Can we afford a monthly mortgage payment of $4900?
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Anonymous
seriously. Yes, they a lot of money. But they could also be dead tomorrow and all the money will be meaningless. I never get bragging about how much money one saves. Save enough to be reasonably prudent for retirement and college and then LIVE for the present! Or reduce your hours/change jobs and work less. The bragging is lost on me. I actually feel sorry for the compulsive savers. |
Anonymous
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those who contribute to 529s, could you share with me how much per kid per month?
OP, we have a HHI of 300K. Our mortgage including tax is ~4000. Max on retirement. Kids in daycare. No outstanding debt. We have left-overs at the end of the month. Right now, I'm just wondering how much I need to save for 529s without being outrageous. |
Anonymous
Given your HHI (too high to qualify for financial aid), and given what college costs now (a lot), I think it is hard to save too much. Our kids are 14 and 11 and we have a combined total of $300K in their college funds. |
Anonymous
I had the same thought - OP says she has 3 mos of living expenses as a cushion. Given the high mortgage they are contemplating, that's not enough. Not even close. |
Anonymous
For one kid, we've been saving $1000/month. That's based on projected cost to attend a four-year private college about 16 years from now. Our second is on the way any day now, and we're trying to decide whether we drop it to $500 per kid for a couple of years ( basically until we pay off our law school loans--$1200/month) or make cuts elsewhere to do $2000/month. I think we'll split the $1k between the kids for the next 2.5 years. Should note that we don't have any childcare expenses. I think we save at the high end? DH and I both were fortunate enough to have our parents pay for our college, so we're trying to do the same for our kids. We prioritize it over other things and consider it a necessary expense, not an optional thing. Not trying to brag or make others feel bad about saving less--just explaining why we're saving so much (or what I think is a lot compared to some of our friends). I know plenty of people who went to college on full loans and worked their way through school, and they are often even more successful than friends who had it all paid for by their parents. 
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Anonymous
| There are online calculators to help determine how much to save based on public/private and how much you have already saved. We did one and it said that for a 3 yo to save for a private education we'd have to put away $600/month. |
Anonymous
$300 per kid per month. |
Anonymous
How old are you and what's your net worth? |
Anonymous
Wow. It is relevant because they are way reaching. LOL I make $250,000 of that $435K. |
Anonymous
| Pay off your car first. |
Anonymous
| How hard would it be to maintain if one of you both was unable to work? All other expenses included and additional expenses added, would you end up losing your home? |
Anonymous
and by this logic, single people should not buy homes... |
Anonymous
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Yes, 4900 per month on 350k of gross income should be fine. Could be less if you get a 10 yr ARM, or I/O for financing.
Get a good tax advisor too, so you're doing everything to maximize your disposable income and savings. |
Anonymous
| Yes. Our HHI is a little over 300K and our payment is $5200. It's not a problem and we're comfortable. Just a heads up, most people who respond to threads about finances are extremely fiscally conservative and will almost always say whatever you want to do is unaffordable. |
Anonymous
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I wouldn't do it.
3 mos. is a minimum cushion, I don't think you're really solid til you have 6 at least... that's a shitload ($7k) to be locked into every month.... just IMO. |