Feel free to skip....another finance question....

[Anonymous]

Included

[Anonymous]

That sounds like approx. enough for one kid to attend a state school.

[Anonymous]

OP even if that number was 4 million I would ask you to project 8 or so years ahead. You will be early 50s, one kid will be at college and the other on the way. What will you do?

I watched my mom (a SAHM) have to "reinvent" herself after we left the house and she says it was difficult at times. She was really involved in our school, sports and activities etc. and when I (her youngest) left for school out of state she got bored. She ended up finding a PT job and also stepped up her other volunteer activities, but it was an adjustment.

Not saying that you should avoid making adjustments or that a job is the only way to be content, but just offering another perspective and food for thought. With $1.5 million it's not like you will have a ton of money to burn on traveling for the next 40 years or go to the spa every day. You will need to find something to occupy your time and energy. Again, doesn't have to be a job but you should think about it what it is in case you haven't!!!

[Anonymous]

hell yes. I'd sell my house and move to a caribbean island! Live on love and coconuts. Half funny, half serious!
What is the value of your house? would the sale of that house add to your 1.5M?
You are in great shape, but not if you stay in the DC area. move to an area with a really low cost of living like FL, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Dominican Republic.

I have lived outside of the DC area, and have run across many people who did just that. They left the east coast/west coast and moved to the mid-west or the DR. It's a change in life style. Even though I am from DC, I cannot imagine staying here for the rest of my life. It is highly stressful, and I feel like I've been run through a shredder at the end of each day. not worth it health-wise.

[Anonymous]

cayman islands are very very pricey, tho...

[Anonymous]

Yes, but NO TAXES of any kind

[Anonymous]

1.5 won't last you as long as you need.

I wish I had some of 13:49's resources.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's hard to know how to advise without knowing:
1. How much of your income comes from you vs. your DH. You live on 65% of your income now. What would happen if you quit? Will you still be able to live on the one income and save a little? If so, how much might you still be able to save?

2. What field are in? If you wanted/needed to jump back into the workforce in five, ten, fifteen years, how hard might it be?

3. How secure is DH's job?

4. What's your motivation? Not enough job satisfaction? Want to be home for kids? Burning desire to do something else?

There is great value in being home a lot (whether that means SAHM, working from home, flex schedule, whatever) when your children are in middle school. This is a tricky age when kids are exploring their identities and have so many opportunities for both developing themselves positively and getting into trouble. I think they need the guidance of their parents, in particular, more at this age than at any other.

[Anonymous]

Holy crap! I feel so poor. I thought I was doing well by having a simple 80k in cash. *sigh* I never should have gone into teaching or government work.
But if it was me, no I wouldn't stop working. I'd follow my passions though (which could lead to more money?) and save a lot for my child and her future (think trusts/ think donations to meaningful life changing causes).

I don't play the lotto but I always think that if I ever had a windfall of significant money/ assets that I would stay with my job...but I'd be the most outspoken employee. ever.

[Anonymous]

The OP should consult with a financial planner. Consider hiring someone from napfa.org, garrett planners, or financeware.com

What you need is a monte carlo analysis that plots probable market returns into the future, and your projected withdrawals, savings. There are a lot of tradeoffs, some of which you might be willing / able to make. Good luck

[Anonymous]

To 17:23 - we have about $500,000 net equity in our house, plus our $1.5 million in investments.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, 19:39, good questions.

1. How much of your income comes from you vs. your DH. You live on 65% of your income now. What would happen if you quit? Will you still be able to live on the one income and save a little? If so, how much might you still be able to save?

I bring in about 40% of the household income. If I quit or even went pt and we eliminated our childcare bill, we'd be where we are now financially.

2. What field are in? If you wanted/needed to jump back into the workforce in five, ten, fifteen years, how hard might it be?

Consulting. A bit hard in five years, almost impossible, frankly, in ten or fifteen years.

3. How secure is DH's job?

Very, thankfully.

4. What's your motivation? Not enough job satisfaction? Want to be home for kids? Burning desire to do something else?

Not enough job satisfaction, sick of grinding it out. Would like to be able to spend more time volunteering and other not for profit activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP should consult with a financial planner. Consider hiring someone from napfa.org, garrett planners, or financeware.com

What you need is a monte carlo analysis that plots probable market returns into the future, and your projected withdrawals, savings. There are a lot of tradeoffs, some of which you might be willing / able to make. Good luck

Financial Engines offers a very good and easy-to-use monte carlo analysis. It's free for people with accounts that exceed a certain amount at Vanguard (we access it after signing into our Vanguard acct), and I know a number of other mutual fund companies offer it to their investors as well. I found them very useful in assessing a range of possible retirement dates,likely retirement income, and portfolio composition.

http://corp.financialengines.com/corp/who_we_work_with.html

If you have access to this through an employer or 401(K) provider, OP, you might want to spend some time seeing if it can help you with your decision.

[Anonymous]

I agree that 97,000 doesn't seem like enough to put two kids through college, especially if they go to private schools. I personally don't think 1.5 million is enough to ensure a comfortable retirement. You won't be adding to that anymore once you stop working, since you'll spend all of dh's salary. I agree that I would look for another job that would give you greater satisfaction, even if the pay is less.

[Anonymous]

What nest egg is appropriate, assuming no mortgage and thus saving 20% of my DH's income if I SAH?