Middle class professionals: tell me about your finances

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re rich. I’m rich. The majority of posters on this thread are rich. If you make more than 75% of Americans ($105k HHI in 2016) you are rich. And it doesn’t matter how much your mortgage is, you’re still rich. You have choices.

No they’re not. Just because the majority of Americans are shit poor and will probably end up in a Medicaid nursing home or eating canned beans in their crappy house when they’re old doesn’t mean that everyone richer than them is rich. But sure, just ignore the mind boggling income inequality between you and people who can literally buy you and your entire town out so you can tell yourself you’re rich.

[Anonymous]

32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

400k - get out of here in this middle class thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

WTH?! What do you do for a living? Dr. ? Lawyer? Why the panic to pay off loans -- how high is the interest rate? Do you realize that if you hadn't paid off 100k last year, you could have maxed out the 401k, put some in taxable accounts and in your kids' college accounts and made 19% on that and another 6% YTD? Is your interest rate higher than 6% or 19%? I get the thinking of "saving/paying off one thing at a time" but in doing that you short yourself on time -- and the time value of money that you gain from investing NOW. Seems like you've missed out on 7.5 yrs of a bull market and now are sitting on 50k in retirement at ages 32/37 for TWO people!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

Woah. I understand DH is SAH now, but what has he been doing the last ten years before you had kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

Oh puhleeze, in 20 years you will have a huge amount of savings. Even with high incomes, you can't expect to live high on the hog when just starting out.
I started my first real job at 28, bought my house at 36. Our HHI is less than yours (I'm 56 now). We have $2M in retirement accounts and $4M in equity and investments.
Whether I was middle class when I started at 65K or am now is simply a bunch of semantic hoohah.
It has always been relatively clear what my income path over time would be. It is this sort of life expectation that should be the basis of whether to call one "middle class."

[Anonymous]

HHI $130 right now, and we're 42 and 39. One of us has been home with young kids for the last few years but is looking for work in salary range that will push HHI to $220 or $230.

We were lucky in our selection of parents and grandparents, so we have about $450k in non-retirement investments, plus $400k in retirement accounts, $150k in 529s and about half that in cash savings. Also a house worth a little more than $700k with a mortgage of about $250k on it. No other debt. We're likely to sell the house soon and buy a slightly more expensive one in a better school district, putting all our current equity into the new place.

There's no question that we're rich by any standards except the bizarre and out-of-touch ones on this board. But I also don't think we'd have anywhere near as much saved if not for family assistance, which of course we did absolutely nothing to earn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

WTH?! What do you do for a living? Dr. ? Lawyer? Why the panic to pay off loans -- how high is the interest rate? Do you realize that if you hadn't paid off 100k last year, you could have maxed out the 401k, put some in taxable accounts and in your kids' college accounts and made 19% on that and another 6% YTD? Is your interest rate higher than 6% or 19%? I get the thinking of "saving/paying off one thing at a time" but in doing that you short yourself on time -- and the time value of money that you gain from investing NOW. Seems like you've missed out on 7.5 yrs of a bull market and now are sitting on 50k in retirement at ages 32/37 for TWO people!?

They were 8.5% plus loans. My payments were nearly 2k per month- 18k per year in interest. The big, high interest plus loans had to go. Besides the high rate and monthly obligation, they weighed extremely heavily on my psyche. I felt suffocated by them. Also, my kids are 1 and 2, and I met DH 3.5 years ago. So that’s the obvious explanation for no 529 accounts earlier on. DH cashed out everything he had due to a messy divorce and bad life circumstances a few years before I met him. I can’t speak for his decisions back then. And my retirement is my retirement, not mine and his. He knows he needs to start building his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

WTH?! What do you do for a living? Dr. ? Lawyer? Why the panic to pay off loans -- how high is the interest rate? Do you realize that if you hadn't paid off 100k last year, you could have maxed out the 401k, put some in taxable accounts and in your kids' college accounts and made 19% on that and another 6% YTD? Is your interest rate higher than 6% or 19%? I get the thinking of "saving/paying off one thing at a time" but in doing that you short yourself on time -- and the time value of money that you gain from investing NOW. Seems like you've missed out on 7.5 yrs of a bull market and now are sitting on 50k in retirement at ages 32/37 for TWO people!?

They were 8.5% plus loans. My payments were nearly 2k per month- 18k per year in interest. The big, high interest plus loans had to go. Besides the high rate and monthly obligation, they weighed extremely heavily on my psyche. I felt suffocated by them. Also, my kids are 1 and 2, and I met DH 3.5 years ago. So that’s the obvious explanation for no 529 accounts earlier on. DH cashed out everything he had due to a messy divorce and bad life circumstances a few years before I met him. I can’t speak for his decisions back then. And my retirement is my retirement, not mine and his. He knows he needs to start building his own.[[/b]/quote]

Are you sure about that? Did you sign a pre-nup?

