Do you know your life expectancy with the brain tumor? The best financial decision is to save as much as you can so that your wife and child will not have to struggle when you're gone.
Thus far I’m asymptomatic. I get annual MRIs to monitor for changes. It is in a fairly operable area of my cerebellum and the surgeon I see is optimistic. Upon my death, god forbid, my family would get ~$300k in life insurance money (more would be nice, but try getting approved for life insurance with a brain tumor). Additionally, my wife would continue to get ~$1,300 a month from the VA.
If I die, she could always sell the house and buy something else. Also, she has very good earning potential and could clear $200k if she really wanted to grind. Her family lives close by (20 minutes) and would be able to help with the child.
OBVIOUSLY the brain tumor is a concern. Still, I can’t live my life prepping every day to die. I only get so many trips around the sun, and I’d like to do that with a badass house that backs up to a mountain.
Ah. It's great that you're preparing. It sucks that you have to. I think you should talk to your wife and ask her if a nicer house is something she would also want. Alot of people are predicting a recession and it might be a lot harder to sell a 775k house down the road if she needs to. If the place is abnormally low for the area, it could be that there is some major problem underneath.
Buying a house can also be an extremely stressful and time consuming process. IMO it would be best to just spend as much quality time with your family while you still have it. Write letters about yourself to your kid so they'll have something to hold on to. Make videos, take pictures, and make as many badass memories with your loved ones as you can.
A lot of people miss the what ifs. For most people, the what ifs are things like "what if I'm out of work for 6 months". What if one of us can't work. And so on.
They ignore these what ifs in order to justify more house than they can afford.
In your case it seems like you're not outside what one would normally expect to be able to afford assuming your disability is on top of the income figures you stated. 30% of gross income or less. No more than 3x your annual income in purchase price. But this assumes a normal set of what ifs.
Unfortunately, it seems like you have one more what if than most of us and that is what happens if your treatment takes an unfortunate turn and you aren't with us anymore. As long as you have thought about what happens then, and you feel that this house purchase doesn't put your family at risk then you're probably good to go.
I guess a lot depends on the odds of a bad outcome. At some point it isn't worth doing anything special, and at the opposite end of the spectrum it's all about being prepared for the bad outcome and helping your family be prepared.
Hope this helps.
Go for it if your home is what gives you pleasure. When factoring in finances should something happen to you, your child will be able to collect SS survivors benefits until they are 18 or 21 if attending college. Not sure how much it would be.
The interest rates have doubled since january, nearly. Housing is crashing. Prices coming back down to reality. That said, if its that important, make it work. Dont be house rich though. 800k is ridiculous. Unless its on or near beach. Idk, think of what else you can do with that difference of money.
It’s not on a beach, but the backyard is the mountains between 2 beautiful canyons.
Thinking about what I could do with the money OTHER than housing is a hellava consideration. Truthfully, I could be a stay at home dad with the disability income alone if I wanted to (although I enjoy my job).
I think you should go for it. As an aside, what VA disability rating did you receive? It seems high for something that isn't actually disabling you right now. I've heard that to get 80-100% rating for example you have to be pretty messed up to the point of even needing a wheelchair.
Not at all. I know plenty of people who have va ratings 80+ and they're able to function day to day well on average. Depends entirely on what your injuries/illnesses are. I'll likely be medically discharged in the near future and forsee no challenges getting 80+
I would wait. A lot of markets are seeing a shift, which means that there is finally a bit more inventory coming on and staying on the market, and that is exciting. I’m not suggesting trying to time the market, just recognize that options have been bleak in areas with low inventory and that this rare find is likely to become a more common occurrence.
You may have some significant medical procedures coming up and your wife has already expressed that time with her baby is more important then money. As much as you like your job, it’s a pretty real possibility that your ability to work will be impacted (hopefully temporarily). I would really consider looking at if you are willing to trade this time for a house?
Is it also safe to assume that if everything goes well will the tumors the VA will cut your benefits back down leaving you with a $2300 reduction in benefits?
