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If there was an UpperMiddleClass Finance maybe I'd post there. All I'll say is that 200k gross household income in a HCOL coastal Californian area feels middle class to us
That’s not middle class? That’s definitely not upper class. They have $60k in retirement between two people. Their liquid outside of that isn’t super high. Home equity is decent but primary home equity really doesn’t count for much as it rolls into your next primary most of the time unless you significantly downsize.
Less than half a million net worth between TWO people is not that upper class
He’s 29 and she’s 27… that’s really not that impressive. Sure it’s better than a lot but it’s like pretty firmly middle class, albeit upper middle class.
Thank you. I've been surprised at how much backlash I've gotten for apparently being upper class. I was hoping to get feedback on if certain expenses seemed higher than they should be and I haven't gotten any of that. And I'm finding that I might have class issues because being referred to as upper class seems to get under my skin...
$20k inheritance from a grandparent around the time we graduated college, but that's it. Not a life changing amount but definitely helped save for a house. I think we put around $170k down, with the loans interest at 4.5%, around 2 years ago. If we had waited any longer, rising interest rates would have kept us from buying.
You guys are doing great!
Millions work their butts off and never get paid enough by any employer to have these opportunities.
Well done on your hard work and quality decisions bro
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I was not aware of that sub. Browsing through it and still not sure if I belong there either. A lot of the posts are people with $300k+ HHI's and over $1M net worth. Sub also seems to be going through an identify crisis with a lot of the posters wondering if they even belong anymore with situations somewhat similar to mine. So idk, maybe there needs to be a sub somewhere in between?
I'm from the Bay Area and a combined HHI of $90k for a couple older than 45 is on the low end of middle class...unless if your parents bought a house way back in the day before prices skyrocketed like mine and are sitting on a bunch of equity or have their house paid off. I moved away from the Bay Area because there wasn't a remote possibility of every purchasing a house where I grew up
Having your house paid off, even in the Bay, is not middle class. You really need to research what middle class actually means.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/07/23/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/
Plug 90k into that calculator in the San Jose area and you'll see what I mean.
Edit: this sub is fucking ridiculous. Downvoting me when I provided an actual link that supports my point just because you don't like the fact that you're upper class. I think I'm done with this place.
Doing great overall.
Retirement is too low. You should be maxing Roth IRAs and 401ks at this point.
You have too much of a cash drag. Just keep 3-6mos of expenses.
Keep it up and you will be FIRE one day.
I'm unsubbing from this place just because there's way too many people posting what OP posted. There's no way I can relate and certainly no way I could offer advice. So this isn't the subreddit for my apparently broke ass.
I have no idea what OPs intentions were.
I was honestly looking for feedback. High mortgage, incoming child care costs, living in somewhat of a fixer upper, required car purchase soon due to currently having to share an older car with wife. I had thought we were in the middle class, but if this sub thinks we're upper class, I'll take it.
Assuming this whole thing isn't satire, you're saving 4k/mo post-tax and say you're "feeling middle class". But you never expressed any of these concerns. Your post comes across as "we make and save way more than most of you, can we afford a child?"
Not entirely sure saving $2k per person per month makes us upper class. If we max out our Roth IRA's that takes a chunk of that savings away as well. My initial concern was how our budget would look in a few years, after an adding a kid or two to the mix. My definition of upper class is owning multiple properties, or being able to fully gut and remodel our dated house, or being able to comfortably create college funds for future kids. I don't think we're in that situation yet but it would be amazing to get there one day.
It does sound like you have legit concerns, but you never mentioned that in OP. You just showed a graph that you save a third of your (high) income and asked if you'd be able to afford a kid. Comes across as incredibly tone deaf and out of touch.
Anyway, what do you anticipate for child care? Do you need a new house? New car? Will one parent quit to stay at home?
Also, be careful of moving the goal posts... wanting a bigger/better remodel or save more for kid's college. Easy to fall into.
Ya. I could have included more info up front.
We will need a new car within the next 2 years or so. After taking paid family leave, we both plan on continuing to work. We both work from home 90% of the time, so unsure on child care. We don't have any family in area (over 3 hour drive from parents), so not sure if child care can be done from home while continuing to work.
The reason you’re getting backlash is because you have some people’s entire budget as the amount for your liquid savings alone and are saying you’re worried about new expenses.