And how would he if he doesn't work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

WTH?! What do you do for a living? Dr. ? Lawyer? Why the panic to pay off loans -- how high is the interest rate? Do you realize that if you hadn't paid off 100k last year, you could have maxed out the 401k, put some in taxable accounts and in your kids' college accounts and made 19% on that and another 6% YTD? Is your interest rate higher than 6% or 19%? I get the thinking of "saving/paying off one thing at a time" but in doing that you short yourself on time -- and the time value of money that you gain from investing NOW. Seems like you've missed out on 7.5 yrs of a bull market and now are sitting on 50k in retirement at ages 32/37 for TWO people!?

They were 8.5% plus loans. My payments were nearly 2k per month- 18k per year in interest. The big, high interest plus loans had to go. Besides the high rate and monthly obligation, they weighed extremely heavily on my psyche. I felt suffocated by them. Also, my kids are 1 and 2, and I met DH 3.5 years ago. So that’s the obvious explanation for no 529 accounts earlier on. DH cashed out everything he had due to a messy divorce and bad life circumstances a few years before I met him. I can’t speak for his decisions back then. And my retirement is my retirement, not mine and his. He knows he needs to start building his own.[[/b]/quote]

Are you sure about that? Did you sign a pre-nup?

And how would he if he doesn't work?

Yes. Prenup and all separate finances. Well, he would obviously have to work, which he is welcomed and gently encouraged to do...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:32 with 2 young kids. DH, who is 37, stays home. HHI (my income) is 400k.

Our numbers are not nearly as cushy as many of y'all are claiming I should be. Making 400k in DC proper is extremely different from making 400k in middle America or even western Virginia. Making 400k is different with you have gigantic student loans. It's silly to say "you're rich!" Just based on HHI. It doesn't work that way.

Retirement: I have 50k, DH has nothing

Student loans: 40k left- I paid off 100k in the past year and a half. Paid about 100k in loans and interest over the course of six years prior to that.

Liquid savings: 100k. This is our emergency fund. Given that everyone is dependent on my job, I feel it's necessary to keep this at this level in case anything were to happen to my job (or me).

Home equity: ~150k. Mortgage is $3200.

No credit card debt. No college savings yet, but this is my next major money dump focus (first was an emergency fund, second was student loans, and third was a down payment for our first home).

WTH?! What do you do for a living? Dr. ? Lawyer? Why the panic to pay off loans -- how high is the interest rate? Do you realize that if you hadn't paid off 100k last year, you could have maxed out the 401k, put some in taxable accounts and in your kids' college accounts and made 19% on that and another 6% YTD? Is your interest rate higher than 6% or 19%? I get the thinking of "saving/paying off one thing at a time" but in doing that you short yourself on time -- and the time value of money that you gain from investing NOW. Seems like you've missed out on 7.5 yrs of a bull market and now are sitting on 50k in retirement at ages 32/37 for TWO people!?

They were 8.5% plus loans. My payments were nearly 2k per month- 18k per year in interest. The big, high interest plus loans had to go. Besides the high rate and monthly obligation, they weighed extremely heavily on my psyche. I felt suffocated by them. Also, my kids are 1 and 2, and I met DH 3.5 years ago. So that’s the obvious explanation for no 529 accounts earlier on. DH cashed out everything he had due to a messy divorce and bad life circumstances a few years before I met him. I can’t speak for his decisions back then. And my retirement is my retirement, not mine and his. He knows he needs to start building his own.[[/b]/quote]

Are you sure about that? Did you sign a pre-nup?

And how would he if he doesn't work?

Yes. Prenup and all separate finances. Well, he would obviously have to work, which he is welcomed and gently encouraged to do...

OP, your DH at 37 needs to start right away saving for retirement. He should look into a part time job opposite your schedule or on the weekends, making at least enough to fund a retirement account (e.g., $550 into a backdoor Roth IRA), and then transition to a full time job, once the kids are old enough to only require aftercare, to have access to a 401k or similar pre-tax retirement account. Esp. if you insist on keeping retirement savings separate -- not sure how that would be possible except with separate households (I'm guessing his not working right now is a sore spot).

[Anonymous]

DH and I are both 35. HHI is 200K from DH's job. He's had this job for about 4 years. Before that was school, school, and more school plus work as a public school teacher. I SAH with two young kids.

College savings=5K
Retirement=1500K
Non retirement savings=60K

We recently bought a house and my DH has a lot of student debt (about 100K, which we are paying off at $1500/mo). No credit card debt.