Tell me I'm financially stable. DCUM makes me feel like sh-t.
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Anonymous
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Mid 30's: senior positions but not high-paying careers. HHI= $150k.
No debt other than mortgage ($200k equity in house). savings = $150k in retirement accounts, $20k in 529 (1 toddler), $30k in investments, $50k in emergency fund. We net about $1k extra each month but I worry all the time about money, especially when reading DCUM. Thoughts? |
Anonymous
| You are doing fine. Stop reading DCUM |
Anonymous
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Invest your savings. If your jobs are relatively stable and there is room for growth, you have nothing to worry about! Our HHI is less than 100K and DH is in his 50s, with 2 young children. Stop comparing yourself directly to others on this board, otherwise you won't sleep at night 
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Anonymous
You have no debt and you are saving money. You are in good shape. You need a spreadsheet to accurately track where you are and where you will be. I have one dating back 15 years or so and looking at it and how far we have come makes me feel better about where we are headed. Keep ticking off the boxes and saving money. You will be in great shape in 10 years. Great shape. |
Anonymous
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Op here. Thanks, that is what I needed. I want to fully appreciate what I have (stability) and stop desiring wealth, which I'll never have.
You don't think the $150k in retirements is really low for mid-30's? Also, working towards being able to afford child #2..... |
Anonymous
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You are doing fine.
We have a lot more in retirement (combined about $1mil), but we are mid-late 40's. You have years to catch up. Hopefully you are maxing out your retirement. As they say, you can get a loan for college, but no one will loan you money when you are retired. On the flip side, we have no money saved for college yet (6 and 9 yr old). As you can see, we put much more effort in building up our retirement. We plan on now focusing on college savings and planning on putting in $20K+ each year for 9 yr old, and a bit less for 6 yr old. Yes, I know the tax deduction maxes out at $10K. We also have $500K+ in equity (possibly another source for college), no other loans except mortgage. Savings $50K. Our financial situation has changed in the past few years, so now we have an extra $5k or so per month, which is why we can now focus much more on college savings. So you beat us in college savings, but again, for everything else, we are much older than you so we've had time to build up. You really do need to stop comparing yourself to the joneses. Just live at or below your means, and you will be fine. You are doing great. |
Anonymous
| the people making more, spend more. don't try to keep up. we make about $350 a year. live in a $500K house, almost paid off and drive two old cars. no lavish vacations and we still look for sales etc. be happy with where you are. many make more, but spend it all and make foolish decisions. you are better off than most of them trying to keep up and drowning. |
Anonymous
You have no debt and you are saving money. You are in good shape. You need a spreadsheet to accurately track where you are and where you will be. I have one dating back 15 years or so and looking at it and how far we have come makes me feel better about where we are headed. Keep ticking off the boxes and saving money. You will be in great shape in 10 years. Great shape. |
Anonymous
You're doing great! We make $170k have $200k in student loan debt, $75k in other debt (cars and credit cards). We have no savings and very little in retirement (except that my husband has a pension, thank goodness). No college savings for our kids. Living paycheck to paycheck because we are terrible with money. Both grew up poor and now feel like we "deserve" things that we can't afford. Pay $2700/month in rent so we can live in a great public school district and not have long commutes. Won't ever be able to buy a house here. |
Anonymous
| I think you're doing great. I would put any additional savings in retirement rather than your other types of savings. |
Anonymous
| We are somewhat similar and recently met with a financial planner through my husband's work. It was very reassuring. It might be worth meeting with a fee only planner for some peace of mind. |
Anonymous
We are in a very similar spot to you. HHI 150, home equity $300k, our emergency fund is only 30k but we're at $200k for retirement. And only $10k in 529 for the 1 kid so far. Also hoping to have more kids but also decrease income for someone to stay home. We're fine. Stay off DCUM. Sometimes I need DCUM breaks. |
Anonymous
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OP, I'm 10:55 the one with $1 mil in retirement.
If I look back when I was in my mid 30's here's where we were at: Just had a kid - I had DC1 at 35 - so no college savings Retirement - probably around $300K Savings - guessing around $30K Home equity - maybe $80K Still no other loans other than mortgage. So compared to where we were at back then, you really are doing ok. But I would put more in retirement. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| You need more in retirement |