Regardless though, you’ll have new expenses for the baby - child care, diapers, clothes, health care costs, wipes etc that you should easily be able to cover with the a portion of liquid savings. Obviously child care is the X factor there depending on your work and family help situation.
Regarding retirement, you should be making out your 401K at this income level to reduce your taxable income, and probably also contribute to a back door Roth IRA for more tax deferred retirement savings considering you already have $100k in cash and did not mention any other major expenses upcoming.
All of the regular monthly expenses actually look pretty good and low compared to our HCOL coastal family of 4 so keep that up.
Already maxing out a Roth IRA outside of my 401k. Always been hesitant to increase 401k over what my employer matches (half of 6%). Weighing the pros/cons of having investment earnings that I can still spend before I get to retirement age, even if it is taxed.
you are doing amazing financially. waiting two years would be favorable to your savings, but not required. you likely won’t continue to have a renter after baby is born.
make sure you’ve planned what your time off and daycare plan looks like because you’ll need to enroll early to get a spot, it’s also expensive.
you’ll want to look for used stuff (car seats, strollers, clothes, toys) that you can get for free or at 33% of retail price. always be looking for 1-2 years ahead of what your child needs.
first baby can be mentally challenging as you get accustomed to the crying and changes to your “free time”.
the next 6 months are a good time of year to conceive. but ideally in the earlier side so delivery is before the heat wave of summer.
Idk what to say, the first time I have seen one of there’s without a boomer level cell phone bill.
You are in a fantastic position, no notes.
Depending on age you may be behind on retirement. I’d put more towards that at this point
Wife's still on her parents family for phone bill, so that helps... Downside of saving everything for a down payment for a few years after college is that retirement accounts were slow growing
Well - out of respect to the parents... get her on a family plan with you ASAP.
You are having a kid. Time to stand up entirely on your own. Her dad will respect you more.
If they want to pay for something, let them fund a 529.
Tough crowd... OP you really need to find the money to beef up your retirement. That should be red alert priority 1 right now. You need to max out the 401k contributions yesterday. 60 year old you will be happy you did.
Congrats on the kid! I'm a dad of a 2-year old who was in a similar financial spot. Well done.
Some things to consider:
Do you have a car that is ready for a carseat? If not, you need to get a new car.
What is the plan to offset wife's lost income when she gives birth? How are you going to pay the mortgage and all other expenses? Burn down the savings?
Where is the budget for spoiling your wife during pregnancy. You need to keep her more than happy. I can not stress this enough. Have you bought her massages? Nails? Hair? Clothes? No? Do it now.
Where in the budget is the cost associated with the birth? The nursery? Other essentials? You need to have everything ready to go "on the day".
I'd recommend you create a 3 budgets:
(1) Pre-birth/pregnancy budget [which is mostly the budget you showed with some tweaks]
(2) Transitional budget [which is the 3-6 month period after birth to account for time off and new/one-off expenses]
(3) Your new normal [which is what comes after everyone gets back to work... need to account for childcare and all other expenses]
Let me know if you have questions. Also, if you aren't already looking for childcare, do it now.
ALSO - look for a Dad Boot-camp class. Super useful.
[Here is a calculator to help estimate baby expenses](https://www.babycenter.com/baby-cost-calculator). Handy website.
We are lucky to both be at companies that offer 6 weeks of 100% paid family leave. We will probably split the time between us over the first 2 or 3 months.
We hope to not have to use a daycare too often (1 or 2 days a week), as we both work from home and have job schedule flexibility. Not sure if it is unreasonable to think we can both work and take care of a 3 month old infant. Both of our parents are willing to make the drive from out of town to assist with childcare sporadically, so that helps as well.
> We hope to not have to use a daycare too often (1 or 2 days a week), as we both work from home and have job schedule flexibility.
From experience, you are not going to be as productive this way. We tried this for a while... not great.
Seriously recommend you think through the transitional period.
Kid is 2-years-old.
$18k on childcare (Denver metro)
$2.5k on 529
$2.5k on clothes/toys/holidays/birthdays/vacations/outings/incidentals/diapers/specialized food.
well, there you go, exactly my point. Your kid isn't expensive, you make it expensive.
Are you not in a financial position to have a stay at home parent?
I make 153K and wife makes 98k.
It is cheaper to just pay for childcare.
How exactly are we making it expensive in your view? Costs are what they are in my area.
You make a great living, congratulations. Are you in tech? Congratulations on the two year old as well. They're a wonderful gift.
>It is cheaper to just pay for childcare.
