I think it depends on what you value. Unless, you have a generous HHI so ppl prioritize fancy cars, upscale houses and furnishings, others travel, or private school and some are cheap like me and just save.

Suze would tell you that if you have an emergency fund and have put away for retirement this year, and can pay for the trip without going into debt then ok.

If not, take a cheaper trip.

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really matter what your HHI is as long as you can save for it and still meet your other financial goals. But I agree that you should be careful and stay in tune with your moms needs and wants - what you're doing is amazing, but make sure you're not taking her too far out of her comfort zone if she doesn't want that. You want a vacation that's fun and exotic but not overwhelming for her.

OP here. Good advice. Thanks!

I've discussed it with her a bit because I think she has wanted to come with us on the last few vacations. The only place she's against is Aruba because she says too many people go there and don't come back lol.

Anonymous wrote:8:26 here, I would caution you not to base this on your HHI. What you're talking about is a once in a lifetime gift, which would fall outside your normal vacation spending habits. If you really want to do it, go for it. When I was a young person in the Army, I paid for my mom to fly out to Germany and all her expenses related to that. If you want to and can swing it, do it. My suggestion is to have them pay some aspect of it so they have skin in the game.

That's a good perspective.

HHI 260,000
travel about 12k/year spread across a bunch of trips

OP here- I should have also asked if these are multiple trips.

DH and I are both first gen immigrants so trips to our home countries usually run at least 5k and arent usually luxurious or relaxing because of family dynamics. Thats why we want to take our moms on this one, but it would just be a week in the Caribbean.

We spend around $11,000 a year on vacations, HHI $265k

We live below our means as well, will be able to retire at 55, have our home paid off in 15 years and most importantly a great work life balance.

Doesn't really matter what your HHI is as long as you can save for it and still meet your other financial goals. But I agree that you should be careful and stay in tune with your moms needs and wants - what you're doing is amazing, but make sure you're not taking her too far out of her comfort zone if she doesn't want that. You want a vacation that's fun and exotic but not overwhelming for her.

Anonymous wrote:We spend maybe $15k per year. HHI $285k.

Us too, give or take. But pp, it is all about your priorities not really your hhi. This is something we choose to do as a family and make trade offs elsewhere in our budget.

8:26 here, I would caution you not to base this on your HHI. What you're talking about is a once in a lifetime gift, which would fall outside your normal vacation spending habits. If you really want to do it, go for it. When I was a young person in the Army, I paid for my mom to fly out to Germany and all her expenses related to that. If you want to and can swing it, do it. My suggestion is to have them pay some aspect of it so they have skin in the game.

We spend maybe $15k per year. HHI $285k.

I spend $12000-13500 a year.
We make $250 HHI

We spend about that much per year, as we do one trip a year abroad to DW's home country, and then another in the fall somewhere in the US. It's just expensive to do anything with a family of 4. Our HHI is over $700k though, so we're lucky it's not a major expense.

Make sure the moms really want to go to those destinations - that it' s not just where you think they should dream of going. Someplace closer/cheaper may be more appealingly.

International family here. We purposefully live our daily life below our means so that we can afford expensive trips to see close family, who live across one or more oceans.
HHI - 120K
annual travel - 15-20K

If you spend $10k/year on vacations, what is your HHI and where do you usually go?

Thus far, DH and I usually spend $5k/year on vacations, but I would like to take our moms on the next one. I estimate that it will cost roughly $10k. We're looking at Grenada or Turks and Caicos.

I really want to do something nice for them, as my mother has never ever been on a real vacation, but I also don't want to do something stupid.

I guess I could call Suzie Orman, but just wondering income levels of those that usually spend this much.