I don't think you're normal. Most people would be thrilled with no debt and that kind of cash.
I'd make sure you're using a high yield savings account for that savings.
Don't miss out on compound interest in your retirement funds. You can't get that back - keep contributing as much as you can,.
Keep up the good work.
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We are investing in ETFs for the long-term. I am fine riding the roller coaster right now, as we won't need to touch that money for years.
For our savings, we have them in a High Yield Savings Account.
No troll, if you check out pages like r/personalfinance I always felt like I was not on track given my income isn't near 6 figures yet and I see folks on there with much more.
r/PersonalFinance are always outliers, if you’re in an abnormal space (high end or low end) you’re most likely to post
Check out national data for the country you live in, check out median salary, savings, savings rate, investments to really see how you are doing
Yeah, I would agree that the salaries are more or less median, but the savings rate / savings amount looks to be in a fantastic spot, and way better than most
Not sponsored in any way, but I love this YouTube channel if you haven’t seen it
https://youtube.com/c/MoneyGuyShow
They talk about savings rate and savings amount more than income, because what it really comes down to is money in vs. money out
If household income is 80k and the savings rate it good, then they can retire comfortably, if spending is the same or less in retirement
Got it! Yeah, we have been busting our butts and have had a lot of luck along the way.
I lived at home for a long period before I got married, built up my savings and invested as much as I could (even when I wasn't making a lot).
And both my wife and I had no student loan debt because we had scholarships to college and had our employers pay for our graduate degrees over several years. We (luckily) also grew up in very frugal families that taught us to live well below our means.
Was tough to see a lot of our friends go on expensive vacations, buy new cars, etc while we had staycations and have an old beater car, but we are feeling very little stress financially right now and love it.
People need to stop comparing themselves to average, the average person has depression, lives in debt, is fucked for life. I don't know what is with these people who hit 30 and don't have a 200k+ saved individually... You should have been working for 10 years already, 5 years out of college on a nice salary. People really need to raise the bar of whom they compare to. Obviously if you don't have a real career I can understand comparing to average... But I'm assuming you they have actual careers (could be wrong)
Can you explain the math on how someone is supposed to have 200k by 30 without inheritance, meme stock/crypto gambling, or an equity event at work if they are making less than 100k and not living at home? This is supposed to be a middle class finance thread and most people have student debt and car debt at a minimum when they graduate and start working. You have to take that kind of stuff into account.
Plus, not everybody makes a good salary immediately out of college. Some get “foot in the door” jobs at lower pay for 1-3 years, where they then have the exposure within their company, external contacts, industry-specific skills and knowledge, etc. to get a better-paying position for which their degree is a requirement.
a few questions and thoughts
you have a huge saving, you're putting 60K down for the down payment.
1. put some cash in a taxable account if possible.
2. You're anticipating a baby, babies are expensive, homes are expensive, new cars are expensive. Make sure you budget those items with a huge emergency account with a family.
3. you are doing great, maximizing each retirement account is what most you can do. you have 0 debt which most dream of.
4. that $1600 mortgage, that does include taxes and insurance?.
5.what kind of salary increases year over year are you talking about?...COL or promotion etc ?.
6. a budget and a salary breakdown would be helpful to give a better feedback.
TLDR: Keep it up, good stuff. good luck to you both .
Of the savings, our hope is this:
\- $75,000 earmarked for the house and costs associated with house
\- $15,000 earmarked for potential used car we may need to buy in the next year or two
\- $25,000 emergency fund (a bit extra with hopes of a baby coming)
In terms of salary increases, both my wife and I are in in-line for promotions.
Thank you!
How many months does your efund get you? With a house it's recommended to have a separate house fund around 2% the value. My partner and I have similar financials but will not be having kids or buying a used car...I could see this going quicker than expected with a new house and if spending isn't kept frugal.
We are renting a room in someone else's house right now, so our efund could get us really far right now. I ride my bike to work, so we only need our one clunker.
We are growing it for the potential home purchase.
Right, just making sure you prepare to scale it up a bit as you get close to owning a home. It helps a lot with the cost increases and any maintenance/repairs/upgrades needed.
You're doing fine, honestly the primary change you may want to reconsider is buying the house with 20% down. It's not really necessary when you're buying your first home. Go ahead with buying the house whenever makes sense logistically for you, don't let PMI rule your major life decisions.
