Anonymous wrote:We are starting to vacation for the first time in my life (my husband grew up vacationing, but it just wasn't a thing my family did growing up and the two of us couldn't afford it in our 20's and early 30's). We rented a beach house in FL last winter and are going to NC this summer. Heaven!

I want to be able to vacation too! Enjoy it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just retired at 55 from the best job in the world, defined-pension paying me 100% of my final pay including COLA and lifetime medical & dental for wife and myself.

House almost paid off

$900,000. in savings and investments

All 3 kids put through college with no loans

Not a worry in the world assuming I stay healthy.

Wow. I want your former job! What did you do?

Almost embarrassed to say, retired Firefighter in CA with yearly retirement of over $100,000.

Thank you for your service and it's great that you are well compensated.

+ 1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just retired at 55 from the best job in the world, defined-pension paying me 100% of my final pay including COLA and lifetime medical & dental for wife and myself.

House almost paid off

$900,000. in savings and investments

All 3 kids put through college with no loans

Not a worry in the world assuming I stay healthy.

Wow. I want your former job! What did you do?

Almost embarrassed to say, retired Firefighter in CA with yearly retirement of over $100,000.

Don't be embarrassed. People who put their life on the line should be well compensated.

Absolutely agree.

We are starting to vacation for the first time in my life (my husband grew up vacationing, but it just wasn't a thing my family did growing up and the two of us couldn't afford it in our 20's and early 30's). We rented a beach house in FL last winter and are going to NC this summer. Heaven!

I have two expensive (80K +) SUVs--his and hers.

Anonymous wrote:I have a baseball card that will finance a college education.

Love!

Got a "big" (for me) salary bump when I was 28 (from 40K net income pay to 80K net), kept the exact same lifestyle, cheap rent, cheap vacations, cheap clothes (my DH didn't get a bump so it was prob easier to live the same way), I saved 70% of my income (~250K in 4 years). And now at 32 I am debt free (apart from mortgage), bought our (used) car cash, bought our home thanks to a 20% downpayment and I am financially in a good place to welcome our baby due in a month

When I compare myself to the people in the thread "HHI,Networth and debt" I know I am very far, but given where we come from and our careers (NGO/public) I am very happy of the way we managed those 4 years

Anonymous wrote:We are having a second child, and I was panicked about child care for both, and thrilled to get into an average PreK3 public school. But we crunched the numbers and we can afford to keep 3 year old in his current preschool for another year and pay for #2 to also attend daycare. I'm thrilled that we've made it to a place where we have these kind of choices. (I grew up on food stamps - and this is a dream problem to have).

I would send him to PreK3 public school and put the money saved on a 529 for his/her college education. Seriously, I would love to have that kind of choice (in Takoma Park MD so no public preK for us). College is going to be soooooo expensive, even one more year of savings will make a difference

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just retired at 55 from the best job in the world, defined-pension paying me 100% of my final pay including COLA and lifetime medical & dental for wife and myself.

House almost paid off

$900,000. in savings and investments

All 3 kids put through college with no loans

Not a worry in the world assuming I stay healthy.

Wow. I want your former job! What did you do?

Almost embarrassed to say, retired Firefighter in CA with yearly retirement of over $100,000.

Don't be embarrassed. People who put their life on the line should be well compensated.

I have a baseball card that will finance a college education.

Anonymous wrote:I took a pay cut to move to a cheaper area and we love it so far. We bought a beautiful house with a mountain view that is 3 miles/10-15 minutes from my job for less than $200k and our mortgage is sub-$1k/month. We have so much more financial breathing room than we did in DC! Now I can fully pay my car off and I don't sweat the small stuff like grabbing lunch at work once or twice a week. In DC, I had to strictly bring my lunch every day, budget down to the penny and I was always stressed.

This is my dream.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just retired at 55 from the best job in the world, defined-pension paying me 100% of my final pay including COLA and lifetime medical & dental for wife and myself.

House almost paid off

$900,000. in savings and investments

All 3 kids put through college with no loans

Not a worry in the world assuming I stay healthy.

Wow. I want your former job! What did you do?

Almost embarrassed to say, retired Firefighter in CA with yearly retirement of over $100,000.

Another single mom here. Mom was an immigrant and we lived in subsidized housing. I'm first in family to have graduated from college and earn six figures. Bought my first home and am able to go on nice vacations abroad and out to dinner when we want. Can pay for camp, car, and still fund savings for college and retirement. Feels good to be able to treat my mom and provide for my son!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a trust fund that is difficult to hide at times since no one except DH knows. People think he does really well. Or that someone, somewhere is buying my art. Lol. They probably also pity me "what will she do if he leaves her" but I make more in interest that his salary is. And I don't even use all the interest money and it goes back into the pot.

I think I know who you are. And nobody thinks your husband is earning a lot. We all know that you both are living off the trust fund, and we all know that he will never leave you.

I don't live anywhere near DC so the odds of you knowing me are extremely low. But nice try!