All this Vanguard talk reminded me of a confession. I opened a Vanguard IRA around 8 or 9 years ago. My first firm out of law school didn't have a 401K option and I wanted to save for retirement. I changed firms and stopped contributing. I also changed names/email addresses/physical addresses several times since then. I cannot for the life of me remember my login/password/security questions and have been too lazy to call to get help.
I should do something with that money but haven't out of sheer laziness.
Ha, I could imagine those prices would give heart palpitations! But, if you get the house... WELCOME BACK! It's not Seattle so I'm not as excited as I could be, but still very happy for you if you want to return to the USA. I applaud you for entertaining the idea of coming back before the sh*tshow that is the 2016 Presidential election has run its full course.
Yeah, especially considering where we were before the move. You guys get to the east coast, right? We will be near the train and I'll need help decorating.....oh god, how much help I'll need.
Yeah, we were supposed to be extended through next year and that was my consolation....that I didn't have to be a part of the chaos and stupidity of the elections.
genet313 neither do we. I mean, we know what we spend on the recurring bills and prioritize savings so it's worked for us. We definitely don't overspend on things and shop sales/smart but I'm sure we could do better.
I'm scared of what this will mean once BB starts daycare in July. But we did loosely budget for that too so maybe it won't be so bad? I'm going to go stick my head in the sand again.
ugh, i know. by "loosely budget" i assume you did the "what is going to be left from my salary after i pay this exorbitant amount" like i did when figuring out nanny costs.
I don't know how to do a budget. I think I do and then I look at it and it makes no sense.
Confession-My living room makes me want to cry because the furniture is in such bad shape. It just doesn't look good, neither does anything else. It's all so broken and 14 years old. I put a new living room set on "layaway" for roughly $1000 at a discount place. I really can't afford it and am wondering if I should just cancel and get my $$ back. Yet the anxiety I feel over that room makes me not want to. I hate the idea of having anyone over because I'm so embarrassed. I keep flip flopping on what to do.
EDIT-I'm paying on the last credit card since the divorce before I save some more and start tackling student loans. So throwing $50 a month at the furniture vs $50 on the card is what I'm trying to decide.
poundcake, I would buy the furniture. You've been through a ton and work so hard to keep it all together, I feel like you deserve this if it's going to bring you some happiness. Maybe this is my MM confession, but sometimes stuff like this outweighs being 100% MM.
Post by keweenawlove on Mar 31, 2016 17:23:40 GMT -5
H just discovered there are beer trading forums where you can trade for hard to find beers from other places in the country. I feel like this is not going to be good for our bank account.
- I use YNAB, but I am terrible at sticking to it. I update religiously on the weekends, adjust as necessary to accommodate our spending, and go on with my life. We go over our budget most months. I know I could prevent it, I am just so bad at holding us accountable. Any tricks?
So I'm a huuuuuge YNAB fan, but this is basically how we budget, and actually only update about 1-2x per month. For us, the key is overestimating the variable stuff like groceries and restaurants and having lots of rainy day funds for unplanned expenses that we can't fit into a "normal" month. Eg instead of budgeting 600 for groceries as a stretch goal when I know we normally spend more than 150/week, I budget 800 or more and then if I end up with leftover money I can WAM it to savings.
When ordering online stuff I put it in my mobile app immediately before clicking the "submit" button. For stores, I will get in my car and let it warm up/cool down while I enter the transactions on my phone. You just make it a habit. Or keep receipts and reconcile them as you toss them out of your wallet.
H just discovered there are beer trading forums where you can trade for hard to find beers from other places in the country. I feel like this is not going to be good for our bank account.
Speaking of delicious craft beers from other parts of the country, did you get invited for an in-person interview yet? I know it hasn't been very long since your phone interview but I am impatient.
And now I'm trying to remember who else had an interview this week.
H just discovered there are beer trading forums where you can trade for hard to find beers from other places in the country. I feel like this is not going to be good for our bank account.
Speaking of delicious craft beers from other parts of the country, did you get invited for an in-person interview yet? I know it hasn't been very long since your phone interview but I am impatient.
And now I'm trying to remember who else had an interview this week.
No word yet. It'll be 2 weeks tomorrow so just waiting at this point. I think nursecramer is waiting to hear too.