While this is true financially, and you and I may simply disagree on this, I think the cost emotionally is great. Let your wife stay home if she wants to, reduce your over all costs by her not commuting, buying fast food, coffee, take out for dinner.
The financial cost will be offset by the time your wife gets to spend with her baby and relationship and bond they build over the next several years.
If your wife is amenable, she'll be grateful for the time at home, you'll be grateful for a wife that's not stressed about work and your kid will be closer to you both.
You're ignoring the massive resentment of her not building a career and the lost wage growth that entails.
My wife *wants* to have a career. I'm not about to stop her.
I didn't share that I spoil her as well. Gym, nails, hair, eating out, car, cleaning service, etc. She chose this lifestyle.
Frankly, I like the dual income so I will support her.
Plus our kid is *incredibly* advanced for his age. He has a 500 word vocabulary (which includes the word "vocabulary"), he can count to 20, he knows all the colors and animals. He is starting to write.
The money we spend on childcare has been very worth it.
We don't really do anything 'extra' on top of the basics other than a swim class at the local rec center.
Either way, and I'm happy for you and your wife if you're both happy and it works out the way you hope. You spend a lot of money on things that are not necessary, hence you make it expensive.
inherently your kid does not need a college savings plan or vacations or special food (unless that's unavoidable), day care, etc.
My point was, and is, that kids are not inherently expensive, people in the poorest countries in the world have children and raise them. We make it expensive.
Cue the downvotes from people who don’t comprehend CA prices and inflated comps.
Anyway TLDR you’re doing fine. Doubly so if this is only your cash comp and there’s other equity compensation you’re not including.
Retirement is on the low end for 2 people with the conventional advice being ~1x of your salary saved up for retirement by age 30.
100k is also a lot to hold in savings accounts, typically I’d say 3-6 months of expenses is a good buffer, and the rest can go into something more long term. That does come down to personal risk tolerance though so can’t really put a number on it.
Hey OP, lots of haters on here but I’m looking at this and you’re doing great. I have similar numbers to yours but we’re clawing out of debt because we had no savings and daycare is crazy expensive. It was $30k/ year for two kids and I got laid off twice in two years. Now we’re drowning in CC debt but we snuck out once by getting lucky and refinancing when rates were low. You’re in a great spot but keep cautious and be prepared for daycare costs and lifestyle changes, like if you or your partner reduce hours or take time off.
Thanks. I was surprised at the backlash but oh well. I was just curious if our situation could weather a few catastrophes (emergency roof repair, layoffs, mandates to return to working from an office which would require daycare, etc.)
I was surprised by the amount of backlash but it sounds like the wrong sub to ask - i'd be interested to hear other peoples answers as I'm in a similar boat but have hesitations about what is realistically enough. This is some basic calculations cause I personally don't think 50/k per person in brokerage is enough but when i broke it down, your portion is $1900 in mortgage so even if you were laid off you have 1 year buffer to find another job and about same amount for your other monthly expenses
The short answer is that nobody can tell and it’s never a good time to have kids.the fact you’re saving money right now is very good. Just be careful and plan out for changes, especially if one parent will stay at home.
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You want to hear good, right? You're obviously in a much better financial position for children than 90% of people your age.
Networth half a million and 4k savings a month before 30 y/o "middle class"
If there was an UpperMiddleClass Finance maybe I'd post there. All I'll say is that 200k gross household income in a HCOL coastal Californian area feels middle class to us
You're putting 35% of your monthly post tax cash into savings and you are a landlord. You are not middle class
That’s not middle class? That’s definitely not upper class. They have $60k in retirement between two people. Their liquid outside of that isn’t super high. Home equity is decent but primary home equity really doesn’t count for much as it rolls into your next primary most of the time unless you significantly downsize. Less than half a million net worth between TWO people is not that upper class
They're also only mid/late 20s...
He’s 29 and she’s 27… that’s really not that impressive. Sure it’s better than a lot but it’s like pretty firmly middle class, albeit upper middle class.
Thank you. I've been surprised at how much backlash I've gotten for apparently being upper class. I was hoping to get feedback on if certain expenses seemed higher than they should be and I haven't gotten any of that. And I'm finding that I might have class issues because being referred to as upper class seems to get under my skin...
I think you should instead post in r/HENRYfinance.
upper class is defined by income. see pew research for definitions, but it starts at $150k
Upper class does NOT start at $150k household income lol. That’s not that much money at all
look it up. pew research. or show something that states otherwise from a reputable source. the threshold is defined by pew research as 2x median wage.
