controversial opinion: money & finances edition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

+1

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here save way too much for college. If you're able to save that much, you can probably pay some as you go as well. Let your kid pay for their own grad school.

Agreed

Make hay while the sun still shines. You never know when your money might leave, through a job loss, disability, death or other bad situation.

+ 1

Save now while you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

You've described someone who is not scraping by

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

DP here. I am not going to ascribe a dollar amount to it, but having kids when your other fixed expenses do your permit you to both care for them properly and save a sufficient amount for retirement is poor judgment, yes. Either reduce expenses or hold off on kids. This is not hard. It's just math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

I don't think that $2100 / child is "average" for daycare in this area, FWIW.

- Pay $2800 / month total in a DC center for 2 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

I don't think that $2100 / child is "average" for daycare in this area, FWIW.

- Pay $2800 / month total in a DC center for 2 kids.

And they get cheaper once they hit 2 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

You've described someone who is not scraping by

+1 Having $3K of spending money per month, while also saving $500/mo for college for a child who is still in daycare, and living in a home that costs $3K per month is a pretty comfortable lifestyle. Plenty of people don't save for college until they are done paying for daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

DP here. I am not going to ascribe a dollar amount to it, but having kids when your other fixed expenses do your permit you to both care for them properly and save a sufficient amount for retirement is poor judgment, yes. Either reduce expenses or hold off on kids. This is not hard. It's just math.

Right but most people don’t make more than 200k so this means barely anyone can have kids in this area unless they make 400k HHI plus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

I don't think that $2100 / child is "average" for daycare in this area, FWIW.

- Pay $2800 / month total in a DC center for 2 kids.

This was the amount reported in the WSJ this week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no donut hole in regards to college financial aid, just poor planning.

It may well be that people plan poorly and you are entitled to your opinion that there is no donut hole.

The FACT is, however, that college costs relative to average household income have skyrocketed in the last few decades, such that the cost of college for people in 2018 is disproportionate in relation to their earnings in ways that it was not for their parents or grandparents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here save way too much for college. If you're able to save that much, you can probably pay some as you go as well. Let your kid pay for their own grad school.

...unless you will hit retirement age, lose your job, or become disabled around the time your kid goes to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here save way too much for college. If you're able to save that much, you can probably pay some as you go as well. Let your kid pay for their own grad school.

Agreed

Make hay while the sun still shines. You never know when your money might leave, through a job loss, disability, death or other bad situation.

+ 1

Save now while you can.

Yep. Easy for youngsters to think that a person can just keep on working and earning the same or more as what s/he did a decade or two ago. It's not that simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no donut hole in regards to college financial aid, just poor planning.

It may well be that people plan poorly and you are entitled to your opinion that there is no donut hole.

The FACT is, however, that college costs relative to average household income have skyrocketed in the last few decades, such that the cost of college for people in 2018 is disproportionate in relation to their earnings in ways that it was not for their parents or grandparents.

I said the above as a parent with two children in college. College is a known cost for decades.

[Anonymous]

Having kids is a dumb idea, especially financially. Life is a lot more fun without them. And the obsession with finances and net worth in this area is just sad.