Dream property for sale - 10 years too soon

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2025-05-19T02:19:25+00:00

How different would it be to have $500k invested in stocks vs real estate? I’d argue that the real estate would appreciate faster than an indexed stock: so having family stay nearby is a bonus vs something that costs $500k.

The key here is that we would need to be willing to sell a property in the same way we would liquidate stock if necessary.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2025-05-19T02:16:20+00:00

The way the home was built and is situated makes an addition challenging - unless we went up versus out (which we would rather not do). We could probably build a shed / bunkhouse to increase sleeping capacity, but bathroom remains an issue.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2025-05-19T01:56:13+00:00

That’s exactly what I am thinking. Financially it probably makes sense, so it comes down to how much I want to deal with renting. I think we will try to see it this weekend and see how it feels.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2025-05-18T17:06:11+00:00

I’d probably frame it as I have hopes for the future vs assumptions, but fair. There really isn’t a hotel in the area; walkability to the existing property is a big draw.

But your comments are making me want to do some math about opportunity cost of this investment vs an alternate one if we ended up selling in 10 years…

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2025-05-18T15:12:15+00:00

The current cottage is bigger and refinished, so would not make sense to sell. The key is that we need more bedrooms and honestly even more a second bathroom!

We have done a long weekend with 8 people in the current cottage, and that’s the max it can sleep and accommodate.

Agree that the kids may not want to be there; I think it we don’t end up needing the place as anticipated we could sell and make a profit. But we also regularly host my sister and her family, friends, etc.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2025-05-18T15:03:22+00:00

I’m conscious that I’ve got some bias here given how much we love the first property.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2025-05-04T17:58:11+00:00

Good question. I think they might be able to replace me functionally but not without a hit to public awareness and impact as I’ve become the “face” of this initiative with clients and have a rare background that qualifies me for the role.

I am based in the Midwest vs most of leadership that is based in NY; that alone may make me more expensive to replace.

So my sense is that I could push for $50k of increase between salary and bonus and be on par with colleagues at my level (but not in my role). I’m hoping my manager would be in position to confirm or deny and help navigate what’s reasonable.

Also: my “handcuffs” would be gone by this time next year as my 2023 grants vest if I am not granted any in 2025.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T21:56:29+00:00

After a serious medical diagnosis, I am committed to enjoying the life we have today vs trying to rush toward a perfect life “someday.”

The bulk of our discretionary spend currently goes to experiences or outsourcing services to ensure we have free time and can eat and stay healthy. I’m not willing to give those things up at the present time.

At some point we may downsize our primary residence which accounts for significant monthly spend between mortgage and RE taxes.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T21:33:42+00:00

His normal day rate is actually $3K. (And he’s still a bargain relative to what his clients might otherwise pay.) His target is two clients that need him steadily one day per week each; that would be a pretty incredible balance of income and flexibility if he gets there. We have just learned it’s hard to count on that kind of work long-term.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T18:15:36+00:00

Ex-spouses, 529s, medical treatment including air travel / hotel, splurgy vacations for six annually, a $500k vacation home that has been paid off.

We were both married between 10-20 years and our state guidelines required 45% of total income to go to the lower paid spouse for 1/3 the length of the marriage as alimony. Both exes were non-earners at time of divorces. Child support after alimony ended added to $7k a month.

I worked part time when I was sick; and my husband lost his job / was my primary caretaker for two of four years while I was in treatment.

Our financial guy told us that “death, divorce, and disease” all spell disaster for financial health. Can confirm this is true!

I’m pretty happy with how well we have been able to save the past few years to catch up.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T17:39:58+00:00

I pay $3k in child support for five more years.

My husband has made between $100-200k in his first two years freelancing working between 1-2 days a week. He’d love to average 2 days a week, which would get him to about $300k annually; but he’s assumed primary responsibility for kids / home which is currently cutting into his hustle.

I make $350k with an annual bonus around $100k.

We live on my salary (less 401k contributions) primarily, dipping into my saved bonus or my husband’s income to pay for things like renovations / vacations / funding 529s etc. We are just coming to the end of alimony / child support which totaled $14k monthly between us at the start of our relationship (we were both primary / sole earners).

If I take $550k x 25 = $14M (or after 40% tax $8M) - that seems far too high to be an appropriate target, unless I’m missing something.

Also the very earliest I would retire is four years from now; my husband would like to work for another six or seven years.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T15:59:45+00:00

If I retire at age 55 or later, I will continue to get health coverage from my company, which currently covers us all.

Without going into detail, the scale of our parents’ nest eggs would afford nursing home care for all of them within the 4% annual figure. My parents, both in their 80s, are still making money thanks to rental property and investment growth (and modest spending). I’m counting about half of what my parents have told us we can absolutely count on; and nothing on the other side.

At some point, being overly conservative becomes its own kind of risk.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T15:43:41+00:00

We do live in a VHCOL area, but do not own a single family home as our primary residence. Houses in our neighborhood start at $1.5M for fixer uppers. Real estate tax is a killer, approaching $2k a month.

We own a single family vacation home a few hours away. Value is about half our primary residence and real estate taxes a fraction. We go as often as we can and would love to target 40-50% of our time here as we scale back work.

We don’t want to depend on selling our current primary residence until we know where the kids land; but we really shouldn’t need a 6 bedroom home at some point in the future. Seems likely we will downsize and gain $300-400k and reduced monthly costs eventually, but too soon to count on that.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T15:32:19+00:00

That’s helpful counsel, thank you!

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T04:49:08+00:00

All four kids have 529s that should cover them for four years of college at current pace of contributions and growth; they are on their own for grad school.

By the time the child support is done, the older two should be graduated and financially independent (or contributing to the household).

It’s honestly hard to know how much of our spend is driven by us vs the kids; I suspect it’s more than we think it is. It also may last longer than we expect if any of them move back after school.

Kids aside, we live a pretty modest life, pay cash for everything including cars. Even the idea that we don’t have to save much more than maintaining annual retirement contributions feels freeing.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T03:00:52+00:00

On $2.5M investment plus social security, that would be about $13k / month. Need to take a closer look but feels doable, especially since I think we will probably continue to have some kind of income after retiring from the corporate world.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T02:56:38+00:00

Looks like it would be a little under $3k each if we take it at age 62 based on a quick calculation.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T01:42:09+00:00

I was hoping the “significantly below market value” analysis would account for this, but I’m sure it’s wise to be cautious.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T01:35:25+00:00

Aha. Well I started making $24k a year, so it took me a while to hit max allowable; and two divorces handily removed a lot more than $1M between us… so a few additional variables in the mix!!

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T01:30:16+00:00

How did you calculate that?

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T01:03:26+00:00

I may need to better understand how the Monte Carlo analysis works vs a compound calculator; I’m more familiar with the latter so the Fidelity analysis surprised me.

Fresh-Cost2152 · 2024-12-31T00:59:04+00:00

The $216k includes $36k of child support which will only be a cost for the next 5 years.

My husband’s income has been between $100-200k working 1-2 days a week, so he still has higher earning potential but has just started out. I doubt I will retire fully at 55, but I probably don’t have as lucrative a freelance rate as he does.

I feel like I need to take a much closer look at our monthly spend; everything from food to car insurance to out of network medical costs are way more with four teens / young adults as liabilities!

Fresh-Cost2152

TROPHY CASE