We've always been big savers, but I've recently started considering whether it's worth it or not. We are in our early 30s, have $250k saved for retirement in a mix of accounts, and no debt other than a 15-year mortgage (14 years left). Two kids (1 and 10). We have about $45k in our emergency fund.
My wife only works part-time weekends so she can care for our 1-year old. I currently max out my 401k, HSA, and push hard to max out my Roth and my wife's spousal Roth. Plus $1-2k/year in a 529. We even managed to squeeze $6k into a new taxable account that we opened last year.
Sometimes I'm tempted just to say "screw it" and reduce my 401k contribution to the match minimum, max out the HSA, put less money in Roths, and refinance to a 30-year mortgage. That would free up probably an extra $1500-2000/month which would increase our QOL by an insane amount - 2 nice vacations a year, a new car, less stress when eating out or dealing with unexpected expenses. All without any debt. Maybe I could even cut back to 80% time until my 1 year old is off to pre-school.
Chances are we'd still have a lot of money left over.
There's always the thought in the back of my mind that maybe the stock market will encounter a Japan-like situation, or health issues crop up just as we're getting ready to retire. It would suck to think that we spent our prime years scrimping for nothing.
Anyone else have any doubts like mine?
Thanks for your time.
My wife only works part-time weekends so she can care for our 1-year old. I currently max out my 401k, HSA, and push hard to max out my Roth and my wife's spousal Roth. Plus $1-2k/year in a 529. We even managed to squeeze $6k into a new taxable account that we opened last year.
Sometimes I'm tempted just to say "screw it" and reduce my 401k contribution to the match minimum, max out the HSA, put less money in Roths, and refinance to a 30-year mortgage. That would free up probably an extra $1500-2000/month which would increase our QOL by an insane amount - 2 nice vacations a year, a new car, less stress when eating out or dealing with unexpected expenses. All without any debt. Maybe I could even cut back to 80% time until my 1 year old is off to pre-school.
Chances are we'd still have a lot of money left over.
There's always the thought in the back of my mind that maybe the stock market will encounter a Japan-like situation, or health issues crop up just as we're getting ready to retire. It would suck to think that we spent our prime years scrimping for nothing.
Anyone else have any doubts like mine?
Thanks for your time.