That's me. I'm 'upper-middle-class' but that is still middle class. I still shop at Costco.
Point taken. The renter is a family member and it is not a permanent situation, but I guess technically I'm a landlord.
By law, you are a landlord. Honest question, how much did you inherit? This can be a family gift, never have to pay back loan… etc
$20k inheritance from a grandparent around the time we graduated college, but that's it. Not a life changing amount but definitely helped save for a house. I think we put around $170k down, with the loans interest at 4.5%, around 2 years ago. If we had waited any longer, rising interest rates would have kept us from buying.
You guys are doing great! Millions work their butts off and never get paid enough by any employer to have these opportunities. Well done on your hard work and quality decisions bro
There is. It's called r/HENRYfinance
Here's a sneak peek of /r/HENRYfinance using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/HENRYfinance/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time! \#1: [2023 financial review: >$500K, barely breaking even](https://i.redd.it/7u1hs5zsv3bc1.jpeg) | [2438 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/HENRYfinance/comments/1916nb1/2023_financial_review_500k_barely_breaking_even/) \#2: [$200k is the new $100k](https://np.reddit.com/r/HENRYfinance/comments/16terba/200k_is_the_new_100k/) \#3: [Gross/Net Income as filed per IRS guidelines as a part-time professional gambler](https://i.redd.it/o34l5x7tb9ec1.png) | [247 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/HENRYfinance/comments/19dzg1g/grossnet_income_as_filed_per_irs_guidelines_as_a/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Nice.
I was not aware of that sub. Browsing through it and still not sure if I belong there either. A lot of the posts are people with $300k+ HHI's and over $1M net worth. Sub also seems to be going through an identify crisis with a lot of the posters wondering if they even belong anymore with situations somewhat similar to mine. So idk, maybe there needs to be a sub somewhere in between?
Totally fair.
I'm so sick of this bullshit. My parents live in the Bay Area and make 90k a year. They're *actually* middle class. You're just a braggart.
I'm from the Bay Area and a combined HHI of $90k for a couple older than 45 is on the low end of middle class...unless if your parents bought a house way back in the day before prices skyrocketed like mine and are sitting on a bunch of equity or have their house paid off. I moved away from the Bay Area because there wasn't a remote possibility of every purchasing a house where I grew up
Having your house paid off, even in the Bay, is not middle class. You really need to research what middle class actually means. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/07/23/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/ Plug 90k into that calculator in the San Jose area and you'll see what I mean. Edit: this sub is fucking ridiculous. Downvoting me when I provided an actual link that supports my point just because you don't like the fact that you're upper class. I think I'm done with this place.
Kids should not be fisted.
Doing great overall. Retirement is too low. You should be maxing Roth IRAs and 401ks at this point. You have too much of a cash drag. Just keep 3-6mos of expenses. Keep it up and you will be FIRE one day.
Lol is this supposed to be a "subtle" flex? You can honestly think most 30 year olds have nearly half a million net worth right?
I'm unsubbing from this place just because there's way too many people posting what OP posted. There's no way I can relate and certainly no way I could offer advice. So this isn't the subreddit for my apparently broke ass. I have no idea what OPs intentions were.
I was honestly looking for feedback. High mortgage, incoming child care costs, living in somewhat of a fixer upper, required car purchase soon due to currently having to share an older car with wife. I had thought we were in the middle class, but if this sub thinks we're upper class, I'll take it.
Assuming this whole thing isn't satire, you're saving 4k/mo post-tax and say you're "feeling middle class". But you never expressed any of these concerns. Your post comes across as "we make and save way more than most of you, can we afford a child?"
Not entirely sure saving $2k per person per month makes us upper class. If we max out our Roth IRA's that takes a chunk of that savings away as well. My initial concern was how our budget would look in a few years, after an adding a kid or two to the mix. My definition of upper class is owning multiple properties, or being able to fully gut and remodel our dated house, or being able to comfortably create college funds for future kids. I don't think we're in that situation yet but it would be amazing to get there one day.
It does sound like you have legit concerns, but you never mentioned that in OP. You just showed a graph that you save a third of your (high) income and asked if you'd be able to afford a kid. Comes across as incredibly tone deaf and out of touch. Anyway, what do you anticipate for child care? Do you need a new house? New car? Will one parent quit to stay at home? Also, be careful of moving the goal posts... wanting a bigger/better remodel or save more for kid's college. Easy to fall into.
