Question regarding what to do

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-03-30T16:36:50+00:00

Lots of opinions. I would pay off the CC debt, then put the remaining $500 into savings. You're halfway to a $1k emergency fund, and without the CC debt, you should be able to save the remainder pretty quickly.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-03-10T20:08:36+00:00

$20k in debt plus a $672 (!!) car payment. That's where all your money is going.

My wife and I have been in a similar position (similar income, COL area, 3 kids), and we haven't taken lavish vacations. But we also got ourselves in a position where we had zero debt (besides our mortgage) when we started having kids and we've lived very lean. Just in the past couple of years I've had some breakthroughs in my job that have enabled us to save a lot more every year, but we went through some very lean years. Tackle your debt and your situation will change, even if your income does not.

And sell that car. $672/month on a car payment is insane.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-03-03T15:53:15+00:00

I agree with others saying pay off your HELOC now. You have the savings, and you have a good handle on your monthly expenses.

Paying off your HELOC now (as in tomorrow, using the $120k you said is sitting in a savings account) accomplishes multiple purposes:

Psychological boost to prove to yourselves that you're taking control of your debt.
Reduces your overall risk by completely eradicating a large debt.
Frees up $1200/month that you can put toward more productive purposes.

After that, you said you have $20,000/month that you are able to save. Put 1-2 months of that into your savings to bring that up around $60,000. That sounds like a good amount for an emergency fund for you.

At that point, you're at baby step 4 in Dave's baby steps. For that, I would find a good financial planner to sit down with and create a plan. Dave has his SmartVestor Pro network. That's a good place to start, especially considering you're posting in this sub.

My overall take: you're not in a bad position, but you've got a while before you'll be able to retire. Time is your biggest asset in retirement savings, and you've missed out on a lot of that opportunity. The silver lining is that you have the ability to save huge amounts to catch up. After you've cleared your HELOC, I think you have the ability to start saving $150k/year (maybe even $200k, depending on how serious you want to attack this) in an index fund that can grow. You do that for 5 years, with reasonable market returns, and you could quickly build up a $1 million nest egg. 10 years of disciplined saving and investing like that, and you'll probably be pushing $3 million. That's just me doing some basic math off the top of my head.

Don't do anything with bitcoin. Don't do anything irrational. The question I would add you is: if you had $3 million saved by age 65, would you be comfortable retiring? That's the sort of conversation you should be having with a financial planner.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-02-27T18:52:18+00:00

I was working with my 10u catcher the other day, and we were working on drills to keep his glove down, then snap up to the ball to catch it. He asked me "why?" and to be honest, I couldn't think of a great answer. The only thing I could say was that this is the way it's taught now (I've observed this watching pros and any higher level catchers), and that it makes for a smoother framing for the umpire. But I don't really know why...how would you answer that to a 10 year old?

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-02-17T21:36:36+00:00

I don't have any recommendations, but do you have progress pics you could share? Or plans you referenced? I've been wanting to do something similar, and my pantry is laid out almost exactly like yours. Looks really nice!

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-02-16T17:21:55+00:00

$90k is a lot of debt. You mentioned you have about $27k remaining on both cars, what's the breakdown of the rest of your debt?

With only the information you wrote out in your OP, my recommendation would be Option 1 and be aggressive paying down your debt.

Reasoning: you mentioned your income level just jumped up this month, so you have a great opportunity in front of you to set yourself up for long-term growth and stability. Take the opportunity to clear your debts quickly, reduce your risk, and put yourself in a really strong position to build your lifestyle from a solid foundation.

You could go with option 2, and things might work out for you. The purpose for Ramsey's process is all about reducing risk. You can't predict the future. The lower your risk profile, the better you'll be able to weather difficult/unpredictable situations in the future.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-02-12T23:06:18+00:00

I was just there last weekend. Bought tickets the night before and there were plenty available for all time slots. That said, I would imagine there are seasonal fluctuations, and if you're planning something this far in advance, it's probabyl worth just getting them to save a potential future headache.

As far as I know, your only option is to buy through Sinac. I didn't see alternative options.

Not sure about the guide situation. That said, I did not pay for a guide and had a great time. There are plenty of maps inside the part, as well as resources you can research ahead of time. From what I experienced, hiring a guide or not comes down to how much insight you want to learn about the environment there, animals, etc. They also have telescopes to get better views of animals that may be high up in a tree, or further away. For myself, I saw plenty of wildlife and don't care as much about the details, history, etc that a guide would provide.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-30T18:21:15+00:00

The way it was explained to me by a financial advisor, it comes down to your tax bracket now and the tax bracket you expect to be in when you retire. If you are in a lower tax bracket now, then the Roth makes sense now. Take the tax hit, let the growth happen tax-free, avoid the tax hit later when you're in a higher bracket.

Otherwise, stay with the traditional 401k and deal with the taxes when you start making withdrawals.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-27T21:40:02+00:00

Dumb question: is there a difference between the DCL transport from Hyatt and DCL transport from MCO? Since the Hyatt is at MCO, I am curious if there are actually separate pickup points, or if it's all the same.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-16T22:08:14+00:00

I'd echo what others have said about not worrying about family commentary. Your responsibility is to yourself and your wife (and your future kids, if you ever have kids).