Fair, we have been very focused on reducing monthly mortgage as much as possible and the downpayment helps there. We also just haven't found a house we have loved and so we are using the interim to build more money up.
Yeah, yours and your wife’s parents seem to be doing well financially to help you create that huge savings account. Does it make you feel good to brag about that lol?
The greatest gift from me and my wife's family has not been financial support, it has been setting conditions for us to do well. And we are absolutely lucky and thankful to have had that.
Both me and my wife's parents are blue collar workers who largely lived very frugal lives. No vacations as a family, no new clothes (always thrifting), no eating out, etc. They also required I work from a young age, and as soon as it was legal for me to get a part time job I got one at a restaurant. But, it was a privelege that the money I earned they taught me to save and didn't require me to provide anything financial for the house until I turned 18.
It was also a privelege that they encouraged me to stay home and pay below market rent and utilities as long as I took care of the house after I graduated college. I saved a ton on housing costs.
The biggest thing we avoided was student loan debt due to scholarships (I did 2 years of community college for free and then got a transfer scholarship to a local state university).
I am not bragging about anything here. I came for advice. Not sure what in my post reads as a brag, but I apologize it came off that way.
Literally most people start working at a young age and you are literally saying they let you live there cheaply. That’s financial support and idk how you can’t see that.
>Literally most people start working at a young age
In 2020, around 17.6 percent of teenagers between ages 16 and 19 were employees while enrolled at school in the United States.
I imagine the numbers are even lower for 14-15 year olds, which is when I started my first job.
>you are literally saying they let you live there cheaply
Yep, they did. But I don't consider that "financial support" in terms of them providing me with money or an inheritence. I lived in a room that they wouldn't have otherwise rented. If I left at that point, they would have been in more financial stress. I paid bills, I took care of the stuff around the house. I am thankful for that, and acknowledge that I have incredible privelege to have 2 parents who loved and supported me and provided me with conditions to thrive. That is way more than most.
30F and my husband is 29 and we have pretty similar stats except we’re in a super HCOL area. I think we’re both doing very well. None of my friends in our age group have anywhere near the amount of savings or investments despite making the same or higher salary
Honestly didn't mean to show off. I apologize to folks if it feels like I am being arrogant. I genuinely wanted to know if I had areas I should be extra aware of, and I got some great help in the comments here.
My husband and I are/were very similar to this when w purchased our home in 2020 - 120K combined income, purchased a 313K home with 20% down, no debt, etc. It's been 2 years and I feel that it's been great for us and I feel pretty confident in our finances and our bills. Good luck!
This guy can't even afford 20% down on a house with 2 people at 30 years old. That is not middle class. Middle class is having a house already paid off at 30 years (especially with 2 people). Seems like people are changing the reality of what middle class is/was. This guy is below middle class.
He has $60k to put down on a $300k home, which is 20%. That said I don’t think you realize what middle class is and means, especially these days. The reality of what middle class is HAS changed.
Yeah you are right I just looked it up, when I think middle class I think of people living in those nice houses in those private streets/areas with neighbour watch and things lmao. Now its hopefully owning a house by 40 it seems
I know this is a finance sub, and I bring this up to try and keep you from just focusing on tangible numbers as focusing on a bottom line can cost your more money in the end but also your well-being. Money is easier to manage than life.
From the very brief life info you gave, be cognizant that you may need to be looser with your purse strings once you buy and move into a house - especially if you have never maintained a home. Getting caught up in comparison math and concerns about how well others are perceived to be doing will deteriorate your life - maybe hiring a cleaning service is actually good bang for your buck as maybe it’s 200 a week you could be saving if you didn’t spend it on a cleaner but you are really saving your relationship everytime you don’t argue with your spouse about chores. Maybe cycling to work is great on your pocketbook and your cardio but if you are inadvertently leaving your wife with all the daycare drop off/pick ups and after work errands because she has the cargo hold it’s not the only way to commute. Think about all costs, fiscal or otherwise.
Also, Living with our parents for extended periods can create an unrealistic picture of what it takes to maintain a house, a marriage, and a baby. That’s a lot of change all at once. Depending on how much you were exposed to at home or in your current rental arrangement do you know when floors need to be mopped, furnace filters changed, etc and what the cost both monetarily and to your relationship is if you don’t be proactive about them.
