MM survey

[Beeps (WOT?*)]

1-On a scale of 1-10, where do you think you are in terms of having your financial house in order? Probably around 8.

2-How many months of expenses do you keep on your e-fund? As of yesterday, significantly more than a year.

3-Are you and your significant other on the same page financially? Yes, but he's better at not spending every last penny. We both want him to retire, and we want to pay for college, or at least some college, for the grands that live with us.

4-Do you have one account with your SO or do you do separate and one for expenses? We have multiple accounts. He has checking/savings, I have checking/savings and we have joint.

5-Do you own real estate outside your primary home? He won't let me. I've suggested it more than once. He doesn't want to be a landlord. But we're considering a second home.

6-Do you have enough in your retirement account to meet Fidelity’s multiple of your salary based upon age (1x by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, 10x by 67)? Considering I currently have zero income, yes. lol. But the Fidelity numbers have never been our goal. H's income has increased but our lifestyle has not, and we intend to downsize further at retirement.

7-How old will you be when you retire? Target is 65 for husband, possibly 63 if we become more aggressive in our goals.

8-Are your parents financially sound or in a place you have to worry about them? My father is deceased. Husband's father is deceased. My mother is struggling but okay. Husband's mother and step-father both have federal pensions that bring in enough to make them very comfortable.

9-Do you save for your kids college? Kids are adults. We have adopted two grandchildren and will be paying for some or all college.

10-Have you always been financially savvy? No. You assume I am now? That's cute.

11-What was your inspiration for getting your finances in order? Kids growing up and we'd just started saving for retirement (in our 30s so lost a lot of growth), then we adopted two more kiddos (grandkids removed by CPS so we took them in) after ours were out of the house and planning our future; as we approached our forties with two new kiddos in the mix changes became urgent.

12-What do you spend money on that would make people think you are not financially savvy? Oh, plenty. I bought my husband a fancy car when I was still working. He figured he was driving it too much so he bought a commuter car. I bought an SUV but want a truck now... They're all paid for so there's no need. (It's been ten years since I bought the car for him and the other two are five and six years old and we'll be driving them at least that long again. No more new cars in the future for some time, darn it.) We eat out a lot. The grands are in expensive activities.

[ssmjlm]

1. I think we're good.  This year things have finally come together and we've put a lot away into savings.

2. Expenses we're over 6m, income we're at 6m.  I should probably move some more into our Vanguard accounts.

3. Yes

4. Everything is combined for household stuff, we each have a small fun money account.

5. No, but I stand to inherit a beach house, so the costs of running that are in my mind in the future. It's not a small house, nor is it inexpensive to maintain.

6. Yes

7. DH will probably wait until 65, I plan to go at 57, which is the earliest I can as a fed.  We want to have time in retirement to do what we want.

8. My parents are fine, if too conservative at their age.  I keep telling them to spend more and enjoy it.  IL's are 50/50.  FIL will hopefully have enough to get through until death.  MIL and her husband, I have no clue.  We have no plans to financially support any parent.

9. We have a small 529 for her.  Her college is being paid for by family, so we'll probably contribute for a bit and then shift the funds to save in another vehicle.

10. Yes, my parents were big on saving and my dad always pushed adding another % to my retirement whenever I got a raise at work.

11. My parents

12. Handbags, but as I've told DH, some of my bags are worth more now than I paid.  I have no plans to sell, I'll just pass them down to my daughter when it's time.

[ellipses84]

1. 7, I know what needs to be done but doing it takes time.
2. 5 months bare bones expenses.
3. Yes for big goals but less so with implementation or daily spending.
4. We have multiple accounts but combined finances and I manage it all.
5. No, we don’t even own a home at the moment.
6. I’m a little bit behind but pretty happy with what we have. I’ve had major income fluctuations but I’m making a lot right now to compare retirement to and I feel like it will be enough, plus I’m still contributing. DH is way behind because he wasn’t doing anything before I made him, so we are working on catching up, and his income is a way smaller percent of HHI.
7. 65-70. A lot of people in my industry don’t retire until they are forced to and still might take on consulting work. DH’s career is a retirement hobby so I told him he doesn’t need to retire, and he would like do some part of it paid, part time in retirement.
8. My dad wasn’t, but he passed away from a terminal illness and lived in a country with universal healthcare. My mom and stepdad are now. My parents were broke when I was growing up and has no retirement, but my mom/stepdad got additional education and saved for retirement with the help of inheritances including real estate. MIL is not and is still working in her 70s.
9. Yes, but not as much as we should. I do think we’ll be in a position to bankroll a lot of it by the time they are there, but I’d rather have money earning interest now.
10. I was a good saver as a kid and have tried to be MM educated but made a lot of mistakes along the way.
11. Not wanting to be in debt and pay interest.
12. Travel and gifts. We are cheap about travel, but we travel a lot and if you knew our full financial picture you’d judge us. My extended family’s love language is gift giving and it’s a huge family, paired with wanting our kids to have what me and DH never had (he grew up in worse poverty than I did).