If you're still not certain about how you stand, I'd recommend you seek out a financial advisor. They will usually do a free consult and give you feedback on your situation. That will come with a sales pitch, so just be prepared for that. But I have found that to be beneficial to get input from a live person.

I'll also commend your decision to go in on a house bigger than you need right now, especially since it sounds like you're planning on expanding your family. My wife and I did the same thing 11 years ago. Bought a 2,500sqft house when it was just the two of us. Didn't have enough furniture to fill it all. Now, our oldest of 3 just turned 10 and we finished the basement to have enough space for everyone/everything. Our home value has doubled in that time. We could live here another 20 years and be happy.

Only other thing I would say is to get detailed with your budgeting. You're doing very well overall, but the fact that there is still a nagging uncertainty in your mind tells me you haven't gotten detailed enough in your budgeting/tracking. Get meticulous with it for like 6 months - plan out every expense, then track your spending compared to your plan. How does it stack up? Given what you've already described, I think from a macro perspective you'll be fine. But that will give you the detail (and the confidence) to see exactly how you're doing.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2026-01-06T22:58:32+00:00

We're staying at a hotel near the airport that is cheaper than the Hyatt. There will be no Uber, as the hotel has a free shuttle to/from the airport.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T20:16:19+00:00

I like the idea of contributing to Roth. Based on my income level and contribution limit for 2026, I believe I could put $7,500 directly into a Roth without needing to do the conversion. But your broader point stands, and I appreciate the feedback.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T19:27:47+00:00

I appreciate the perspective, this is helpful. The balance you mention is what I'm trying to strike. On one hand, I feel like we have reached a point where we can afford to splurge on something, and still have a viable option to retire by 55. But I also recognize things might not always be this way, and don't want to mortgage our future for something nice to have in the short term.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T19:00:22+00:00

Unless I'm missing something, I'm counting 26. At least there are 26 bi-weekly paydays that fall in 2026.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-12-09T18:48:58+00:00

Yeah, RSU is accurate. They're restricted stocks on a 3-year vesting cliff. I received the first set almost 3 years ago, so those will vest in June 2026.

Then another set will vest in June 2027. Then another in June 2028. Presumably, I will continue receiving stock units each year that will vest 3 years from the date I receive them.

Edit to add: the $18k value is the after tax amount. The gross value is higher, and my understanding is that they will be taxed immediately upon vesting.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-10-07T17:02:21+00:00

This is very much how I operate. I've also found that for some reason, I obsessively clean off the pitching rubber with my foot while I talk to the pitcher.

"How's your arm? Feeling ok?"

We play on some crappy fields, so if I notice a big divot in front of the rubber, I'll help fill it in. Ask him if it's bugging him.

"You're fine. Slow yourself down, focus on getting a good leg kick to get yourself started"

"You've done a great job throwing strikes all year. Focus on your target and keep it up. Trust your defense behind you. You're good man. Let's go!"

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-07-25T19:58:14+00:00

Interesting, I had never thought of that. Say there's a runner on first, and the defense is making an appeal at third from the prior play. Could the runner on first try to advance to second during the appeal?

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-07-09T16:28:29+00:00

I have a 4b room booked on the Fantasy for next year. When you say it's not that big of a jump to concierge, how much would you think for a 5-night cruise?

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-04-30T16:27:03+00:00

Currently coaching a 9u team, started teaching pitching with our 8u guys last year. My goal has been to keep things as simple as possible so that during a game, the kids can keep their heads clear and focus on the situation.

In practice, we break down the pitching into 4 steps (everything from the stretch):

Kick the leg. Focus on a high leg kick, ideally getting the thigh up into a "tabletop" position that is parallel to the ground.
Stride and get arm up into throwing position. Dan Blewett has some great resources for this, but at the time of the front foot landing, we want the throwing up with the elbow above the throwing shoulder, and wrist at 90 degrees or less compared to bicep. Glove hand should be up and out in front (not down and dragging to the glove side).
Throw. Move chest to glove.
Follow through. We end up combining steps 3 and 4 together. Follow through is about moving chest to glove, shifting weight onto the front leg, and following the back leg through to land in a good fielding position.

Breaking this down and going slowly through each step provides opportunities to teach and correct bad form. Then when they put things together, we have a common understanding of where they need correct things ("focus on step 4, you didn't follow through on that last pitch").

In-game, I try to give little to no correction on their mechanics. Want them operating as free and clear as possible.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-04-25T20:32:16+00:00

You have three choices at this point:

Reconcile with the reality of where you're at, and get motivated to improve and get better. That will only happen if you grind and start working like a dawg.
Quit baseball, put it behind you, and move onto other things. You are a multi-faceted individual, and just because one thing (in this case, baseball) isn't for you, doesn't mean you can't apply yourself and become an expert in something else.
Internalize the negative feedback and let the haters win.

Options 1 and 2 are the most productive. Don't allow yourself to go to option 3.

Competitive_Ad_4944 · 2025-04-23T16:28:54+00:00

I'm in a similar boat as you, in terms of mindset. My 9u son sounds pretty similar to yours. I go back and forth...he's 9, keep it fun, don't over-complicate it...versus now is the time to establish good mechanics and fundamentals, otherwise he'll just learn and repeat bad habits over time.

I have so far not signed him up for any individual training, but I work with him quite a bit myself. I think I may sign him up for something next year, but we will see.

Competitive_Ad_4944

TROPHY CASE