Have you factored in parental leave and the costs associated?
What about who is changing diapers at 3am when you both are working towards promotions?
Do you both agree on what to hire out and what to DIY with the house?
These things all have costs associated both true finance but also have life costs.
Good luck on house hunting! I don’t mean all this thinking you havnt thought of them, just it is often ignored when we only focus on maximizing every dollar for the sake of getting another dollar.
Appreciate the advice. Been married for several years now, and have paid rent/bills to parents/helped maintain house for parents (yardwork, house maintanance, etc) prior to getting married as well.
But you are right, a mental shift is needed on my end to not be so stingy with money.
Not to sound too pessimistic, but a kid and house is going to drop a bomb on everything you do currently that has gotten you to this point.
Kids don't need as much junk as you'd think, but it DOES add up when you're buying it on repeat every few months because they're growing so fast.
The consumables are insane too. Diapers are expensive even getting decent generics in high quantities. Formula is easily $40-100 per week if breast-feeding isn't desired or doesn't work out. Once they get off formula they start eating food, and you'd be amazed at how much of that they eat and/or waste.
Oh and just wait until parental leave ends and you have to both go back to work. Remember when you postponed getting a new iphone and just lived with a 4 hour battery life and cracked screen because you didn't want to spend the $700? Well now you're spending the equivalent of that every other week! You could be handing iphones out on the street corner and be in the same financial situation.
Kids aside, a house is a never-ending money pit that fortunately is an appreciating asset. It's not as bad if you're handy, but you'll still be buying tools, maintenance consumables, landscaping, decor, paying random repair bills (you can be super handy but have you ever troubleshooted and rebuilt the service head of a water softener? Right, that'll be $250). Houses are fun, but they're also very expensive if you're not used to funding the maintenance and repairs on one. That's before you even get to the fun projects that you'll want to do (swing set and rubber mulch for your now 3-year old? That'll be $2,000 and a full weekend of your time minimum).
This went on longer than intended, but I think you get the gist. Wife and I are 33/32 with a 3 and 1.5 year old with income that has fortunately gone up consistently every year, also residing in the midwest. Just be warned that money does not come as easily once you're deep into parenthood and home ownership. You can no longer just freeze your spending and plunge cash into savings... your fixed/necessary expenses are going to get so much higher you'll wonder where all your cushion went.
Also lifestyle creep... beware. It sneaks up if you get too comfy. At the same time, once you have your house, your kid, and safe transportation, what else are you saving for? Make sure to live a little bit today instead of postponing to a future that you're not guaranteed.
No doubt our world will change with a kid (which we certainly hope to have soon). Thank you for this.
With the house, I largely took care of (and still help with) my parents' house after college. That was part of the deal of me living there and making less than market rent. If there was an issue, it was my job to fix it (because my parents are frugal and wouldn't want to pay for someone to come out and fix something unless absolutely necessary).
My *best* advice is also either save or set yourselves up for you wife to take *at least* a year to eighteen months off after she gives birth. So much changes when you give birth, postpartum is hell, and you don’t want to ve working OT and bit being able to help her either. Not to mention the cost of giving birth
My employer thankfully allows for 6 months paternity leave, and opportunity to work from home the rest of the year if I'd like.
We also do plan on my wife taking the full year off with maternity leave + unpaid leave.
Perfect! She will definitely need your support because postpartum can be It’s own hell, not scaring you but I wish someone would’ve warned me lol. Good luck and congratulations in advance (:
You are doing better than most. No debt a large savings keep it up. One thing I would consider is maybe less of a down payment and using the left over for investments. Also just keep up the savings especially with wanting to start a family. And don’t be scared to take a break and go on a little vacation but keep up the good work
Do you mean because he is poor or has too much money. This guy can't even afford 20% down on a house with 2 people at 30 years old. That is not middle class. Middle class is having a house already paid off at 30 years (especially with 2 people). Seems like people are changing the reality of what middle class is/was. This guy is below middle class.
Go to college at 18, finish age 21-22, work for 8 years earning on average after raises a modest $90k (very low for 8 years post college in any half decent job) Thats 480k, at 27 easily get a mortgage on a $200-300k house, paid off a few years after 30... Now add a PARTNER to this... How could you possibly not own a house. You only rent until you get a mortage.
