we make 250K and our PITI is 3500. We're struggling to do retirement for both of us (not maxing out) and not saving for college (grandparents paying.) It's a little tight with all the childcare costs and activities for two. we watch our other spending.

$210K HHI. $3.5K PITI plus $75 HOA fees. No student loans or car payments. We're pretty efficient with our money so the mortgage payment isn't an issue.

$4.5K PITI is probably the max I would do but, as others have noted, it really depends on your monthly budget. If your other expenses are relatively low and if you really want to stay in the house I'd suggest you work for another six months and save as much as possible. I'd dip into those savings to bridge the gap on the mortgage payment until you both get raises.

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Anonymous wrote:Wow we make $180 total, have a PITI of $2600 and two kids in daycare. We are not saving ANYTHING outside of what our employers match in 401ks and the amount we can deduct for each kid's 529.

You should be maxing out your 401 now and skipping the 529 until kids are in school. You are losing at an exponential rate not going aggressive with 401k at the expense of 529.

+1 - snowflakes can borrow for school if need be, but you will be SOL at retirement. I wouldn't fund any college stuff unless you are maxing out both 401ks and 2 Roths and then I'd prob split between 529 and taxable.

This advice is completely unrealistic on a two-income salary of $180k in the DC area. If each person makes $90k, then maxing out their 401K means 20% retirement savings, plus whatever is available in company match. And you are also suggesting Roths and taxable accounts? We have been in a similar boat and saving at that level is not possible in this area unless you have higher incomes or don't have child care costs.

The idea is to max out tax-advantaged retirement vehicles ( 401k, roth) before you put money into the tax advantaged college savings vehicles (529), because the former are (1) more advantageous and (2) you can't borrow to cover the former but you can to cover the latter.

I get this point, but I'm just frustrated that the advice on DCUM is that everyone should max out all tax-advantaged accounts or they are not being responsible. On two-income households with more modest incomes (and a company retirement match), this advice can translate to over 30% retirement savings rates. If you are trying to pay for child care, housing in a high-cost area, etc, it's perfectly fine to saving a more reasonable percentage and make sure you are attending to other priorities.

You are a refreshing voice on this forum!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow we make $180 total, have a PITI of $2600 and two kids in daycare. We are not saving ANYTHING outside of what our employers match in 401ks and the amount we can deduct for each kid's 529.

You should be maxing out your 401 now and skipping the 529 until kids are in school. You are losing at an exponential rate not going aggressive with 401k at the expense of 529.

+1 - snowflakes can borrow for school if need be, but you will be SOL at retirement. I wouldn't fund any college stuff unless you are maxing out both 401ks and 2 Roths and then I'd prob split between 529 and taxable.

This advice is completely unrealistic on a two-income salary of $180k in the DC area. If each person makes $90k, then maxing out their 401K means 20% retirement savings, plus whatever is available in company match. And you are also suggesting Roths and taxable accounts? We have been in a similar boat and saving at that level is not possible in this area unless you have higher incomes or don't have child care costs.

The idea is to max out tax-advantaged retirement vehicles ( 401k, roth) before you put money into the tax advantaged college savings vehicles (529), because the former are (1) more advantageous and (2) you can't borrow to cover the former but you can to cover the latter.

I get this point, but I'm just frustrated that the advice on DCUM is that everyone should max out all tax-advantaged accounts or they are not being responsible. On two-income households with more modest incomes (and a company retirement match), this advice can translate to over 30% retirement savings rates. If you are trying to pay for child care, housing in a high-cost area, etc, it's perfectly fine to saving a more reasonable percentage and make sure you are attending to other priorities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow we make $180 total, have a PITI of $2600 and two kids in daycare. We are not saving ANYTHING outside of what our employers match in 401ks and the amount we can deduct for each kid's 529.

You should be maxing out your 401 now and skipping the 529 until kids are in school. You are losing at an exponential rate not going aggressive with 401k at the expense of 529.

+1 - snowflakes can borrow for school if need be, but you will be SOL at retirement. I wouldn't fund any college stuff unless you are maxing out both 401ks and 2 Roths and then I'd prob split between 529 and taxable.

This advice is completely unrealistic on a two-income salary of $180k in the DC area. If each person makes $90k, then maxing out their 401K means 20% retirement savings, plus whatever is available in company match. And you are also suggesting Roths and taxable accounts? We have been in a similar boat and saving at that level is not possible in this area unless you have higher incomes or don't have child care costs.

