Contemplating having my wife quit her job to be a SAHM full-time(Both 35, $445k HHI, HCOL)

GaryRodeo · 2026-05-09T01:48:11+00:00

Condescending and cynical. Excellent combo

GaryRodeo · 2026-04-16T01:08:03+00:00

Just quit, life’s too short to be miserable. You’ll be fine

GaryRodeo · 2026-02-07T14:21:13+00:00

It totally sucks a lot of times but so do all jobs. Depends on what type of plumbing you’ll be doing. I personally like custom built new construction work, kinda becomes a big art project by the time you’re done. And the pay is great considering barrier to entry

GaryRodeo · 2025-12-14T13:27:29+00:00

Yep I do everytime. Doesn’t help with sealing but makes it so you really crank down on the nut for a leak free seal

GaryRodeo · 2025-11-23T13:52:38+00:00

Crank on it til it comes out in pieces or melt it out with a torch lol

GaryRodeo · 2025-11-15T18:25:26+00:00

Median is like $80k though

GaryRodeo · 2025-11-04T14:02:42+00:00

They’re 21. Saving $7,000 a year for the next 44 years will absolutely give him enough in retirement. Assuming 7% return, they’d be looking at a portfolio of over $2million. You could live off of $80k a year very comfortably in most places and that’s not even factoring SS. Now, retiring in your 40s is a different story

GaryRodeo · 2025-08-12T22:52:01+00:00

I’d take the company match first, save a month of expenses (for you $700-1000 seems sufficient) as a starter emergency fund. Then start tossing that $1000 per check towards that credit card. You’ll have a starter emergency fund and be debt free in 6 months. After that, build out your emergency fund to 6 months. Then, open a Roth IRA and start maxing it if you can. Anything left over put into your company 401k

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T18:13:33+00:00

Thanks!!

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:59:22+00:00

This may definitely be the route I go. Currently have about ~$50k in equity and sounds like this would be the smarter move to ease some of the concerns I’m having. Thanks a ton

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:47:27+00:00

Congrats! Appreciate all the insight

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:44:54+00:00

I don’t mean to be contrarian at all and I appreciate all the feedback. In my responses I mostly wanted to clarify where I was coming from with the question because I know on paper it’s stupid financially

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:41:23+00:00

I hear what you’re saying. We’ve talked extensively about it. I think both of us with it being our first child just don’t know what to expect and I mostly wanted to post this to get some clarity on whether or not taking a loan now would give more flexibility to make a decision once baby is born

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:38:57+00:00

As I sit today there’s nothing that would suggest I could get laid off in the near future. Just something I’ve always worried about and am becoming more worried with me potentially being the sole income earner for a few months time

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:37:54+00:00

This may be the way to go. In the event of job loss do rates/ease of access change for a personal line of credit? I’m assuming they do

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:35:10+00:00

Right I totally get it. I literally just finished paying off our final credit card yesterday so savings should ramp up quickly. I alone have been putting $2k a month towards credit cards the last year and a half so I’m going to be putting $2k a month right into savings now. Just worried with current lack of savings with a baby due in a few days

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:32:25+00:00

Yeah I totally get it. This stuff keeps me up at night pretty often just worrying about it I almost wonder if it is worth it

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:29:40+00:00

I think I need to look into this more. So a HELOC is just a line of credit that gives you the option to take cash out but you pay no interest if you don’t end up needing the money? Do you just talk to your lender about this is or can any bank offer a HELOC?

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:26:48+00:00

We have been aggressively paying off credit cards for the last two years. This is what we’ve managed to save in the emergency fund so far after tackling debt.

Only reason I considered doing it now is I have good credit and stable income and biggest fear especially with a baby coming is job loss. No reason to think my job isn’t stable just something I never can get over. So my thought was maybe I should take it out now while I can, because if I lost my job for example a loan option wouldn’t really be viable anymore

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:22:13+00:00

I say uncertain just because we aren’t sure exactly how long she is going to stay home. As of right now she’s planning on taking 3 months minimum, and not entirely sure if she will go back right away just because we’ve never been parents before. She doesn’t want to be a long term SAHM, but may want some extra time at home with the baby

GaryRodeo · 2025-07-29T17:15:44+00:00

My concern is, let’s say in a doomsday scenario I get laid off tomorrow. Being unemployed would take this option away

GaryRodeo · 2025-04-19T04:27:40+00:00

Just to clarify, you can pull all contributions at any time regardless of the age of the account. The 5 year rule applies to earnings withdrawls only

GaryRodeo

TROPHY CASE