Smhx4
Dryer sheet wannabe
Hello all. I've been lurking for a year now and I'm ready to say hello. I'm a long time Dave Ramsey fan and belong to his Total Money Makeover Community forums. While I feel like a 8th grader over there doing ok by their standards and often give helpful advice to those in lesser grades.... Over here I'm more like a scared freshman, surrounded by really smart seniors hoping to be more like them.
When I spot someone with some serious potential to FIRE, I will recommend this site.
I'm going all in here and will give details on our situation....
We've been married 20 years this summer. I'm the DW, 40 and a SAHM. My DH is 39, active duty Air Force with 21 years of service. E-7, take home pay is 6k monthly.
We have one 17yo daughter about to graduate. She works part time and will pay for her own local community college costs for at least two years.
Also have a 13yo son. We have the post 911 GI Bill available to transfer to family members. We can split the costs between the two of them. No other college savings.
72k in Roth IRA's. 14K is in USAA's 2040 target retirement fund, 58k is in BP stock. We went in on BP in July, have made 18k so far and thinking about staying til it's about 55-60$. We aren't market savvy at all, it was office talk and our impulsiveness that made us jump in. We did the 2040 fund because of USAA financial advice. While we like the gains from BP, I'm aware we missed out on gains in the Dow by pulling 40k out in July.
We have one local rental property. Owe 150k worth 208k, 4.37% on a 15 year note with 14 years left. We pay 200$ extra monthly, payoff goal is December 2015.
Current principal residence is 224k with no equity. 4.25% 30 year fixed VA loan. 1500$ monthly payment.
Cash savings of 6k$, we recently refied and paid cash for a car so it's low, working on getting that to at least 10k.
Own a 1997 camry, 2004 Avalon, 2008 tundra and a 2007 airstream travel trailer, all with no debt
All debt is mortgage, nothing else.
That's it. Both DH and I are trying to be more financially smart. My weakness is real estate and we both enjoy a nice life style living in a nice home with nice vehicles. We spent the first 10 years living beyond our means and over the last few years have got that under control. There's always room for improvement.
DH is on tract to be promoted this year or next. All raises go to the rental debt. Best case we may pay it off by retirement or come close.
We max out the IRA's then put extras on the rental.
DH plans to stay in the military as long as he can to boost his pension. We are shooting for december of 2015 as the earliest retirement date. Pension would be about 41k. Our youngest will be 18 and in college. We would like to rent out the house and hit the road in the airstream.
Were currently thinking of selling the truck and trailer. We would net 50k that we would park in the bank then maybe later add to the rental. I'm also considering working part time. I love being home and DH normally flies a lot, staying home helps me keep my sanity when I parent two teens on my own. I'm very efficient at home and could handle part time work but nothing too important, probably make 5-800$ monthly max.
We both love the camping life. It's his joy and it would be hard to give up, we would take it up again later. I'm pushing the issue, I can't seem to get over the 50k that's they are worth. I just keep seeing $ signs. I also feel I overextended us on real-estate. So far so good but probably too much debt. While I'm willing to let it all go and downsize or buy later, I must be fair and say that when I let a dream house go 4 years ago, I've been chasing that "home" feeling ever since. This is our 3 rd house is 4 years. Shocking yes, he's a good man to put up with my house drama and I appreciate that. It's also made us money so that helps ease the pain.
So that's us in a nutshell. I feel we have potential to FIRE and will welcome any advice y'all have. I will admit I'm nervous throwing this all out there. I'm aware what my Dave community would tell me to do but not sure what I will get here. There are tons of smart people on this forum and I'm impressed with you all very much. Thanks for reading and thank you for your time.
Sandra
When I spot someone with some serious potential to FIRE, I will recommend this site.
I'm going all in here and will give details on our situation....
We've been married 20 years this summer. I'm the DW, 40 and a SAHM. My DH is 39, active duty Air Force with 21 years of service. E-7, take home pay is 6k monthly.
We have one 17yo daughter about to graduate. She works part time and will pay for her own local community college costs for at least two years.
Also have a 13yo son. We have the post 911 GI Bill available to transfer to family members. We can split the costs between the two of them. No other college savings.
72k in Roth IRA's. 14K is in USAA's 2040 target retirement fund, 58k is in BP stock. We went in on BP in July, have made 18k so far and thinking about staying til it's about 55-60$. We aren't market savvy at all, it was office talk and our impulsiveness that made us jump in. We did the 2040 fund because of USAA financial advice. While we like the gains from BP, I'm aware we missed out on gains in the Dow by pulling 40k out in July.
We have one local rental property. Owe 150k worth 208k, 4.37% on a 15 year note with 14 years left. We pay 200$ extra monthly, payoff goal is December 2015.
Current principal residence is 224k with no equity. 4.25% 30 year fixed VA loan. 1500$ monthly payment.
Cash savings of 6k$, we recently refied and paid cash for a car so it's low, working on getting that to at least 10k.
Own a 1997 camry, 2004 Avalon, 2008 tundra and a 2007 airstream travel trailer, all with no debt
All debt is mortgage, nothing else.
That's it. Both DH and I are trying to be more financially smart. My weakness is real estate and we both enjoy a nice life style living in a nice home with nice vehicles. We spent the first 10 years living beyond our means and over the last few years have got that under control. There's always room for improvement.
DH is on tract to be promoted this year or next. All raises go to the rental debt. Best case we may pay it off by retirement or come close.
We max out the IRA's then put extras on the rental.
DH plans to stay in the military as long as he can to boost his pension. We are shooting for december of 2015 as the earliest retirement date. Pension would be about 41k. Our youngest will be 18 and in college. We would like to rent out the house and hit the road in the airstream.
Were currently thinking of selling the truck and trailer. We would net 50k that we would park in the bank then maybe later add to the rental. I'm also considering working part time. I love being home and DH normally flies a lot, staying home helps me keep my sanity when I parent two teens on my own. I'm very efficient at home and could handle part time work but nothing too important, probably make 5-800$ monthly max.
We both love the camping life. It's his joy and it would be hard to give up, we would take it up again later. I'm pushing the issue, I can't seem to get over the 50k that's they are worth. I just keep seeing $ signs. I also feel I overextended us on real-estate. So far so good but probably too much debt. While I'm willing to let it all go and downsize or buy later, I must be fair and say that when I let a dream house go 4 years ago, I've been chasing that "home" feeling ever since. This is our 3 rd house is 4 years. Shocking yes, he's a good man to put up with my house drama and I appreciate that. It's also made us money so that helps ease the pain.
So that's us in a nutshell. I feel we have potential to FIRE and will welcome any advice y'all have. I will admit I'm nervous throwing this all out there. I'm aware what my Dave community would tell me to do but not sure what I will get here. There are tons of smart people on this forum and I'm impressed with you all very much. Thanks for reading and thank you for your time.
Sandra