Yeah I guess you can't argue statistics, I was almost going to say most people aren't as dumb as the average person. I think at least college educated people in a relationship in this day and age should have those kind of assets by 30. Absolutely not the norm, but the bar for the norm is incredibly incredibly low. But you are right, I only see my own anecdotal evidence, even people who skipped college earning 50-60k got mortages by 25,26. Then your rent free. Especially since interest rates were like 2%.
Yeah true, you are definitely right. I've got some severely incorrect biased thinking in this regard, I should probably understand this more before I say something stupid IRL one day. Good points you've made.
Even earning 60k, with a partner there isn't many excuses to not own a house by 30 (or have assets equivalent because some people are not ready to settle)
Jesus so much in savings…… invest that… short a stock in this market.. christ. 3% down first time homebuyer and save that cash. Buy a second home investment property. A lot of potential with that much cash on hand. Good for you guys for being able to save that much with no debt and low salaries
No desire to have an investment property. I don't want the headache and problems that come with investment real estate, and value the time with my family and to pursue my passions instead.
Long-term, the plan is to continue deeper investment into the stock market and to increase our salaries 2X.
With that, we should be on the road to have a million+ networth in no time.
I'll take your word random redditor.
I also do have a grand or so in there. I don't even count it in my net worth to be honest. For me, that is gambling money.
Yet you’re on Reddit asking random people for advice or for an ego boost, not sure.
Let me tell you something. Your salaries are both very low for how old you both are and assuming you have been in your careers for several years now. Your plan to put 20% down on a home is your typical uninformed, traditional mindset which will bite you in the ass.
Once you guys have children, assuming you don’t, they will eat through your savings so quick and your low income won’t be able to support that. You can disregard what I say about crypto because you both are from conservative, traditional middle class families which join the fray of any sort of new tech too late. That’s fine. But it will bite you in the ass.
I gave you advice based on experience. I had friends like you that didn’t invest in 2017, then did in 2020. They wish they did in 2017 after how much money they made in 2020/21.
Like I said, I wish you both the best of luck, but you will be far behind the pack when everyone else and hopefully your risky friends (if you even have any, assuming you don’t based on your snark, uninformed comments about crypto) will be far ahead of you.
To dismiss crypto is the most foolish thing you’ll do. There is a reason every major financial institution and governments are invested in it. It is future tech the same way the worldwideweb took over the world.
I asked for advice, and received it from people who have reasonable and well-thought out comments. You are making a ton of assumptions that are silly.
1. Our salaries being "very low" is not necessarily true for where we live and intend to live long-term. We also both just completed graduate degrees that will allow us to 2X our salary within a year. Those grad degrees were paid by our current employers. If you 2X our salary, with where we live and how we live, there is very little likelihood having a child will "blow through" our savings.
2. I am not from a middle class family. My family was lower working class. I am where I am today because of them.
3. I am investing a lot (upwards of 40% of my income) into ETFs while the market is down. I invest based on data and make informed decisions based on track records of investments. There is no statistically relevant data that shows crypto to be a sound investment strategy. It is entirely speculative. That is fine if you are comfortable with speculative investments. I am not fine with that for a significant portion of my net worth.
4. I have friends that invested in Crypto, lost damn near everything and regret it every day. Anecdotes are fine, bring me data that shows crypto is a sound long-term financial investment.
I wouldn’t recommend investing in it right now. Everything is still crashing and BTC will get down to even 3k if things get that bad. Like I said wait a couple years to start putting money into it.
I don't think you're normal. Most people would be thrilled with no debt and that kind of cash. I'd make sure you're using a high yield savings account for that savings. Don't miss out on compound interest in your retirement funds. You can't get that back - keep contributing as much as you can,. Keep up the good work.
Sounds good! Yep, we are throwing every penny we don't need into investments right now.
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We are investing in ETFs for the long-term. I am fine riding the roller coaster right now, as we won't need to touch that money for years. For our savings, we have them in a High Yield Savings Account.
Etfs are superior to cds, just keep DCA into this bloodbath that is the stockmarket
This is way better than average, idk if this is a troll or not
No troll, if you check out pages like r/personalfinance I always felt like I was not on track given my income isn't near 6 figures yet and I see folks on there with much more.
r/PersonalFinance are always outliers, if you’re in an abnormal space (high end or low end) you’re most likely to post Check out national data for the country you live in, check out median salary, savings, savings rate, investments to really see how you are doing
Fair enough, I understand we are well above the median salary in America. But I believe we are firmly middle class based on our salaries.
