Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Divorced dad of two kids here. I make $430k. This includes relatively lame employer 401k match. I save $60k total per year (that lame 401k match, my own 401k contributions, an post-tax brokerage account contributions).

How do you only save $60K on a $430K income??

I work a lot so I pay for a nanny. I outsource lawn care. I indulge my kids in pricey activities ( expensive summer camps and competitive sports ). But the really big one is the house. I pay about $60k per year on the mortgage. Oh, and I take trips.

I have a net worth of $3.1m (includes about $800 home equity).

Damn I’m so far behind.

Anonymous wrote:Divorced dad of two kids here. I make $430k. This includes relatively lame employer 401k match. I save $60k total per year (that lame 401k match, my own 401k contributions, an post-tax brokerage account contributions).

How do you only save $60K on a $430K income??

Divorced dad of two kids here. I make $430k. This includes relatively lame employer 401k match. I save $60k total per year (that lame 401k match, my own 401k contributions, an post-tax brokerage account contributions).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amen, as they say, seize the day! "e plurubus unum"

E pluribus unum translates to “out of many, one”

Carpe diem translates to seize the day

Didn't realize I was in french class! lol! I was making a comment on finances

OMG it's Latin, not French

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, it's also important to keep things in perspective.

One of my colleagues found out about a terminal stage IV cancer diagnosis in her late 50s. Someone who had lived conservatively and done everything by the book, to a tee, seemed relatively healthy for age, and thought she just had GERD till imaging said otherwise.

When she told us, one of her first comments after relaying the facts of the matter were, with voice trembling with tears:

"All those of years of saving so much in my 401k... for what??"

Thank you for posting this. People don’t understand how to have balance in life. People are either spendthrifts or deny themselves every little thing that makes life worth living. My dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer two years after retiring - after he spent decades looking forward to retirement. What’s the point in our lives? Frugality just so we can travel during retirement? How about traveling with DCs and building memories? We’ve traveled so much in our lives (together, as a family), I certainly don’t see the need to catch up when I’m 65.

I get two weeks' vacation a year. I have the money but not enough time to travel before I retire.

That’s sad - I am being sincere. I would never accept a job that only offers 2 weeks vacation. You need to negotiate this, that’s no way to live. I sometimes envy the people on DCUM that have 6 weeks (do they even live in the US or are they posting from EU, lol). But try to get 4 weeks so you can unwind with your family.

Even the CEO only gets 2 weeks a year (startup). My kids are grown so they are not available to unwind with, except for 3 days at Christmas. Don't worry, only about two more years and I'll be done with full time work.

My husband and I make about $260K a year. We contribute about $44,000 a year towards our retirement accounts, which includes my company's match. My husband's company doesn't match his 401K but he also has a pension.

Our youngest son started kindergarten this year, so we are finally making some headway in saving outside of retirement. We expect to save about $30,000 in cash this year. We will put a big chunk of that into 529s, and the rest will go to our savings/home renovation budget.

Going forward we should be able to save a minimum of $30K a year, and any additional money we make in salary will also go toward savings.