I don't normally do intro posts like this, but after lurking for a few months and constantly being surprised by how helpful everyone is and how just about every single thread gets a lot of really thoughtful responses, I wanted to ask for your input and advice to help achieve my goals.
I'm 34, wife is 32, kid #1 is 2.5, kid #2 is due in a few weeks and we're not planning on any more dependents. I've been a lifetime saver (thanks dad) but for most of those years never really knew what I was saving for, but having piles of cash at the right time worked out well for me on a couple occasions. I'm also very frugal (people close to me would say cheap but that's not true, I just find most things not worth spending money on. But I can certainly BTD if I see value. I tend to see value in things most others don't though and vice versa).
Income #1: $97,600 (plus 10% bonus)
Income #2: $77,500
Income #3: $10,800 (rental assuming it's rented every month, which it has been all but 3 months in the last 7 years)
Total Income: ~$190,000 depending on the bonus
Debt #1: $134,000 (home mortgage at 2.5% with a little more that 9 years left on a 15 year loan. We refinanced the first 30 year that was at 4.5% in 2016, 2.5 years after we bought it.)
Debt #2: $36,000 (rental mortgage - 30 year at 6 or so % that'll be paid off in 2044. We will never sell this house unless we sell our home as well which we have no plan to do, ever really. We like it here.)
Debt #3: $17,000 student loans at 6%. This will be paid off in 18 months.
Debt #4: $7,000 auto loan with 2 or 3 years left
Total Debts: $194,000
Net Worth: $360,000 (including $110,000 in equity between the two houses)
Cash: $55,000
$ Currently Invested (retirement): $200,000
$ Currently Invested (college): $12,500
Goal #1: Pay for full tuition for both kids. I'm using a reasonable tuition cost (the local public college I went to) as a target to save against which, according to their website, is just shy of $6,000/semester for this year.
Goal #2A: Retire in January of 2038. Semi-kinda-sorta-ramdomly picked this date for a few reasons...
A) It seems at least possible
B) It gives me an actual target to shoot for (5775 days from today) and measure against other than just saving a bunch of money with the hopes of retiring "early" one day
C) The date in mind is a Friday. The day before my 50th birthday. I wouldn't mind being able to say I retired "in my 40's".
Goal #2B: Retire as early as possible. I'm finally in a job that I really enjoy and definitely hope to retire from this company, but it's still work.
Current Investments:
401k: ~$80,000 combined - we both save enough (7% and 3%) to get the full match (7% and 3%)
HSA: ~3,000 - this year I started contributing the max and, more importantly, don't plan using it. Rather investing it for the whole triple tax advantage idea. We'll see how that goes. Still not sure about keeping receipts for 20+ and hoping that rule doesn't change that you can get reimbursed for expenses at any time in the future.
Financial Advisor Account: $105,000 - been with them for 4 or so years, 1% of the account/year in fees. I like them but I've planned to move away from them for a while, just to get lower fees. Just haven't pulled the trigger.
Roth IRA: $13,500 - with the same local financial advisor. Been giving the max (for one person) for a couple years now.
College: Vanguard account with $2,600 (VEXAX), $2,800 (VSMAX) and $7,000 (VFIAX). I haven't set it up but plan to start adding to this monthly sending it all into VFIAX. This is my test run into having my own account, plan is to basically open another account and move all the money from the financial advisor into VFIAX. I'm purposely avoiding a 529 or other college savings plan because I do NOT want to be locked into a plan where I MUST use my money for one thing and one thing only. As far as I'm concerned there are very real possibilities to where we won't be able to spend that money as it's intended. And I have no interest in funding any other kids colleges or paying 10% penalties.
That's about it. Open to any questions/comments/concerns and I appreciate any advice you might have.
I'm 34, wife is 32, kid #1 is 2.5, kid #2 is due in a few weeks and we're not planning on any more dependents. I've been a lifetime saver (thanks dad) but for most of those years never really knew what I was saving for, but having piles of cash at the right time worked out well for me on a couple occasions. I'm also very frugal (people close to me would say cheap but that's not true, I just find most things not worth spending money on. But I can certainly BTD if I see value. I tend to see value in things most others don't though and vice versa).
Income #1: $97,600 (plus 10% bonus)
Income #2: $77,500
Income #3: $10,800 (rental assuming it's rented every month, which it has been all but 3 months in the last 7 years)
Total Income: ~$190,000 depending on the bonus
Debt #1: $134,000 (home mortgage at 2.5% with a little more that 9 years left on a 15 year loan. We refinanced the first 30 year that was at 4.5% in 2016, 2.5 years after we bought it.)
Debt #2: $36,000 (rental mortgage - 30 year at 6 or so % that'll be paid off in 2044. We will never sell this house unless we sell our home as well which we have no plan to do, ever really. We like it here.)
Debt #3: $17,000 student loans at 6%. This will be paid off in 18 months.
Debt #4: $7,000 auto loan with 2 or 3 years left
Total Debts: $194,000
Net Worth: $360,000 (including $110,000 in equity between the two houses)
Cash: $55,000
$ Currently Invested (retirement): $200,000
$ Currently Invested (college): $12,500
Goal #1: Pay for full tuition for both kids. I'm using a reasonable tuition cost (the local public college I went to) as a target to save against which, according to their website, is just shy of $6,000/semester for this year.
Goal #2A: Retire in January of 2038. Semi-kinda-sorta-ramdomly picked this date for a few reasons...
A) It seems at least possible
B) It gives me an actual target to shoot for (5775 days from today) and measure against other than just saving a bunch of money with the hopes of retiring "early" one day
C) The date in mind is a Friday. The day before my 50th birthday. I wouldn't mind being able to say I retired "in my 40's".
Goal #2B: Retire as early as possible. I'm finally in a job that I really enjoy and definitely hope to retire from this company, but it's still work.
Current Investments:
401k: ~$80,000 combined - we both save enough (7% and 3%) to get the full match (7% and 3%)
HSA: ~3,000 - this year I started contributing the max and, more importantly, don't plan using it. Rather investing it for the whole triple tax advantage idea. We'll see how that goes. Still not sure about keeping receipts for 20+ and hoping that rule doesn't change that you can get reimbursed for expenses at any time in the future.
Financial Advisor Account: $105,000 - been with them for 4 or so years, 1% of the account/year in fees. I like them but I've planned to move away from them for a while, just to get lower fees. Just haven't pulled the trigger.
Roth IRA: $13,500 - with the same local financial advisor. Been giving the max (for one person) for a couple years now.
College: Vanguard account with $2,600 (VEXAX), $2,800 (VSMAX) and $7,000 (VFIAX). I haven't set it up but plan to start adding to this monthly sending it all into VFIAX. This is my test run into having my own account, plan is to basically open another account and move all the money from the financial advisor into VFIAX. I'm purposely avoiding a 529 or other college savings plan because I do NOT want to be locked into a plan where I MUST use my money for one thing and one thing only. As far as I'm concerned there are very real possibilities to where we won't be able to spend that money as it's intended. And I have no interest in funding any other kids colleges or paying 10% penalties.
That's about it. Open to any questions/comments/concerns and I appreciate any advice you might have.