t see us staying in this house for 22 years - if that’s the case, is there any reason to put more toward mortgage balance? It’s a DC row house bought for $830k with $200k down. I don’t know offhand how much is left on the mortgage. |
Anonymous
| Give it to that one poster on the other thread who is trying to figure out a way to make an additional $1000 per month? |
Anonymous
No then there is no point really (unless you think 3% is a better return than you would get with your other investments, which seems very pessimistic) |
Anonymous
OP here. Mortgage is 3% and we have 22 more years left. I can’t see us staying in this house for 22 years - if that’s the case, is there any reason to put more toward mortgage balance? It’s a DC row house bought for $830k with $200k down. I don’t know offhand how much is left on the mortgage - somewhere in the $500ks |
Anonymous
This is terrible advice. Either have a straightforward conversation with grandparents about funding for college or start dumping the $1k into a 529 for the next 5 years. Grandparents can be completely clueless about college costs and I’ve heard too many stories about grandparents only helping with a small amount of tuition when the time comes. Also, for 45, you are way behind for assets at that HHI. Maybe slowdown on the travel and save another $1k per month to brokerage. I’m the same age, similar income and have three kids, and 5x more assets than you do (without family help). |
Anonymous
| 1k is nothing. Just save it. |