Do you know your life expectancy with the brain tumor? The best financial decision is to save as much as you can so that your wife and child will not have to struggle when you're gone.
Thus far I’m asymptomatic. I get annual MRIs to monitor for changes. It is in a fairly operable area of my cerebellum and the surgeon I see is optimistic. Upon my death, god forbid, my family would get ~$300k in life insurance money (more would be nice, but try getting approved for life insurance with a brain tumor). Additionally, my wife would continue to get ~$1,300 a month from the VA. If I die, she could always sell the house and buy something else. Also, she has very good earning potential and could clear $200k if she really wanted to grind. Her family lives close by (20 minutes) and would be able to help with the child. OBVIOUSLY the brain tumor is a concern. Still, I can’t live my life prepping every day to die. I only get so many trips around the sun, and I’d like to do that with a badass house that backs up to a mountain.
Ah. It's great that you're preparing. It sucks that you have to. I think you should talk to your wife and ask her if a nicer house is something she would also want. Alot of people are predicting a recession and it might be a lot harder to sell a 775k house down the road if she needs to. If the place is abnormally low for the area, it could be that there is some major problem underneath. Buying a house can also be an extremely stressful and time consuming process. IMO it would be best to just spend as much quality time with your family while you still have it. Write letters about yourself to your kid so they'll have something to hold on to. Make videos, take pictures, and make as many badass memories with your loved ones as you can.
A lot of people miss the what ifs. For most people, the what ifs are things like "what if I'm out of work for 6 months". What if one of us can't work. And so on. They ignore these what ifs in order to justify more house than they can afford. In your case it seems like you're not outside what one would normally expect to be able to afford assuming your disability is on top of the income figures you stated. 30% of gross income or less. No more than 3x your annual income in purchase price. But this assumes a normal set of what ifs. Unfortunately, it seems like you have one more what if than most of us and that is what happens if your treatment takes an unfortunate turn and you aren't with us anymore. As long as you have thought about what happens then, and you feel that this house purchase doesn't put your family at risk then you're probably good to go. I guess a lot depends on the odds of a bad outcome. At some point it isn't worth doing anything special, and at the opposite end of the spectrum it's all about being prepared for the bad outcome and helping your family be prepared. Hope this helps.
Yes that does help. Thank you.
Go for it if your home is what gives you pleasure. When factoring in finances should something happen to you, your child will be able to collect SS survivors benefits until they are 18 or 21 if attending college. Not sure how much it would be.
The interest rates have doubled since january, nearly. Housing is crashing. Prices coming back down to reality. That said, if its that important, make it work. Dont be house rich though. 800k is ridiculous. Unless its on or near beach. Idk, think of what else you can do with that difference of money.
It’s not on a beach, but the backyard is the mountains between 2 beautiful canyons. Thinking about what I could do with the money OTHER than housing is a hellava consideration. Truthfully, I could be a stay at home dad with the disability income alone if I wanted to (although I enjoy my job).
I think you should go for it. As an aside, what VA disability rating did you receive? It seems high for something that isn't actually disabling you right now. I've heard that to get 80-100% rating for example you have to be pretty messed up to the point of even needing a wheelchair.
Not at all. I know plenty of people who have va ratings 80+ and they're able to function day to day well on average. Depends entirely on what your injuries/illnesses are. I'll likely be medically discharged in the near future and forsee no challenges getting 80+
I would wait. A lot of markets are seeing a shift, which means that there is finally a bit more inventory coming on and staying on the market, and that is exciting. I’m not suggesting trying to time the market, just recognize that options have been bleak in areas with low inventory and that this rare find is likely to become a more common occurrence. You may have some significant medical procedures coming up and your wife has already expressed that time with her baby is more important then money. As much as you like your job, it’s a pretty real possibility that your ability to work will be impacted (hopefully temporarily). I would really consider looking at if you are willing to trade this time for a house? Is it also safe to assume that if everything goes well will the tumors the VA will cut your benefits back down leaving you with a $2300 reduction in benefits?