44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can remediate the feeling of weirdness by cutting your spending and saving enough to buy the house you want with a 30-yr mortgage.

Take my kids out of private school and stop saving for retirement… yeah, hard pass there Suze Orman!

Good for you, OP. I’m really happy for you that your parents are able to support your current lifestyle. I don’t know why they wanted to support college and not a down payment. Maybe you should ask them that, especially since you are counting on an inheritance from them to continue living as you do. Maybe they don’t understand how insecure it makes you feel to not have been given money for a down payment, since you are unable or unwilling to save for one. Sorry, OP! Sounds tough but I’m glad you’re t trying to make the best of it. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice to save for either college or a down payment when your parents have it. That would be a sad life, to have to balance priorities like that. I don’t understand how people live like that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can remediate the feeling of weirdness by cutting your spending and saving enough to buy the house you want with a 30-yr mortgage.

Take my kids out of private school and stop saving for retirement… yeah, hard pass there Suze Orman!

Good for you, OP. I’m really happy for you that your parents are able to support your current lifestyle. I don’t know why they wanted to support college and not a down payment. Maybe you should ask them that, especially since you are counting on an inheritance from them to continue living as you do. Maybe they don’t understand how insecure it makes you feel to not have been given money for a down payment, since you are unable or unwilling to save for one. Sorry, OP! Sounds tough but I’m glad you’re t trying to make the best of it. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice to save for either college or a down payment when your parents have it. That would be a sad life, to have to balance priorities like that. I don’t understand how people live like that!

Perfection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you are living well beyond your means. I’m not sure what you want here. Most people with two “good careers” can afford a house, including a down payment. You seem very entitled which may be your parents’ “reason.”

I’m not living beyond my means. I don’t have any debt. I wake up everyday and live a good life. My kids are getting an excellent education.

I guess I’m wondering why more people don’t do this and I think the answer is they get trapped in home ownership. In New York people don’t worry about buying, they just take advantage of the opportunities they have.

Nope. You’re a New Yorker living beyond your means. We know a few families like this. You can’t afford the lifestyle unless you rent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you are living well beyond your means. I’m not sure what you want here. Most people with two “good careers” can afford a house, including a down payment. You seem very entitled which may be your parents’ “reason.”

I’m not living beyond my means. I don’t have any debt. I wake up everyday and live a good life. My kids are getting an excellent education.

I guess I’m wondering why more people don’t do this and I think the answer is they get trapped in home ownership. In New York people don’t worry about buying, they just take advantage of the opportunities they have.

So in the OP you felt left out of homeownership but now you feel like you are the smart one and everyone else is doing it wrong. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of people rent. Sometimes that is the better choice financially.

[Anonymous]

I think you are misunderstanding the world of private schools. Most people who put their kids in private schools are either getting financial aid or are rich enough to afford tuition and own a really nice house. The percentage who have to rent and can still pay full tuition is really small. It’s totally fine but you just aren’t going to find a lot of people in this small middle group to compare yourself to. More people don’t make this choice because it’s just an unusual category to be in financially - the working rich with few assets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s your point?

I dunno. What’s the point of any of this discussion.

I feel like it’s weird, but also don’t feel financially like I’m in trouble.

Of course you aren’t in trouble, you have family money and you know it.

[Anonymous]

You apparently never learned how to save money
Your kids will never learn to save money
In two generations the family will be middle class
Congratulations on squandering your legacy

[Anonymous]

The people I know at our private school who rent are mostly people who are recently divorced and still figuring out long term plans and have to stay near an ex-spouse, or people who get relocated for work a lot and don’t want to commit to a location. There is usually a story beyond « we don’t have enough money. » But, I also don’t ask to see people’s property tax bill when I go to their house, so maybe there are more renters than I realize. I don’t care and don’t judge people for the reasonable choices they make that don’t hurt other people.

[Anonymous]

Not weird.

My parents bought a home, cash, in their 50s, after decades of international work. They didn’t want the burden of owning a home while living in different countries. Many people who get posted abroad decide to live like this, and even those who don’t travel.

I’ve just paid my 15 year mortgage. Never had a 30 year either

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can remediate the feeling of weirdness by cutting your spending and saving enough to buy the house you want with a 30-yr mortgage.

Take my kids out of private school and stop saving for retirement… yeah, hard pass there Suze Orman!

Good for you, OP. I’m really happy for you that your parents are able to support your current lifestyle. I don’t know why they wanted to support college and not a down payment. Maybe you should ask them that, especially since you are counting on an inheritance from them to continue living as you do. Maybe they don’t understand how insecure it makes you feel to not have been given money for a down payment, since you are unable or unwilling to save for one. Sorry, OP! Sounds tough but I’m glad you’re t trying to make the best of it. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice to save for either college or a down payment when your parents have it. That would be a sad life, to have to balance priorities like that. I don’t understand how people live like that!

Bravo!

[Anonymous]

You seem lovely, OP.

Try this thought exercise: Your parents never contributed to your kids’ 529s. You have no expectations of any inheritance. You actually have to live/retire on the money you make. Would your life change and how? Would you make different choices?

Are you sort of a jerk? (I can answer this one for you.)

[Anonymous]

I don’t get it. If you never had to save for college, why can’t you buy a house?

Or are you saying you don’t want to buy a house?

What’s the point of the post?

[Anonymous]

So many nasty people on here.

Home-ownership is NOT the goal in life. If OP is living a nice life, and giving her kids a nice life, it doesn't matter at all whether they rent or own.

Stop it with this idea that renting is for the poors, or that renters aren't making the "right" financial decisions.

- homeowner who knows that it's not all what it's cracked up to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you are living well beyond your means. I’m not sure what you want here. Most people with two “good careers” can afford a house, including a down payment. You seem very entitled which may be your parents’ “reason.”

I’m not living beyond my means. I don’t have any debt. I wake up everyday and live a good life. My kids are getting an excellent education.

I guess I’m wondering why more people don’t do this and I think the answer is they get trapped in home ownership. In New York people don’t worry about buying, they just take advantage of the opportunities they have.

More people don’t do this because they don’t have parents funding their lifestyle. If your only bills are rent and private school and you haven’t saved for a down payment, it sounds like you lack discipline. You don’t even recognize or acknowledge just how lucky you are to have had parents drop hundreds of thousands of dollars into a 529. Your down payment should have been your own college contributions that you haven’t made.