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EXH

I'd buy a used leaf since all you need is a commuter car. You could pay cash for that and use the extra 30k towards the student loans.

EXH

Most people I know put 20% down so especially if you live in a very hcol area like me your net worth may go negative for a bit. Mine did, but happy to be back in the positive range again! It's a good feeling but still seems depressingly low with the mortgage. Sigh....

EXH

With your high income and comparatively low spending I'm not sure why you would even consider stopping the term life insurance. It's certainly a non issue to pay for it and it will give you more options if needed. Once you have saved enough for college or kids are done with college then get rid of it.

EXH

Really depends on the house too! Everything in my area is old, old, old! So lots more money than a new build somewhere. I anticipate spending 1% for awhile although eventually that should reduce once most of the systems are replaced! Otherwise I would think 1/2 percent would be reasonable since labo...

EXH

We spend around $500 for two people although this is mostly organic. I get lunches at work and my partner brings leftovers. We buy whatever veggies are in season and reasonably priced rather than shopping from a list, often at the farmers market. We buy things like rice and beans in bulk. We try to ...

EXH

Financially I think it's fine to buy or wait a couple years. Given you aren't ready to marry though I think you should wait a year until you really know whether you are going to marry or not. At this point it seems like it would be premature to make a joint decision based on joint finances but in a ...

EXH

Are you currently renting a 4 br? If so I agree strictly financially it doesn't make sense. That being said you can certainly afford it on your salary, continue to max out retirement, etc. if you are otherwise frugal. I'm also coming from California where 750k won't buy you a 2 br in a top school di...

EXH

Why do you have so much cash? Certainly you want to have an emergency fund but if you aren't going to invest the rest of the money it seems reasonable to apply it towards the mortgage.

EXH

What about personal capital? It's great for tracking net worth and investment allocation. It should connect with all of those things. The only downside is they occasionally try to sell you there services but they have pretty much stopped even doing that for me at this point.

EXH

I support an easily affordable 15 year. It depends on your income, job stability, cost of housing, etc though of course. I took a 15 year that I can afford on my salary alone since husband has the lower income and less job stability. If there is any question about affordability the 30 year is a very...

EXH

Generally goes to taxable. Or I count it as money to pay for that new roof, electrical work, etc as said above - makes it a little less painful! Sometimes a small splurge as well.

EXH

Congrats! Although i would certainly not count cars in your net worth. They are not an investment and will lose their value quickly.

EXH

We bought with Redfin in the Bay Area a couple years back.hcol area in a multi bid situation where with a couple rounds of counter offers. She never recommended a specific price and there was no pressure. It was a very positive experience. Our agent was fantastic - very knowledgeable and easy to rea...

EXH

They make that much by 30 years of saving or by having a large inheritance. There is no magic bullet. You have a high income. I get it - I'm on the BA too. It's going to take a large portion of your income for housing and you won't be able to live as extravagantly as elsewhere in the country but tha...

EXH

I was very happy with Usaa but left for my insurance due to the price differential. Made me sad and may reassess in the future but wasn't worth it to me.

EXH

You definitely should have a joint savings account for an emergency fund, etc. We have individual checking accounts because we were too lazy to change our direct deposits, then just transfer money to the joint checking and savings as needed. I only use our joint credit card but DH sometimes uses his...

EXH

I'm also in a very HCOl area - certainly I know people that are as extended as this, but it does sound like it would be a little tight. I think you need to look at your current expenditures. What's your monthly take home after funding retirement? It looks like you would be spending 4k on housing (al...

EXH

Based on the limited information it sounds pretty reasonable. Agree more info on ages, debt, savings, etc would be helpful. Are property taxes included? That would add 20k where I am! Most people I know buying 1.2m houses make less than 600k though.

EXH

Seems like if that's your play money you should be able to do whatever you want with it. She could invest hers too instead of spending it on stuff. We don't have that sort of system though - we spend what we want and everything else goes into joint savings/taxable.

EXH

Admittedly I have almost zero legal knowledge, but my understanding is that CA is a community property state but gifts/inheritances as long as they are kept separate from spouse are not part of the community property divided in a divorce and would be considered the individual's property.

EXH

I'm not sure how you would buy a house right now. It's better to rent until you both can afford a house.

EXH

That was my question too! With $240k in income, why can't you max out retirement and save up enough to get rid of PMI this year? How much do you need to save to do this? It can't be that much. I think it would be wise to take a closer look at your budget.

EXH

You don't really need extra space right away with a newborn - stick with the cheap rent until the kid is a bit older. Even if you wife stays home for awhile (which you might be financially better off if she didn't depending on salary and childcare costs in your area), most people I know go back to w...

EXH

Also, if you are retirement age and moving there are some accommodations through prop 13 to keep your old property taxes - I know someone else who downsized and was able to keep the lower taxes. I'm not sure if it's county dependent or what though (this was a move between cities in same county). I'd...

EXH

Why is there any question here? I'd jump on it in a heartbeat if I had 6m and a 1.5m house I loved (at least in my ridiculously expensive part of the world), with a good salary to boot. If she wanted to retire tomorrow maybe it wouldn't be the most prudent idea, but it sounds like she plans to keep ...

EXH

Haha. Yes by these rules I might be able to buy a house by the time I retire! Maybe.

EXH

Lease sounds like a lousy deal. I bought a used Corolla after college for 7k 15 years ago. Still running fine. Had taken a few k of maintenance over the years but not bad. A reliable car shouldn't require that much maintenance especially after 5 years!

