Life is Easy in NW DC on $300k, AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, I think I got you beat. It should be "AMA" me.
I have lived in NWDC on $24k-$35k a year since 1997.
I enjoy the same nice neighborhood as you, my kid goes to public school and I drive a paid off car, and the damn thing is going to drive another 10 years.
Ofcourse I don't live in a house or own a house, but I really don't want to live in a house. I grew up on a farm and don't want to pull out one weed as long as I live. I love condo living- front desk, underground parking, heated pool, maintenance guys in the building, 1 block from DCPS.
Kid goes to public school and is doing fine there.
We travel to Europe once a year, no family money and I also took 3 months off this summer. Life is great, not complaining at all.
Retirement? Will spend most of the time in Europe where col is much lower.
Kid's education? Will pay for his BA. Mortgage will be retired way before kid goes to college.
I do receive child support, but it's only $400 a month.
We literally live off of about $1000 a month after all set expenses are paid, but it's plenty.

Op here. That's awesome! Well done. Sounds like you've built a really nice life for you and your kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I think I got you beat. It should be "AMA" me.
I have lived in NWDC on $24k-$35k a year since 1997.
I enjoy the same nice neighborhood as you, my kid goes to public school and I drive a paid off car, and the damn thing is going to drive another 10 years.
Ofcourse I don't live in a house or own a house, but I really don't want to live in a house. I grew up on a farm and don't want to pull out one weed as long as I live. I love condo living- front desk, underground parking, heated pool, maintenance guys in the building, 1 block from DCPS.
Kid goes to public school and is doing fine there.
We travel to Europe once a year, no family money and I also took 3 months off this summer. Life is great, not complaining at all.
Retirement? Will spend most of the time in Europe where col is much lower.
Kid's education? Will pay for his BA. Mortgage will be retired way before kid goes to college.
I do receive child support, but it's only $400 a month.
We literally live off of about $1000 a month after all set expenses are paid, but it's plenty.

Op here. That's awesome! Well done. Sounds like you've built a really nice life for you and your kid

I grew up in a family of five with a little higher HHI than PP and I can assure you it is not a nice life at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your kids are young and attend public school. I forget if you are in DC or one of the surrounding suburbs, and I'm wondering if you plan on sending your kids to private (or moving to a better school district) for middle or high school?

Do you think you will be able to afford it comfortably? Are you saving now to make that easier?

OP here. All of your questions are answered in the OP or the title. In NW dc, staying here (or planning to), planning on public schools. Yes we are saving a lot for future unknowns.

[Anonymous]

OP, can you provide your monthly budget? Wondering how you can save so much each month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just for S&G, I looked up 4 bedroom houses in au park. The cheapest is $1.15 and they need a lot of work. Most are around $1.5. That's not doable on $300k now unless you have a big downpaymemt. You're lucky you bought early.

Yeah, this is huge. Now you're looking at NE DC for low $800's (and then you have the school concerns). And I'm saying this as someone that bought into the real estate market on the early side as well.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You only have two kids so of course it's easy.

(OP here) Sorry, were you forced to have more? I actually wanted more kids, but my wife didn't.

I'm sad for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see so much confusion on here, and I thought I'd try to clear some stuff up. My central point is that life is easy, downright cushy even, on $300k per year gross income in the DC area. My wife (38) and I (40) raise our two kids (6 and 3) in upper NW DC and our gross income in 2016 was $300k. People who suggest they are scraping by at this income are either deluding you or deluding themselves.

I am happy to answer any questions and dispel any other related myths you may see on DCUM.

Some of our details:
- ~$300k gross income
- $about 70k in total income and payroll taxes
- PITI is about $3500 (we bought a 4 BR house near AU park in 2012 for low $800s. Before that we owned a small condo in Logan Circle)
- Public school (but we did daycare for both kids from 4 months - 3 years)
- I graduated from law school in 2004 with about $150k in student loans. Those are all paid off now.
- We don't do fancy luxury cars, but it's not bargain basement either. The last car we bought was in 2012 and it cost about $30k.
- We eat at nice restaurants weekly, travel several times a year, and buy more consumer goods (clothes for her, gadgets for him) than we probably should
- We save amply $36k per year in the 401k/TSP, $10k per year in the 529s, and $30-40k in the taxable brokerage account. Our savings balances include $750k in retirement accounts, $60k in 529s (kids are still young), and $250k in taxable brokerage accounts.
- We give to charity an amount that I think is generous, about $5k per year usually.

Solid middle class lifestyle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you provide your monthly budget? Wondering how you can save so much each month.

I’m curious as well!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you provide your monthly budget? Wondering how you can save so much each month.

Sure, here is our spending from last year (2016). I'm not 100% confident in these numbers as I use an automated expense tracking and have noticed some duplicate transactions before. But it's definitely accurate for the big ticket categories, and it's probably a good ballpark for the smaller ones.

74k taxes
---
36k 401k contribs
36k brokerage savings
10k 529
---
48k housing (includes PITI, utilities, and various home improvement/maintenance items)
21k daycare
11k groceries
9k insurance and medical
2k verizon
---
11k restaurants
11k clothes and other merchandise
9k travel
14k misc/uncategorized

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see so much confusion on here, and I thought I'd try to clear some stuff up. My central point is that life is easy, downright cushy even, on $300k per year gross income in the DC area. My wife (38) and I (40) raise our two kids (6 and 3) in upper NW DC and our gross income in 2016 was $300k. People who suggest they are scraping by at this income are either deluding you or deluding themselves.

I am happy to answer any questions and dispel any other related myths you may see on DCUM.

Some of our details:
- ~$300k gross income
- $about 70k in total income and payroll taxes
- PITI is about $3500 (we bought a 4 BR house near AU park in 2012 for low $800s. Before that we owned a small condo in Logan Circle)
- Public school (but we did daycare for both kids from 4 months - 3 years)
- I graduated from law school in 2004 with about $150k in student loans. Those are all paid off now.
- We don't do fancy luxury cars, but it's not bargain basement either. The last car we bought was in 2012 and it cost about $30k.
- We eat at nice restaurants weekly, travel several times a year, and buy more consumer goods (clothes for her, gadgets for him) than we probably should
- We save amply $36k per year in the 401k/TSP, $10k per year in the 529s, and $30-40k in the taxable brokerage account. Our savings balances include $750k in retirement accounts, $60k in 529s (kids are still young), and $250k in taxable brokerage accounts.
- We give to charity an amount that I think is generous, about $5k per year usually.

Solid middle class lifestyle

LOL, saving $70k+ per year is not middle class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You only have two kids so of course it's easy.

(OP here) Sorry, were you forced to have more? I actually wanted more kids, but my wife didn't.

I'm sad for you.

Thanks for the sympathy

[Anonymous]

super helpful OP. We very have similar expenses and will now be earning a similar HHI. So I am hoping we can do what you are doing in terms of savings and charitable contributions now that we are at your HHI. We were making 250K before and weren't doing well on the savings front.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:super helpful OP. We very have similar expenses and will now be earning a similar HHI. So I am hoping we can do what you are doing in terms of savings and charitable contributions now that we are at your HHI. We were making 250K before and weren't doing well on the savings front.

live off one paycheck for a month or two

and then it will be really easy to save

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think $5K per year to charity on an income of $300K is the least bit generous.

We have a similar income and two kids but we give around $15K which I also don't consider enough or particularly generous.

We are so privileged and fortunate. $5K? Good grief.

I do. I donate $500 on the same income.

[Anonymous]

Some questions for OP:

When do you expect to retire (age)?

How often do you do large scale home improvement projects?