The idea is to max out tax-advantaged retirement vehicles ( 401k, roth) before you put money into the tax advantaged college savings vehicles (529), because the former are (1) more advantageous and (2) you can't borrow to cover the former but you can to cover the latter.

We make around $195K and our PITI is about $2900, which is also what we're paying for two kids in daycare. Our oldest doesn't start kindergarten in another two years so these next few years will tough. We're not maximizing our 401ks right now as we also need some disposable income, but I aggressively contributed in my younger years when I didn't have kids, mortgage, etc so I'm not in bad shape with my balance. We both do the minimum matching with our employers plus a little more. We're starting to develop a very detailed budget and will try to slowly uptick our retirement contributions as we acclimate to the expenses involved with two kids in daycare. Thankfully we don't have anymore student loans and a $300/month car payment that will be fully paid off next year. Also fund a 529 (soon to be two) and taxable account, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow we make $180 total, have a PITI of $2600 and two kids in daycare. We are not saving ANYTHING outside of what our employers match in 401ks and the amount we can deduct for each kid's 529.

You should be maxing out your 401 now and skipping the 529 until kids are in school. You are losing at an exponential rate not going aggressive with 401k at the expense of 529.

+1 - snowflakes can borrow for school if need be, but you will be SOL at retirement. I wouldn't fund any college stuff unless you are maxing out both 401ks and 2 Roths and then I'd prob split between 529 and taxable.

This advice is completely unrealistic on a two-income salary of $180k in the DC area. If each person makes $90k, then maxing out their 401K means 20% retirement savings, plus whatever is available in company match. And you are also suggesting Roths and taxable accounts? We have been in a similar boat and saving at that level is not possible in this area unless you have higher incomes or don't have child care costs.

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Anonymous wrote:We're around $175k HHI and have a mortgage of $2200. We are looking to buy a SFH in the next couple of years and only expect a small increase in salary between now and then. We're trying not to go higher than $2800/month and even that wouldn't leave us a ton of wiggle room in our budget (we have kids, though). I could almost imagine doing 3000/month but beyond that, I honestly don't know where the money would come from.

You should be taking home $10k/month. A $3k mortgage should be fine unless you have high student loans or something.

I make about 50k more and don't take home that much after taxes, health care, 401k.

We're at $220k and our monthly take home is just under 10k (after taxes, health care, 401k).

Health care and 401k are taken home.

Ok. They are taken out of my check.

Anonymous wrote:Wow we make $180 total, have a PITI of $2600 and two kids in daycare. We are not saving ANYTHING outside of what our employers match in 401ks and the amount we can deduct for each kid's 529.

It's probably a better idea for you to be maxing your 401k before you contribute to a 529.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're around $175k HHI and have a mortgage of $2200. We are looking to buy a SFH in the next couple of years and only expect a small increase in salary between now and then. We're trying not to go higher than $2800/month and even that wouldn't leave us a ton of wiggle room in our budget (we have kids, though). I could almost imagine doing 3000/month but beyond that, I honestly don't know where the money would come from.

You should be taking home $10k/month. A $3k mortgage should be fine unless you have high student loans or something.

I make about 50k more and don't take home that much after taxes, health care, 401k.

We're at $220k and our monthly take home is just under 10k (after taxes, health care, 401k).

Health care and 401k are taken home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow we make $180 total, have a PITI of $2600 and two kids in daycare. We are not saving ANYTHING outside of what our employers match in 401ks and the amount we can deduct for each kid's 529.

You should be maxing out your 401 now and skipping the 529 until kids are in school. You are losing at an exponential rate not going aggressive with 401k at the expense of 529.

+1 - snowflakes can borrow for school if need be, but you will be SOL at retirement. I wouldn't fund any college stuff unless you are maxing out both 401ks and 2 Roths and then I'd prob split between 529 and taxable.

230K (take home around 11K/month - employer-paid healthcare) and our PITI is $3200/month. I'm pregnant now and budgeting 2K/month for childcare, and one of us has a $800/month loan payment. One car, $350/month. It's comfortable.

Anonymous wrote:Wow we make $180 total, have a PITI of $2600 and two kids in daycare. We are not saving ANYTHING outside of what our employers match in 401ks and the amount we can deduct for each kid's 529.

You should be maxing out your 401 now and skipping the 529 until kids are in school. You are losing at an exponential rate not going aggressive with 401k at the expense of 529.

Anonymous wrote:Question - are the posters on here including bonuses and other "extra" non-base salary money in your income? I only consider our base salaries, which are $205,000. When you add in my bonus and freelance work my husband does, we go up to about $220K-230K.

We don't get bonuses