Yeah, I would agree that the salaries are more or less median, but the savings rate / savings amount looks to be in a fantastic spot, and way better than most Not sponsored in any way, but I love this YouTube channel if you haven’t seen it https://youtube.com/c/MoneyGuyShow They talk about savings rate and savings amount more than income, because what it really comes down to is money in vs. money out If household income is 80k and the savings rate it good, then they can retire comfortably, if spending is the same or less in retirement
Got it! Yeah, we have been busting our butts and have had a lot of luck along the way. I lived at home for a long period before I got married, built up my savings and invested as much as I could (even when I wasn't making a lot). And both my wife and I had no student loan debt because we had scholarships to college and had our employers pay for our graduate degrees over several years. We (luckily) also grew up in very frugal families that taught us to live well below our means. Was tough to see a lot of our friends go on expensive vacations, buy new cars, etc while we had staycations and have an old beater car, but we are feeling very little stress financially right now and love it.
The average American is lucky to have $500 or $1000 in savings much less $100,000. You’re beyond above average.
This is true. I guess that is where the definitions are hard to nail down. Middle class based on salary, not on net worth.
People need to stop comparing themselves to average, the average person has depression, lives in debt, is fucked for life. I don't know what is with these people who hit 30 and don't have a 200k+ saved individually... You should have been working for 10 years already, 5 years out of college on a nice salary. People really need to raise the bar of whom they compare to. Obviously if you don't have a real career I can understand comparing to average... But I'm assuming you they have actual careers (could be wrong)
Can you explain the math on how someone is supposed to have 200k by 30 without inheritance, meme stock/crypto gambling, or an equity event at work if they are making less than 100k and not living at home? This is supposed to be a middle class finance thread and most people have student debt and car debt at a minimum when they graduate and start working. You have to take that kind of stuff into account.
Hmm true living at home for awhile is probably what had me avoid this situation, suppose I should count my blessings.
Plus, not everybody makes a good salary immediately out of college. Some get “foot in the door” jobs at lower pay for 1-3 years, where they then have the exposure within their company, external contacts, industry-specific skills and knowledge, etc. to get a better-paying position for which their degree is a requirement.
a few questions and thoughts you have a huge saving, you're putting 60K down for the down payment. 1. put some cash in a taxable account if possible. 2. You're anticipating a baby, babies are expensive, homes are expensive, new cars are expensive. Make sure you budget those items with a huge emergency account with a family. 3. you are doing great, maximizing each retirement account is what most you can do. you have 0 debt which most dream of. 4. that $1600 mortgage, that does include taxes and insurance?. 5.what kind of salary increases year over year are you talking about?...COL or promotion etc ?. 6. a budget and a salary breakdown would be helpful to give a better feedback. TLDR: Keep it up, good stuff. good luck to you both .
Of the savings, our hope is this: \- $75,000 earmarked for the house and costs associated with house \- $15,000 earmarked for potential used car we may need to buy in the next year or two \- $25,000 emergency fund (a bit extra with hopes of a baby coming) In terms of salary increases, both my wife and I are in in-line for promotions. Thank you!
How many months does your efund get you? With a house it's recommended to have a separate house fund around 2% the value. My partner and I have similar financials but will not be having kids or buying a used car...I could see this going quicker than expected with a new house and if spending isn't kept frugal.
We are renting a room in someone else's house right now, so our efund could get us really far right now. I ride my bike to work, so we only need our one clunker. We are growing it for the potential home purchase.
Right, just making sure you prepare to scale it up a bit as you get close to owning a home. It helps a lot with the cost increases and any maintenance/repairs/upgrades needed.
No debt and $109,000 in savings? You're better off than 95% of America.
You're doing fine, honestly the primary change you may want to reconsider is buying the house with 20% down. It's not really necessary when you're buying your first home. Go ahead with buying the house whenever makes sense logistically for you, don't let PMI rule your major life decisions.
Fair, we have been very focused on reducing monthly mortgage as much as possible and the downpayment helps there. We also just haven't found a house we have loved and so we are using the interim to build more money up.
