Anonymous wrote:"This is the the worst advice ever. The OP is coming into a windfall, and you guys are giving her advice that keeps her in debt or worse, puts her in MORE debt"
I'm the pp who wrote this and would like to add - instead of these options,
1) pay off your student loans, all of them
2) pay off your mortgage
You are now debt free in DC with a comfortable HH income. Congratulations! Now, take the money you were putting towards your student loans and mortgage and start aggressively saving for your addition, your new car, and your children's tuition.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I want to know what 2007 car needs new transmission. I am buying a new car and want to avoid that, for sure. No snark, just serious.
probably any american car
Anonymous wrote:There is a chance DH will be making an extra $750K due to a deal he is working on. Normal HHI is approx $180K.
Anonymous wrote:I want to know what 2007 car needs new transmission. I am buying a new car and want to avoid that, for sure. No snark, just serious.
Anonymous wrote:"This is the the worst advice ever. The OP is coming into a windfall, and you guys are giving her advice that keeps her in debt or worse, puts her in MORE debt"
I'm the pp who wrote this and would like to add - instead of these options,
1) pay off your student loans, all of them
2) pay off your mortgage
You are now debt free in DC with a comfortable HH income. Congratulations! Now, take the money you were putting towards your student loans and mortgage and start aggressively saving for your addition, your new car, and your children's tuition.
Anonymous wrote:"This is the the worst advice ever. The OP is coming into a windfall, and you guys are giving her advice that keeps her in debt or worse, puts her in MORE debt"
I'm the pp who wrote this and would like to add - instead of these options,
1) pay off your student loans, all of them
2) pay off your mortgage
You are now debt free in DC with a comfortable HH income. Congratulations! Now, take the money you were putting towards your student loans and mortgage and start aggressively saving for your addition, your new car, and your children's tuition.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I get a large chunk of my pay in an annual bonus so I spend a lot of time figuring out what to do with windfalls. I always max out the tax advantaged savings accounts first--IRAs, 529s, etc. There may be a day where we don't need to do that, but I'd rather over save than under save. I'm 34 and I think it's smart to save as much as possible for college/retirement early because you don't know what the future holds. You can always cut back on savings if you feel you have more than enough.
If I were you, assuming you're maxing out your 401ks already, I'd put $11k into IRAs for you and your DH. Then, I'd do max $14k per child into a 529. It's a lot, but this is a one-time windfall. It may be the only time you set aside a significant amount of money in savings for them. Even though you're not worried about college funding, this is still a good use of money since the savings are tax advantaged. If you want to save more aggressively, you could each put $14k in a 529 for $28k per child. That's what we do with my annual bonuses right now.
After that, I'd pay off your DH's student loans. I wouldn't bother with yours since the interest rate is so low. Might as well take your time paying off that one. Then, get the car with $20k cash.
Assuming the net amount is $400k, you still have ~$330k (or $275k if you put $28k into the 529s) left. Shore up your cash savings first and then do the addition. If you have to finance a part of the addition, I'd go that route rather than blowing all the cash on a project that could be financed through a HELOC or construction loan at a low rate.
Regardless, if this comes through, it sounds like you'll have plenty for the addition you want and savings. Good luck!
^ great advice!
