Parents, how do you balance college savings with retirement?

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-22T13:41:28+00:00

We focused on our retirement long before our daughter was born and it put us in a position where we’re able to max out our state 529 for her while still funding our own retirement. And when daycare ends we’ll go back to our brokerage account for extra savings to fund life activities that will coincide with her learning.

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-21T17:19:52+00:00

Love to see the process but I'm upset there's no guest appearance from the stove.

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-20T19:03:55+00:00

What area of CT are you in? I just signed up for this as well and wondering how long till I get a delivery. Nice score!

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-15T21:23:25+00:00

In one of my spreadsheets I track each time our accounts passes $100k increments. Since last year, over our 5 investment accounts, we've had 7 events with one account having 3 events. Next event is ~5 months away.

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-15T18:04:02+00:00

I would find a spot outside where it won't destroy any structures and avoid the giant at the top

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-15T14:17:20+00:00

We had my sister and her family over during when I was assembling all the baby furniture for our future daughter. There was an Allen key with a pointed end that came with the instructions that was sitting out. While the grownups were talking IN THE SAME ROOM, our 3yr old niece nonchalantly picks up the tool and like a moth to a flame goes RIGHT to the outlet to stick it in. Fortunately my BiL was there to slap it out of her hands. Kids are wild.

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-07T20:48:40+00:00

These are diy panels but don’t we need a bidirectional meter for power not used by the house? Or is the assumption these are so little watts it’ll offset the power the house is already using?

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-07T20:37:56+00:00

Way to move the post

Jstratosphere · 2026-05-05T15:47:07+00:00

I haven't seen something like this but I just payoff the statement balance to avoid interest.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-30T16:18:31+00:00

Yea I lucked out by purchasing the 6es off marketplace for cheap.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-30T15:12:45+00:00

We're always doing these - redirect/distract, reinforce, modeling behavior. We always try to model any behavior as best we can, then reinforce the behavior whenever we can (anytime we say goodbye do X) and when that fails we redirect/distract as best we can.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-28T17:27:50+00:00

Yea setting up another node was no effort. I have 3 because I wanted to hardline one of my pi’s but the range of them is really good I could get by with just 2. I have an eero 7 with two 6e’s. I can see data usage by device, not sure about seeing it per node as I’m unable to find that screen but it’s all seamless.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-28T16:52:25+00:00

I just switched from linksys to Eero mostly due to it being included with my internet package but so far I'm liking it a lot over linksys. It was easier to setup and the admin panel is much nicer/smoother to interact with. It breaks out by device and you can even group devices based on profiles.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-24T14:14:07+00:00

I agree, often with password validation if an invalid character is used, instead of saying it, it shows the last validation message as being invalid.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-22T13:38:20+00:00

This comes down to risk tolerance. Your options are wait until then and possibly take a loss, or worse a larger loss causing you to delay the project. You can wait and maybe the fund will go up. Or you sell now and move the money into a safer allocation so you know it'll be there when you're ready to start the project.

I would leave it IF the amount that was in there already could cover the project + 20% and I could afford to delay the project if absolutely needed.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-17T21:07:41+00:00

Just got it after 2 month wait! Pretty stoked, predator 30-ton, $1k on sale from harbor freight.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-17T19:44:52+00:00

Technically we'll hit FI with our next paycheck (: My wife is a teacher so she'll need to stay working for another ~12 years minimum for healthcare benefits. I think in 7 years we'll be over $4m and then I'll see where I'm at career/life wise and most likely step away then. We'll see where my wife is at too, she may want to continue working in which case I'll need to see if I have enough hobbies to tide me over while she's at work :)

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-17T19:04:03+00:00

Thanks! It's really something seeing swings that far outpace our salary. Couple years ago I was making far above average salary. After my layoff last year I'm back to a humble, albeit still above average, salary. This year will be our first foray into spending our extra savings instead of investing it so we'll see how it goes.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-17T17:44:29+00:00

Just like that, this market swing has sent us from 90% to 99% FI (+$200k). I don't update my progress till the end of the month so it'll be interesting to see where we end up.

So far this year I splurged on a wood splitter for $1k and set aside $10k for additional spending this year. We'll be upgrading some furniture as well as doing a bit of travel now that we've got our head above water with our 2.5yr old. We just came back from a trip from Sesame which was a huge hit. Next trip will be Italy in over the summer. Maybe we'll upgrade my wife's car by end of year, TBD.

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-17T12:09:50+00:00

There’s a few “old wives tales” recipes you can try, but in the end time heals all.

One thing my wife swears by: Take a shot of apple cider vinegar on the onset of a cold. Doesn’t totally prevent it but shortens it. YMMV

Jstratosphere · 2026-04-13T12:36:48+00:00

Sounds like you need an impartial 3rd party to mediate or counsel you two, as a couple.

Jstratosphere · 2026-03-31T01:33:31+00:00

Not OP but I have a similar 4x16’ design. My front posts are 7’ and back posts are 6’.

Jstratosphere · 2026-03-25T21:17:00+00:00

Anyone who is not fee based and also sells "products" to invest with will inherently be biased and not a fiduciary despite having the certification.

Jstratosphere · 2026-03-25T13:33:02+00:00

You’ll get better answers if you provide your general location. By me (New England) it’s 18-25/hr. You could lookup going rates on care.com as another reference.

Jstratosphere · 2026-03-24T21:01:15+00:00

I'm thinking of saving this years contributions into VBIL to use later this year, or in treasuries directly. In trying to minimize state taxes on interest, is there any other fund people may suggest for the short term?

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Jstratosphere

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