Beer is one of the top 3 appealing things of the city - mountaims and hockey being the other two
Since lamestaeever was willing to ask a question I will too. If DH gets a bonus this fall we will be over the threshold to put money in a Roth IRA and I don't know what to do instead. We put in a hair under $17k into a 401K so I can add $1k there and then what do I do with the other $4500? This may be a moot point since his industry is a little wonky right now and we don't know if bonuses will be a thing this year but it will be an issue eventually.
Some things to consider that may or may not have tax advantages for you:
-contribute $5500 each to a traditional IRA- won't get the tax deduction but at least the funds grow tax-deferred. You could convert to Roth if you wanted
-put money into 529 college savings. Some states offer tax deductions (in IL it's up to $20K for MFJ)
-max out a family HSA if you have a HDHP. Use the money as little as possible and let it grow
If these don't work for you, just save/invest in a taxable account
I am contemplating spending $700 for continued unpacking and organizing. Mr P is all onboard. It's for 12 hours and our first 12 hours were free. My dining room and kitchen are fab. Signed, sucked in and too tired and lazy to face it alone.
lamestaeever, up until this year, we had always used a high fee planner (one who was particularly high/bad). After spending so much time on this board, I realized that this was not the best way to go. We moved a lot of money (regular investments and retirement) into Vanguard and it was very easy. I found them very helpful.
I guess my confession is that I haven't moved everything over because I don't want to tell our current planner that I am basically firing him.
Post by crashgizmo on Mar 31, 2016 21:44:02 GMT -5
I love these confessions!
We are putting in a pool, and are going to finance $15K with a personal loan of 6%. We have the cash, but it would put our efund too low for my comfort levels. We'll hopefully pay the loan off in less than a year, but I can't stomach the idea of spending that much cash. Totally not MM, I know. DH even said last night, "MM would tell you to save up the extra $15K and then get the pool, wouldn't they?"
- I use YNAB, but I am terrible at sticking to it. I update religiously on the weekends, adjust as necessary to accommodate our spending, and go on with my life. We go over our budget most months. I know I could prevent it, I am just so bad at holding us accountable. Any tricks?
- I am really curious about the upcoming DOL fiduciary ruling. I didn't think Jill did a great job covering it on Jill on Money the other day. It does boggle my mind that the investment companies are against the ruling.
Ditto! While I still love the functionality of it (way better then my excel spreadsheet) and the ability to easily split a receipt between several categories I really struggle with sticking to it. Luckily we still have had leeway to stay ahead monthly but I know we could be doing so much better.
-------------------------- My MM confession is that for the past 5 years DH and I have been really good about being money savvy, made really smart financial decisions and was on the right track to having our dream retirement. We move to a different state and purchased a home $$$$$$ about a year ago and ever since then (and my 30th birthday ) I have been like fuck it...we need to decorate the house $$$$...now we need to get the yard in order $$$$ and then DH "needed" (somewhat) a new car. $$$$$. Rather then a super MM hybrid car that I was pushing for we ended up with a luxury vehicle...and now I want one for myself....like tomorrow!
Is this what a mid-life crisis feels like?
Legit question and related to (a non MM) mid-life crisis: I keep waking up at night having hot flashes....ummmm isn't it too earlier for this or is this stress related?
Speaking of delicious craft beers from other parts of the country, did you get invited for an in-person interview yet? I know it hasn't been very long since your phone interview but I am impatient.
And now I'm trying to remember who else had an interview this week.
No word yet. It'll be 2 weeks tomorrow so just waiting at this point. I think nursecramer is waiting to hear too.
Beer is one of the top 3 appealing things of the city - mountaims and hockey being the other two
Not so patiently waiting. WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO CALL?!?! lol
I've never personally beer traded (I have been known to harass friends driving through Wisconsin to get them to bring me New Glarus) but my friend's H is super active at it. It's a lot easier and cheaper to do as a hobby if you live in a strong beer region like they do, because of the access you have to special releases and hard to get bottles that other people around the country want.
Nurse Cramer had stopped speaking to Nurse Duckett, her best friend, because of her liaison with Yossarian, but still went everywhere with Nurse Duckett since Nurse Duckett was her best friend....Nurse Cramer was prepared to begin talking to Nurse Duckett again if she repented and apologized.
I am contemplating spending $700 for continued unpacking and organizing. Mr P is all onboard. It's for 12 hours and our first 12 hours were free. My dining room and kitchen are fab. Signed, sucked in and too tired and lazy to face it alone.
