The balance: saving too little vs saving too much. AND Tesla
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Bi-weekly Gross Pay$9,230.77 Federal Withholding$1,991.98 Social Security$572.31 Medicare$133.85 Maryland$450.58 529$769.00 401k$693.00 Net Pay Net Pay$4,620.05 Which is $10,010 / month. There you go. |
Anonymous
And I'm not sure the taxes work out correctly because all the income is being attributed to 1 person. There may be a marriage penalty. Also, health insurance is generally pretax, but the 529 is only pretax for state, not federal or FICA. |
Anonymous
|
OP here. oh, I know what it feels like being under the microscope now.
Here is more information for those curious about our budget: Income: 10,200 (after 401K, FSA, other deduction) Condo Rent: 1760 Total:11,960 Mortgage (piti):4250 Condo expense:1300 daycare:2050 Roth IRA:917 529: 833 food:1000 utilities: 550 (include cell/internet) car: 200 (insurance and gas) entertainment: 200 clothing: 150 Total: 11450 There is 500 dollar left each month usually and bonus once an year (5k-10k). We do a big vacation with the money. Yes the saving we have are a combination of what the in-laws gave us on the last couple of years and when we use to have less kids hence less daycare and 529 contribution. I feel naked now! |
Anonymous
|
My neighbors were in a similar position. Bought a new car, not a Tesla but about $80K. She lost her good job in a good field. We are all shocked that 1.5 years later, she still can not find a job. They are going to the dealer this weekend to sell back their $80K car, and also making various other financial cuts.
I wouldn't buy it. Paying 1/3 of you net income for a car is irresponsible, but then a lot of irresponsible people buy cars that are too expensive |
Anonymous
I am eerily similar in many ways: my parents are struggling with retirement after living the good life for years and I have always been determined to save and spend wisely DH's parents are much more disciplined (less so than your DH's - but still on the "not living life in perfect balance" side) 240 HHI 200k equity on 900k house with 28 years to go at 4% slightly more equity on the rental house, slightly less in the 401ks similar 529 savings with slightly older kids larger emergency fund, but if it weren't for the old house we would be directing more of that to 401ks like you cars are 4 and 7 and paid off DH is also not particularly into worldly goods, though cars would be the one thing to get his notice. We've both been driving Hyundais for the past 15 years, so when he said he wanted to put in a deposit for a Tesla I told him to go for it. When it's available in a couple of years we can reassess where we are with our current cars and our liquid savings, but he also has a 45 min - 1 hour commute (though only 3 days a week) and we're a couple of engineering geeks we agreed that it wasn't a crazy idea. DH's co-worker was an early adopter and DH has driven his Tesla a number of times over the past year or so and absolutely loves the car. I don't think your should talk him into it, but if it's something that he decides that he wants I see no reason not to support him in it. |
Anonymous
$3866 bi-weekly = $7732, not $8300 |
Anonymous
Which would assume there are exactly 4 weeks in each month. There are not. |
Anonymous
Bi-weekly has 26 pay periods and Semi- Monthly has 24, when you spread the extra 2, yes you reach 8300.00. |
Anonymous
OP, we have somewhat similar financials, though higher HHI ($280) and smaller mortgage ($3100), if a bit less from our rental property. Plenty in savings/529 etc., plus we'll both have pensions. We actually are springing for a Model X, after running the numbers every which way and realizing that we can totally afford it. We don't tend to take big vacations, and if you figure the monthly payments will be ~$1,000/month or $12K/year, people easily spend that through various means we don't (travel, nannies, etc.). We're fine with doing largely driving vacations, especially since we won't be paying for gas. We just had our third kid and our current car is an elderly Prius, so needed something larger. Just a word about the test drive: I agreed to it for my DH, thinking that would satiate him and then we could go get our Honda Odyssey. Nope. Only made him lust after the car more, and he's a hugely geeky engineer (and I'm a moderately geeky scientist), not a car guy. But we're both excited about it and if this is our one extravagance, so be it. I probably wouldn't do it in your case, unless you put enough down that you can cover it monthly--but I also like more of a cushion in my budget. Wait for the Model Y, perhaps? |
Anonymous
You and the OP are major geeks...get a life both of you! |
Anonymous
+1. In a nutshell. |
Anonymous
Nope. Those spam letters saying you can pay off your mortgage 8 years early must blow your mind! |
Anonymous
|
Same age as you, same HHI, and we have a LOT more money invested, and our house is paid off.
You DEFINITELY can not responsibly buy a Tesla, and speaking as a DH who is interested in cars and technology, I can understand how your DH is intrigued by the idea, but owning one (and knowing how much it cost him) would be more of a mental burden. Your 3.9% mortgage isn't even that great of a deal, and it's not giving you "leverage," as you claim, since you don't even have the equivalent amount of money invested to lever. It's just debt. You married a wise man; follow his lead, and you won't have to end up like your broke parents. |
Anonymous
You don't seem to understand the concept of the time value of money. |
Anonymous
You don't seem to understand grammatical tenses? |