HHI 200K - how much house can/should we afford

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you can afford whatever you want. Being over conservative is different than what you can afford.

I agree
with this HHI - it is really a matter of personal preferences and priorities. Yes, you can't afford it all, and have to make some compromises.

With similar HHI and less cash we bought a house for 780K (and would need to add some more into renovation), but we do not max out our 401K
We have 3 kids, need a lot of space and good schools, so it is my choice - to live comfortably now and worry about retirement later. Might not be the best choice, but I'm ok with it.
Just my 2 cents.

I like you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I did - not to put to much into 401K - I live now and need my money now; can't afford to lose it due to some market crash
So, I invest in my children and my house, at least I can enjoy it Pile of cash does not make me happy as glass of wine on my own backyard watching kids playing ball
I'm a dumbass I guess

i hope you love your job, because you ain't retiring. but at least you are enjoying (spending) your money as you earn it

And how do you know I'm spending everything? Or how good (or bad) I can manage my money?
I will retire one day, like 30 years from now. I sure hope my kids won't need my support for more than 15 years, so I can downsize and shift my focus to retirement once they out of college.
I plan to have it all - enjoy life now and continue to do so once I retire someday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I did - not to put to much into 401K - I live now and need my money now; can't afford to lose it due to some market crash
So, I invest in my children and my house, at least I can enjoy it Pile of cash does not make me happy as glass of wine on my own backyard watching kids playing ball
I'm a dumbass I guess

i hope you love your job, because you ain't retiring. but at least you are enjoying (spending) your money as you earn it

And how do you know I'm spending everything? Or how good (or bad) I can manage my money?
I will retire one day, like 30 years from now. I sure hope my kids won't need my support for more than 15 years, so I can downsize and shift my focus to retirement once they out of college.
I plan to have it all - enjoy life now and continue to do so once I retire someday

I'm surprised anyone would confess to this on here. People usually claim to max out their retirement accounts, have two years' emergency fund in the bank, and always, always put at least 20 percent down on a house. Even better, 50%. But clearly more people are like this PP than like the others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I did - not to put to much into 401K - I live now and need my money now; can't afford to lose it due to some market crash
So, I invest in my children and my house, at least I can enjoy it Pile of cash does not make me happy as glass of wine on my own backyard watching kids playing ball
I'm a dumbass I guess

i hope you love your job, because you ain't retiring. but at least you are enjoying (spending) your money as you earn it

And how do you know I'm spending everything? Or how good (or bad) I can manage my money?
I will retire one day, like 30 years from now. I sure hope my kids won't need my support for more than 15 years, so I can downsize and shift my focus to retirement once they out of college.
I plan to have it all - enjoy life now and continue to do so once I retire someday

I'm surprised anyone would confess to this on here. People usually claim to max out their retirement accounts, have two years' emergency fund in the bank, and always, always put at least 20 percent down on a house. Even better, 50%. But clearly more people are like this PP than like the others.

I guess I'm sore looser with HHI 200K according to DCUM, but I'm OK with that

[Anonymous]

You only live once why save like a collapse of the United states is on the horizon. Once this terrible recession is behind us hopefully America can go back to enjoying life and not have to save like a crazy person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You only live once why save like a collapse of the United states is on the horizon. Once this terrible recession is behind us hopefully America can go back to enjoying life and not have to save like a crazy person.

Uh because the reality is the golden years are behind us? Very few companies offer pension plans anymore, nor do I trust the government to keep Social Security functioning until I'm old enough to benefit from it (I'm in my late 20s).

I don't want to be a fear mongerer, but you have to look out for yourself. Some people, like the government employees getting 30k/year pensions on the other thread and could retire at 55, were able to benefit from the "good ol' days." For lots of us, that's no longer an option. That's why being fiscally conservative, if you're lucky enough to be able to, is a good thing. No one is saying save save save and don't enjoy life, but just to consider the ramifications of an expensive mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You only live once why save like a collapse of the United states is on the horizon. Once this terrible recession is behind us hopefully America can go back to enjoying life and not have to save like a crazy person.

Uh because the reality is the golden years are behind us? Very few companies offer pension plans anymore, nor do I trust the government to keep Social Security functioning until I'm old enough to benefit from it (I'm in my late 20s).

I don't want to be a fear mongerer, but you have to look out for yourself. Some people, like the government employees getting 30k/year pensions on the other thread and could retire at 55, were able to benefit from the "good ol' days." For lots of us, that's no longer an option. That's why being fiscally conservative, if you're lucky enough to be able to, is a good thing. No one is saying save save save and don't enjoy life, but just to consider the ramifications of an expensive mortgage.

Could you please define "expensive mortgage"?
Is $4-4.5K housing expense out of $10-12K disposable income (HHI 200K, remember?) insane?
Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You only live once why save like a collapse of the United states is on the horizon. Once this terrible recession is behind us hopefully America can go back to enjoying life and not have to save like a crazy person.

Uh because the reality is the golden years are behind us? Very few companies offer pension plans anymore, nor do I trust the government to keep Social Security functioning until I'm old enough to benefit from it (I'm in my late 20s).