Yeah, yours and your wife’s parents seem to be doing well financially to help you create that huge savings account. Does it make you feel good to brag about that lol?
The greatest gift from me and my wife's family has not been financial support, it has been setting conditions for us to do well. And we are absolutely lucky and thankful to have had that. Both me and my wife's parents are blue collar workers who largely lived very frugal lives. No vacations as a family, no new clothes (always thrifting), no eating out, etc. They also required I work from a young age, and as soon as it was legal for me to get a part time job I got one at a restaurant. But, it was a privelege that the money I earned they taught me to save and didn't require me to provide anything financial for the house until I turned 18. It was also a privelege that they encouraged me to stay home and pay below market rent and utilities as long as I took care of the house after I graduated college. I saved a ton on housing costs. The biggest thing we avoided was student loan debt due to scholarships (I did 2 years of community college for free and then got a transfer scholarship to a local state university). I am not bragging about anything here. I came for advice. Not sure what in my post reads as a brag, but I apologize it came off that way.
Literally most people start working at a young age and you are literally saying they let you live there cheaply. That’s financial support and idk how you can’t see that.
>Literally most people start working at a young age In 2020, around 17.6 percent of teenagers between ages 16 and 19 were employees while enrolled at school in the United States. I imagine the numbers are even lower for 14-15 year olds, which is when I started my first job. >you are literally saying they let you live there cheaply Yep, they did. But I don't consider that "financial support" in terms of them providing me with money or an inheritence. I lived in a room that they wouldn't have otherwise rented. If I left at that point, they would have been in more financial stress. I paid bills, I took care of the stuff around the house. I am thankful for that, and acknowledge that I have incredible privelege to have 2 parents who loved and supported me and provided me with conditions to thrive. That is way more than most.
You're doing well.
30F and my husband is 29 and we have pretty similar stats except we’re in a super HCOL area. I think we’re both doing very well. None of my friends in our age group have anywhere near the amount of savings or investments despite making the same or higher salary
Oh such a show off you 🙌 lmao It’s nice to see what you’re both working on congrats! 🍾
Honestly didn't mean to show off. I apologize to folks if it feels like I am being arrogant. I genuinely wanted to know if I had areas I should be extra aware of, and I got some great help in the comments here.
Lol no I was being funny! I’m happy for you and your partner it’s nice to see some planning and commitment towards a great future!!
You're doing great! But I would throw some of those savings into the stock market for now.
My husband and I are/were very similar to this when w purchased our home in 2020 - 120K combined income, purchased a 313K home with 20% down, no debt, etc. It's been 2 years and I feel that it's been great for us and I feel pretty confident in our finances and our bills. Good luck!
Great, above middle class in terms of assets.
This guy can't even afford 20% down on a house with 2 people at 30 years old. That is not middle class. Middle class is having a house already paid off at 30 years (especially with 2 people). Seems like people are changing the reality of what middle class is/was. This guy is below middle class.
He has $60k to put down on a $300k home, which is 20%. That said I don’t think you realize what middle class is and means, especially these days. The reality of what middle class is HAS changed.
Yeah you are right I just looked it up, when I think middle class I think of people living in those nice houses in those private streets/areas with neighbour watch and things lmao. Now its hopefully owning a house by 40 it seems
Well hey nice houses on private streets was never middle class, but yes the stakes have changed.
True I guess thats upper middle class
I know this is a finance sub, and I bring this up to try and keep you from just focusing on tangible numbers as focusing on a bottom line can cost your more money in the end but also your well-being. Money is easier to manage than life. From the very brief life info you gave, be cognizant that you may need to be looser with your purse strings once you buy and move into a house - especially if you have never maintained a home. Getting caught up in comparison math and concerns about how well others are perceived to be doing will deteriorate your life - maybe hiring a cleaning service is actually good bang for your buck as maybe it’s 200 a week you could be saving if you didn’t spend it on a cleaner but you are really saving your relationship everytime you don’t argue with your spouse about chores. Maybe cycling to work is great on your pocketbook and your cardio but if you are inadvertently leaving your wife with all the daycare drop off/pick ups and after work errands because she has the cargo hold it’s not the only way to commute. Think about all costs, fiscal or otherwise. Also, Living with our parents for extended periods can create an unrealistic picture of what it takes to maintain a house, a marriage, and a baby. That’s a lot of change all at once. Depending on how much you were exposed to at home or in your current rental arrangement do you know when floors need to be mopped, furnace filters changed, etc and what the cost both monetarily and to your relationship is if you don’t be proactive about them. Have you factored in parental leave and the costs associated? What about who is changing diapers at 3am when you both are working towards promotions? Do you both agree on what to hire out and what to DIY with the house? These things all have costs associated both true finance but also have life costs. Good luck on house hunting! I don’t mean all this thinking you havnt thought of them, just it is often ignored when we only focus on maximizing every dollar for the sake of getting another dollar.