I'm in a constant flux of pay off cc, charge them up (usually less than 1k). I also have a habit of never wanting to spend my savings even if I earmarked it for something specific. Nope I'd rather charge it and pay it off in a few months. It makes no sense, I know.
I've been cc debt free 3 times in the last 2 years lol.
On NYE, 2013, I downloaded YNAB and made a resolution to do better with money. I logged in on 1/1/14 and never again.
I don't remember the last time that I put money in savings. Expensive baby, lots of time away from home and "rewards" for a couple of hard years was not good for my bank account.
Retirement savings overwhelms me. I have no idea where we are, other than behind.
Confession: Â We accepted an offer on our house and paid a not insignificant amount of cash in repairs/credits after the inspection even though the buyer offered to take the house "as is", if we'd get out one month early. We worked out all the finances and how to's of storing our stuff and renting a temporary vacation rental in our 'hood that would allow us to get out of our house early, but then decided that it wasn't worth it. Even though we'd save a couple grand, we're already moving cross country and adding a month's stay in a small, not-out-house apartment with an extremely active dog, a toddler and a very pregnant lady who can't help carry any of our shit back and forth between all these moves is just not worth it. I feel totally sure that we made the right choice, but I think my H is still questioning whether or not we made the right decision. We are usually pretty frugal and not normally the type to choose convenience over money, but given all the other factors, I'm all about it right now.
As a fellow pregnant who handled a move this winter, you made the right decision. Sanity also has value!
RockNVoll, thanks for the tag! lamestaeever, I have worked with and recommend Timothy Financial (and I dont' get any referral fees from recommending them - I think that's important to note). They are based in Chicagoland area, but we work with them virtually via phone and Skype.
They provide a good check to my self-managed using Vanguard approach, because they will do a complete financial analysis and look at our wealth & plans objectively, which I quite value. We engaged with them for the first time a few years ago, and now check in with them when we have questions and try to do a re-analysis every other year or so. They have an hourly cost, which is a nice predictable way to engage with them.
My MM confession. We are probably buying too much house.
However, as business owners, we have seen time and time again that optimism and taking calculated risks pays off. Why stop now??
We have also waited a long time to buy, and for many reasons had no interest in a "starter home." Retirement is in good shape, but we don't have nearly the cash cushion we "should" for a big, old house. We have lots of places we can tighten up and I'm hoping this house is a good motivation to do so.
I hope to die in this house- or at least leave for happy exciting retirement pastures.
Post by mainelyfoolish on Apr 1, 2016 6:47:52 GMT -5
I learned my pretty good money habits from my parents. They both grew up poor but I had an upper-middle class childhood, and my parents paid for my (in-state) college education.
I was freaking out not long ago about how much it will cost me to pay for my kids to go to college. DH and I are on track for retirement, but we have nowhere near what we'd need to send our kids to school (which is something we would like to do). I mentioned this to my mom the other day and she said if I was really worried about it, I didn't have to take such an expensive vacation this summer.
Sorry kids, DH and I went ahead and booked a six night anniversary trip to Ireland. I hope you enjoy community college.
SJ so exciting - are you buying in your current neighborhood??
Yes! We limited our search to a very very specific area. DH and I had lots of different opinions and house hunting together was a challenge, but we are both in love.
Inspection was yesterday and went well, but we don't close until the end of June.
Confession- I reduced my 401K contribution from 10% to 1%
I reduced mine from 12% to 1%. In my defense, the match is almost nothing and investing options are limited. And I immediately dumped $5500 into a Roth for last year.
But my big confession is that my retirement planning is very haphazard and not as much as it should be. And H isn't involved except for his 401k at work.
Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. - G. K. Chesterton
We are putting in a pool, and are going to finance $15K with a personal loan of 6%. We have the cash, but it would put our efund too low for my comfort levels. We'll hopefully pay the loan off in less than a year, but I can't stomach the idea of spending that much cash. Totally not MM, I know. DH even said last night, "MM would tell you to save up the extra $15K and then get the pool, wouldn't they?"
Yes!
But really I think it's hilarious that your H is quoting MM to you.
SJ so exciting - are you buying in your current neighborhood??
Yes! We limited our search to a very very specific area. DH and I had lots of different opinions and house hunting together was a challenge, but we are both in love.
Inspection was yesterday and went well, but we don't close until the end of June.