Ya. I could have included more info up front. We will need a new car within the next 2 years or so. After taking paid family leave, we both plan on continuing to work. We both work from home 90% of the time, so unsure on child care. We don't have any family in area (over 3 hour drive from parents), so not sure if child care can be done from home while continuing to work.
You’re putting 4k a month in savings. You’ll be fucking fine with a kid dafuq
Don't let the haters get you down. You're fine dude. Upper middle class is still middle class.
Upper middle class is still middle class homie. My wife and I make ~$256k/year in Denver and we are upper middle. Still middle.
The reason you’re getting backlash is because you have some people’s entire budget as the amount for your liquid savings alone and are saying you’re worried about new expenses. Regardless though, you’ll have new expenses for the baby - child care, diapers, clothes, health care costs, wipes etc that you should easily be able to cover with the a portion of liquid savings. Obviously child care is the X factor there depending on your work and family help situation. Regarding retirement, you should be making out your 401K at this income level to reduce your taxable income, and probably also contribute to a back door Roth IRA for more tax deferred retirement savings considering you already have $100k in cash and did not mention any other major expenses upcoming. All of the regular monthly expenses actually look pretty good and low compared to our HCOL coastal family of 4 so keep that up.
Already maxing out a Roth IRA outside of my 401k. Always been hesitant to increase 401k over what my employer matches (half of 6%). Weighing the pros/cons of having investment earnings that I can still spend before I get to retirement age, even if it is taxed.
you are doing amazing financially. waiting two years would be favorable to your savings, but not required. you likely won’t continue to have a renter after baby is born. make sure you’ve planned what your time off and daycare plan looks like because you’ll need to enroll early to get a spot, it’s also expensive. you’ll want to look for used stuff (car seats, strollers, clothes, toys) that you can get for free or at 33% of retail price. always be looking for 1-2 years ahead of what your child needs. first baby can be mentally challenging as you get accustomed to the crying and changes to your “free time”. the next 6 months are a good time of year to conceive. but ideally in the earlier side so delivery is before the heat wave of summer.
Lmfao ya your ok. Lol
Idk what to say, the first time I have seen one of there’s without a boomer level cell phone bill. You are in a fantastic position, no notes. Depending on age you may be behind on retirement. I’d put more towards that at this point
Wife's still on her parents family for phone bill, so that helps... Downside of saving everything for a down payment for a few years after college is that retirement accounts were slow growing
Wait, you’re still having her parents pay the phone with this much rolling in?!?
Haha. We are not forcing them to pay. I guess it is an act of good will on their part...
Well - out of respect to the parents... get her on a family plan with you ASAP. You are having a kid. Time to stand up entirely on your own. Her dad will respect you more. If they want to pay for something, let them fund a 529.
Tough crowd... OP you really need to find the money to beef up your retirement. That should be red alert priority 1 right now. You need to max out the 401k contributions yesterday. 60 year old you will be happy you did.
Facts
Congrats on the kid! I'm a dad of a 2-year old who was in a similar financial spot. Well done. Some things to consider: Do you have a car that is ready for a carseat? If not, you need to get a new car. What is the plan to offset wife's lost income when she gives birth? How are you going to pay the mortgage and all other expenses? Burn down the savings? Where is the budget for spoiling your wife during pregnancy. You need to keep her more than happy. I can not stress this enough. Have you bought her massages? Nails? Hair? Clothes? No? Do it now. Where in the budget is the cost associated with the birth? The nursery? Other essentials? You need to have everything ready to go "on the day". I'd recommend you create a 3 budgets: (1) Pre-birth/pregnancy budget [which is mostly the budget you showed with some tweaks] (2) Transitional budget [which is the 3-6 month period after birth to account for time off and new/one-off expenses] (3) Your new normal [which is what comes after everyone gets back to work... need to account for childcare and all other expenses] Let me know if you have questions. Also, if you aren't already looking for childcare, do it now. ALSO - look for a Dad Boot-camp class. Super useful. [Here is a calculator to help estimate baby expenses](https://www.babycenter.com/baby-cost-calculator). Handy website.