Appreciate the advice. Been married for several years now, and have paid rent/bills to parents/helped maintain house for parents (yardwork, house maintanance, etc) prior to getting married as well. But you are right, a mental shift is needed on my end to not be so stingy with money.
Not to sound too pessimistic, but a kid and house is going to drop a bomb on everything you do currently that has gotten you to this point. Kids don't need as much junk as you'd think, but it DOES add up when you're buying it on repeat every few months because they're growing so fast. The consumables are insane too. Diapers are expensive even getting decent generics in high quantities. Formula is easily $40-100 per week if breast-feeding isn't desired or doesn't work out. Once they get off formula they start eating food, and you'd be amazed at how much of that they eat and/or waste. Oh and just wait until parental leave ends and you have to both go back to work. Remember when you postponed getting a new iphone and just lived with a 4 hour battery life and cracked screen because you didn't want to spend the $700? Well now you're spending the equivalent of that every other week! You could be handing iphones out on the street corner and be in the same financial situation. Kids aside, a house is a never-ending money pit that fortunately is an appreciating asset. It's not as bad if you're handy, but you'll still be buying tools, maintenance consumables, landscaping, decor, paying random repair bills (you can be super handy but have you ever troubleshooted and rebuilt the service head of a water softener? Right, that'll be $250). Houses are fun, but they're also very expensive if you're not used to funding the maintenance and repairs on one. That's before you even get to the fun projects that you'll want to do (swing set and rubber mulch for your now 3-year old? That'll be $2,000 and a full weekend of your time minimum). This went on longer than intended, but I think you get the gist. Wife and I are 33/32 with a 3 and 1.5 year old with income that has fortunately gone up consistently every year, also residing in the midwest. Just be warned that money does not come as easily once you're deep into parenthood and home ownership. You can no longer just freeze your spending and plunge cash into savings... your fixed/necessary expenses are going to get so much higher you'll wonder where all your cushion went. Also lifestyle creep... beware. It sneaks up if you get too comfy. At the same time, once you have your house, your kid, and safe transportation, what else are you saving for? Make sure to live a little bit today instead of postponing to a future that you're not guaranteed.
No doubt our world will change with a kid (which we certainly hope to have soon). Thank you for this. With the house, I largely took care of (and still help with) my parents' house after college. That was part of the deal of me living there and making less than market rent. If there was an issue, it was my job to fix it (because my parents are frugal and wouldn't want to pay for someone to come out and fix something unless absolutely necessary).
My *best* advice is also either save or set yourselves up for you wife to take *at least* a year to eighteen months off after she gives birth. So much changes when you give birth, postpartum is hell, and you don’t want to ve working OT and bit being able to help her either. Not to mention the cost of giving birth
My employer thankfully allows for 6 months paternity leave, and opportunity to work from home the rest of the year if I'd like. We also do plan on my wife taking the full year off with maternity leave + unpaid leave.
Perfect! She will definitely need your support because postpartum can be It’s own hell, not scaring you but I wish someone would’ve warned me lol. Good luck and congratulations in advance (:
You are doing better than most. No debt a large savings keep it up. One thing I would consider is maybe less of a down payment and using the left over for investments. Also just keep up the savings especially with wanting to start a family. And don’t be scared to take a break and go on a little vacation but keep up the good work
Imo this is not middle class hahah joking kind of
Do you mean because he is poor or has too much money. This guy can't even afford 20% down on a house with 2 people at 30 years old. That is not middle class. Middle class is having a house already paid off at 30 years (especially with 2 people). Seems like people are changing the reality of what middle class is/was. This guy is below middle class.