I don't want to be a fear mongerer, but you have to look out for yourself. Some people, like the government employees getting 30k/year pensions on the other thread and could retire at 55, were able to benefit from the "good ol' days." For lots of us, that's no longer an option. That's why being fiscally conservative, if you're lucky enough to be able to, is a good thing. No one is saying save save save and don't enjoy life, but just to consider the ramifications of an expensive mortgage.

Could you please define "expensive mortgage"?
Is $4-4.5K housing expense out of $10-12K disposable income (HHI 200K, remember?) insane?
Thank you!

I'm sorry, but I can't answer that for you. A gross HHI of 200k tells me nothing about how much disposable income someone has or what their other expenses are - one of the many reasons why these "how much can I afford" threads are silly. No one can tell you how much you can afford. I was only responding to the posters who are criticizing the OP for being overly conservative, like that's a bad thing. You will never convince me that it is. But again, everyone is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You only live once why save like a collapse of the United states is on the horizon. Once this terrible recession is behind us hopefully America can go back to enjoying life and not have to save like a crazy person.

Uh because the reality is the golden years are behind us? Very few companies offer pension plans anymore, nor do I trust the government to keep Social Security functioning until I'm old enough to benefit from it (I'm in my late 20s).

I don't want to be a fear mongerer, but you have to look out for yourself. Some people, like the government employees getting 30k/year pensions on the other thread and could retire at 55, were able to benefit from the "good ol' days." For lots of us, that's no longer an option. That's why being fiscally conservative, if you're lucky enough to be able to, is a good thing. No one is saying save save save and don't enjoy life, but just to consider the ramifications of an expensive mortgage.

Could you please define "expensive mortgage"?
Is $4-4.5K housing expense out of $10-12K disposable income (HHI 200K, remember?) insane?
Thank you!

I'm sorry, but I can't answer that for you. A gross HHI of 200k tells me nothing about how much disposable income someone has or what their other expenses are - one of the many reasons why these "how much can I afford" threads are silly. No one can tell you how much you can afford. I was only responding to the posters who are criticizing the OP for being overly conservative, like that's a bad thing. You will never convince me that it is. But again, everyone is different.

It is definitionally a bad thing to be "overly" conservative. That's what the word means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You only live once why save like a collapse of the United states is on the horizon. Once this terrible recession is behind us hopefully America can go back to enjoying life and not have to save like a crazy person.

Uh because the reality is the golden years are behind us? Very few companies offer pension plans anymore, nor do I trust the government to keep Social Security functioning until I'm old enough to benefit from it (I'm in my late 20s).

I don't want to be a fear mongerer, but you have to look out for yourself. Some people, like the government employees getting 30k/year pensions on the other thread and could retire at 55, were able to benefit from the "good ol' days." For lots of us, that's no longer an option. That's why being fiscally conservative, if you're lucky enough to be able to, is a good thing. No one is saying save save save and don't enjoy life, but just to consider the ramifications of an expensive mortgage.

Could you please define "expensive mortgage"?
Is $4-4.5K housing expense out of $10-12K disposable income (HHI 200K, remember?) insane?
Thank you!

I'm sorry, but I can't answer that for you. A gross HHI of 200k tells me nothing about how much disposable income someone has or what their other expenses are - one of the many reasons why these "how much can I afford" threads are silly. No one can tell you how much you can afford. I was only responding to the posters who are criticizing the OP for being overly conservative, like that's a bad thing. You will never convince me that it is. But again, everyone is different.

It is definitionally a bad thing to be "overly" conservative. That's what the word means.

Those posters' words, not mine. I think the OP is being pretty reasonable about what he/she can afford, given the small snapshot shared with us. I think the general consensus on these threads should be if you're comfortable with it, you should go for it. Who cares what strangers on the internet think?

[Anonymous]

I'm the same boat as you, OP only with a little less money to put down. We don't want to uproot the kids multiple times and don't want to commit to Silver Spring high schools (though the elementary schools seem fabulous). Though, I keep thinking, how bad can the middle and high schools be? Many of the neighborhoods are terrific, it's still a high income area, and there's lots of great, involved families. We're already paying $4,600 per month on mortgage + childcare and feel comfortable with that, though we are fairly frugral. We have good savings, no debt, and continue to save each month toward retirement, kids college, etc.

[Anonymous]

With savings rates being so late you are actually losing money by putting it in to the bank. It is much better to put it in real estate with is a tangible investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With savings rates being so late you are actually losing money by putting it in to the bank. It is much better to put it in real estate with is a tangible investment.

LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With savings rates being so late you are actually losing money by putting it in to the bank. It is much better to put it in real estate with is a tangible investment.

LOL.

That statement is correct, at least as between savings and real estate. Of course, those aren't the only two choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With savings rates being so late you are actually losing money by putting it in to the bank. It is much better to put it in real estate with is a tangible investment.

low not late

Some people only invest in what they understand. I don't really understand 401ks. What I really don't like about 401ks is the lack of control and the mandatory fees.