EXH

Sounds like a good change to me! Where I am $175k wouldn't build you much though... I always feel it is safer to be insured for a higher amount in case it ends up costing that much. And in case of a natural disaster like a tornado you won't be the only one, so construction prices would likely go up....

EXH

With the prices they charge I don't understand why I wouldn't just order carry out - I can pick up lots of great meals in their price range. I like to cook though and unless I'm cooking something extraordinarily fancy do not come close to $10 a serving. Recipes and food do look pretty good though I ...

EXH

For general re-sale school districts in the Bay area are probably number one, then easy access to transportation, and not being too close to the highway or power lines or on a major street. The more important question is what do you want? For me that was being bikable to work, and walkability in the...

EXH

If the business profit is expected to remain stable certainly you can afford it - more than I would want to do, but certainly doable. As for the costs listed - Keep in mind that insurance is based on rebuild costs - I don't insure for the full price I paid for the house as much of the cost is land. ...

EXH

You obviously have decent savings and equity in your home so could make this work, but I would not be comfortable on your current salaries. For me though it was very important for me to be able to pay our mortgage on my salary alone since my husband's job is less secure and I'd like it to be easy to...

EXH

Yowza. Also in BA here, make just a little bit less than you, and really can't imagine buying a 1.6-1.9m house. What is the mortgage+taxes on that going to be and what percentage of your income is that? How much do you have left over for savings from your current budget? Seems pretty high even for t...

EXH

Coming from the Bay Area this sounds pretty reasonable to me - you have good savings and should be able to ride out any problems as well as a good contingency option (which most houses don't have around here). Sure you don't have kids yet, but if you are planning on having kids it's certainly nice t...

EXH

Car (250/500) $600 House $950 Earthquake $1800 (ugh) Umbrella $200 (finally signed up last week!) Health $0 Disability $600 (60% own occupation work plan) Life $0 (will probably change after kids but have $800k free from work so I figure this is plenty for now) Fascinating differences....glad I don'...

EXH

I decided to go with CEA due to the size of it and the fact that they do have the majority of the market. Agree they will more likely be able to pay out claims, although obviously this isn't guaranteed. I do believe you would need to change your insurance to one of the many companies that participat...

EXH

I don't know the market you are in, but in my super competitive Cali market the best advice is to pay what you are comfortable paying. 10 people will probably have 10 ideas about what the houses are worth, and houses routinely get offers with a 100K spread. You can look at the comps yourself (mine s...

EXH

If you are putting 400k down, how are you ending up with 2600-2800 payments X 30 years? Seem like it should be a lot less than this unless your tax/insurance is very high. Normally this seems high, but you are young, have a lot of cash to pay it down, and expect a much higher salary for the next sev...

EXH

I think the other thing to think about is what you are going to do in retirement. It's hard to work 20 hours a week for you now, but this may very likely continue to improve over time, so you may want to consider giving it a little more time to adjust. That being said, you've paid into SSDI, and sou...

EXH

Nope - I'd prioritize maxing out your IRA, paying off your car loan, and making sure you have a 6 month emergency fund. It sounds like you need to save a downpayment on top of this. There is always time to buy later when you are in a more financially secure spot. Your rent is so cheap it's hard to a...

EXH

Certainly in my area of the Bay there just aren't that many larger/newer homes. They sell, and fast. Most people don't want to spend 1.5m on a 1200 sf house strangely.... Not that you will get all of the money back that you put in as you will be paying a premium on costs building during a boom time,...

EXH

Okay, I'm used to Bay Area pricing so 400/sf doesn't sound outrageous to me. I personally would not need a 3000 sf house, and I'm seriously stuck on 60k for furniture more than the housing cost. That being said with your income there is no question you should be able to easily afford a 1.5m rebuild....

EXH

I would recommend working for a little while, make sure you like your job and are going to stay there long term before buying. There doesn't seem to be any reason to be stuck with a horrible commute if you end up changing jobs in a couple years. This also gives you time to figure out how much money ...

EXH

Are you serious? You'd work an extra 15 years to live in this house? Sounds like a terrible exchange to me. The extra 15K is negligible on the amounts you are looking at. I'd stay where you are, and see where you are in 10-15 years.

EXH

I buy mostly organic - not as much for my personal health but there is definite data on harms for agricultural workers and the environment. If you stick to local and in season produce the price differential is not so bad, and I try to buy mostly these. In CA we also have amazing farmers markets with...

EXH

You need to know what you are putting into retirement now before being able to make this decision - you need to know whether you can save 20% at least for retirement. It seems like a bit of a stretch on your income once you factor in maintenance costs, but doable especially if job is very secure and...

EXH

2.5X income, although work needed will likely cost another 0.5x income. I could buy another house in most cities for the cost! Oh well. It's small (1400 sf) and rediculously expensive (yay Bay Area!), but 3 miles from work so can bike. 15 year fixed mortgage - given work needed will not likely be am...

EXH

We're definitely both frugal. His friends sometimes give hime a hard time about how I put up with him for being so frugal, without understanding that it really is a feature! It would take a lot of patience or buckets of extra money to put up with someone who had significantly different habits. He al...

EXH

Doubt it. They will probably assume 7% or some other number of investment gains at the very least. I have the option of taking my pension as a lump sum and it's a lot less than your estimate. More like 10x yearly amount. No idea where the numbers come from though.

EXH

Guess you aren't in the Bay Area like me. That's a common commute time and I can't imagine anyone giving money for relocation. I got 2k moving expenses for living over 100 miles away.

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