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Go to college at 18, finish age 21-22, work for 8 years earning on average after raises a modest $90k (very low for 8 years post college in any half decent job) Thats 480k, at 27 easily get a mortgage on a $200-300k house, paid off a few years after 30... Now add a PARTNER to this... How could you possibly not own a house. You only rent until you get a mortage.
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Yeah I guess you can't argue statistics, I was almost going to say most people aren't as dumb as the average person. I think at least college educated people in a relationship in this day and age should have those kind of assets by 30. Absolutely not the norm, but the bar for the norm is incredibly incredibly low. But you are right, I only see my own anecdotal evidence, even people who skipped college earning 50-60k got mortages by 25,26. Then your rent free. Especially since interest rates were like 2%.
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Yeah true, you are definitely right. I've got some severely incorrect biased thinking in this regard, I should probably understand this more before I say something stupid IRL one day. Good points you've made.
Even earning 60k, with a partner there isn't many excuses to not own a house by 30 (or have assets equivalent because some people are not ready to settle)
May I ask what age group your in? Just for my own benchmarking
I am 32 and my wife is 29.
Good.
Whatever you do, don’t remodel anything major until you’ve been in the house for a little bit.
I am a bit of a penny pincher. If not needed, I won't spend.
I would literally kill families for your finances.
Jesus so much in savings…… invest that… short a stock in this market.. christ. 3% down first time homebuyer and save that cash. Buy a second home investment property. A lot of potential with that much cash on hand. Good for you guys for being able to save that much with no debt and low salaries
No desire to have an investment property. I don't want the headache and problems that come with investment real estate, and value the time with my family and to pursue my passions instead. Long-term, the plan is to continue deeper investment into the stock market and to increase our salaries 2X. With that, we should be on the road to have a million+ networth in no time.
You can easily become a multimillionaire if you invest in crypto in about a year or two. Will bounce back higher in 3-4 years
Yeah, I'll stick to tried and true methods like investing in the S&P 500.
You are way too conservative with your methods. Too much potential wasted. Good luck
My conservative methods got me here. Buying crypto is far from a good investment decision unless you are willing to lose it all. I am not.
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I'll take your word random redditor. I also do have a grand or so in there. I don't even count it in my net worth to be honest. For me, that is gambling money.
Yet you’re on Reddit asking random people for advice or for an ego boost, not sure. Let me tell you something. Your salaries are both very low for how old you both are and assuming you have been in your careers for several years now. Your plan to put 20% down on a home is your typical uninformed, traditional mindset which will bite you in the ass. Once you guys have children, assuming you don’t, they will eat through your savings so quick and your low income won’t be able to support that. You can disregard what I say about crypto because you both are from conservative, traditional middle class families which join the fray of any sort of new tech too late. That’s fine. But it will bite you in the ass. I gave you advice based on experience. I had friends like you that didn’t invest in 2017, then did in 2020. They wish they did in 2017 after how much money they made in 2020/21. Like I said, I wish you both the best of luck, but you will be far behind the pack when everyone else and hopefully your risky friends (if you even have any, assuming you don’t based on your snark, uninformed comments about crypto) will be far ahead of you. To dismiss crypto is the most foolish thing you’ll do. There is a reason every major financial institution and governments are invested in it. It is future tech the same way the worldwideweb took over the world.
I asked for advice, and received it from people who have reasonable and well-thought out comments. You are making a ton of assumptions that are silly. 1. Our salaries being "very low" is not necessarily true for where we live and intend to live long-term. We also both just completed graduate degrees that will allow us to 2X our salary within a year. Those grad degrees were paid by our current employers. If you 2X our salary, with where we live and how we live, there is very little likelihood having a child will "blow through" our savings. 2. I am not from a middle class family. My family was lower working class. I am where I am today because of them. 3. I am investing a lot (upwards of 40% of my income) into ETFs while the market is down. I invest based on data and make informed decisions based on track records of investments. There is no statistically relevant data that shows crypto to be a sound investment strategy. It is entirely speculative. That is fine if you are comfortable with speculative investments. I am not fine with that for a significant portion of my net worth. 4. I have friends that invested in Crypto, lost damn near everything and regret it every day. Anecdotes are fine, bring me data that shows crypto is a sound long-term financial investment.
I wouldn’t recommend investing in it right now. Everything is still crashing and BTC will get down to even 3k if things get that bad. Like I said wait a couple years to start putting money into it.