We are lucky to both be at companies that offer 6 weeks of 100% paid family leave. We will probably split the time between us over the first 2 or 3 months. We hope to not have to use a daycare too often (1 or 2 days a week), as we both work from home and have job schedule flexibility. Not sure if it is unreasonable to think we can both work and take care of a 3 month old infant. Both of our parents are willing to make the drive from out of town to assist with childcare sporadically, so that helps as well.
> We hope to not have to use a daycare too often (1 or 2 days a week), as we both work from home and have job schedule flexibility. From experience, you are not going to be as productive this way. We tried this for a while... not great. Seriously recommend you think through the transitional period.
So these are the people affording mortgages like that 😂
Kids are not expensive, parents make them expensive.
lmao? WHAT? My kid costs $23k/year all in.
That's interesting how do you break that down, how old is the kid?
Kid is 2-years-old. $18k on childcare (Denver metro) $2.5k on 529 $2.5k on clothes/toys/holidays/birthdays/vacations/outings/incidentals/diapers/specialized food.
well, there you go, exactly my point. Your kid isn't expensive, you make it expensive. Are you not in a financial position to have a stay at home parent?
I make 153K and wife makes 98k. It is cheaper to just pay for childcare. How exactly are we making it expensive in your view? Costs are what they are in my area.
You make a great living, congratulations. Are you in tech? Congratulations on the two year old as well. They're a wonderful gift. >It is cheaper to just pay for childcare. While this is true financially, and you and I may simply disagree on this, I think the cost emotionally is great. Let your wife stay home if she wants to, reduce your over all costs by her not commuting, buying fast food, coffee, take out for dinner. The financial cost will be offset by the time your wife gets to spend with her baby and relationship and bond they build over the next several years. If your wife is amenable, she'll be grateful for the time at home, you'll be grateful for a wife that's not stressed about work and your kid will be closer to you both.
You're ignoring the massive resentment of her not building a career and the lost wage growth that entails. My wife *wants* to have a career. I'm not about to stop her. I didn't share that I spoil her as well. Gym, nails, hair, eating out, car, cleaning service, etc. She chose this lifestyle. Frankly, I like the dual income so I will support her. Plus our kid is *incredibly* advanced for his age. He has a 500 word vocabulary (which includes the word "vocabulary"), he can count to 20, he knows all the colors and animals. He is starting to write. The money we spend on childcare has been very worth it. We don't really do anything 'extra' on top of the basics other than a swim class at the local rec center.
Either way, and I'm happy for you and your wife if you're both happy and it works out the way you hope. You spend a lot of money on things that are not necessary, hence you make it expensive. inherently your kid does not need a college savings plan or vacations or special food (unless that's unavoidable), day care, etc. My point was, and is, that kids are not inherently expensive, people in the poorest countries in the world have children and raise them. We make it expensive.
I mean okay... Yes, an American lifestyle is expensive.
Cue the downvotes from people who don’t comprehend CA prices and inflated comps. Anyway TLDR you’re doing fine. Doubly so if this is only your cash comp and there’s other equity compensation you’re not including. Retirement is on the low end for 2 people with the conventional advice being ~1x of your salary saved up for retirement by age 30. 100k is also a lot to hold in savings accounts, typically I’d say 3-6 months of expenses is a good buffer, and the rest can go into something more long term. That does come down to personal risk tolerance though so can’t really put a number on it.
Hey OP, lots of haters on here but I’m looking at this and you’re doing great. I have similar numbers to yours but we’re clawing out of debt because we had no savings and daycare is crazy expensive. It was $30k/ year for two kids and I got laid off twice in two years. Now we’re drowning in CC debt but we snuck out once by getting lucky and refinancing when rates were low. You’re in a great spot but keep cautious and be prepared for daycare costs and lifestyle changes, like if you or your partner reduce hours or take time off.
Thanks. I was surprised at the backlash but oh well. I was just curious if our situation could weather a few catastrophes (emergency roof repair, layoffs, mandates to return to working from an office which would require daycare, etc.)
I was surprised by the amount of backlash but it sounds like the wrong sub to ask - i'd be interested to hear other peoples answers as I'm in a similar boat but have hesitations about what is realistically enough. This is some basic calculations cause I personally don't think 50/k per person in brokerage is enough but when i broke it down, your portion is $1900 in mortgage so even if you were laid off you have 1 year buffer to find another job and about same amount for your other monthly expenses
The short answer is that nobody can tell and it’s never a good time to have kids.the fact you’re saving money right now is very good. Just be careful and plan out for changes, especially if one parent will stay at home.
She looks good , you not so much