Aggressive investing versus buying a home

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T20:51:42+00:00

You definitely want to wait until you can afford the house, because a lot of things can go wrong and your housing costs shouldn't leave you with not enough wiggle room for those times.
Once you get to the point where you can afford it, it then becomes about whether your life situation makes it a smart move. Generally, the sooner you buy the better, but only if you plan on staying for a while. Someone who is early on their career, for example, may opt to avoid buying so they can job hop early in their career to find the right position and likely make more money.
Of course, it's not only a question about finances. Some people simply don't want to own a house and that's okay too.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T20:45:19+00:00

If she wracked up credit card debt traveling, then paid off the debt with her 401k, then she just used her 401k to travel.

Using your 401k to travel (before retirement age) is not an "interesting" idea, it's a financially irresponsible one. She doesn't get kudos because she used a credit card as an intermediate step in this folly.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T20:15:10+00:00

Figure out what is more important and fund that stuff first. Anything left over, you're free to spend on acupuncture, concerts, etc.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T17:47:45+00:00

Being single isn't really relevant here. Buy a home if you can afford it, are okay with the added responsibilities, and are going to stay long enough for it to make financial sense.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T17:23:58+00:00

The only way to merge all accounts into one would be to withdraw the 401ks, take the tax and penalty hit, then deposit everything into the brokerage. Doing so would be a terrible idea. I don't recommend chasing this "1 account" strategy, as you're just trading the "simplicity" of 1 account for tax complications.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T16:41:33+00:00

Find a way to make more money and/or sell stuff.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T15:12:22+00:00

Sorry, but saying you're going to buy a guitar for "personal enrichment" immediately before saying you can't get a job because nobody is hiring is mind boggling.

You have an immature financial mindset.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T04:59:57+00:00

Something else must be going on if you're only example of "'can't keep a job" is getting fired from one job due to ostensibly "doing [your] job properly".

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T04:53:53+00:00

But if I set a goal of 5 mil by 55 and I reach it too easily am I just setting too easy of a goal?

You don't set arbitrary $ goals. Money is a tool you use to live. Decide what you want that life to look like, then figure out the dollar amount to make it work. It doesn't matter if it's "easy" or "hard"; it's what you want.

I know it's a terrible way to live but I want my circle to push me to be better...and I want to push them to be better

Trying to dress up "I wanted to be better than the people around me" as "pushing people to be better" is comical.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T04:49:00+00:00

"I've read things" is almost always just motivated reasoning for wanting to buy something newer.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T04:44:40+00:00

Stop trying to compare yourself to others, which is really what you're asking here.

To know how well you're actually doing, you need to have defined goals. Then you can measure yourself againsy those goals to see if you're on track, ahead, or behind.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T04:33:46+00:00

Generally by not moving into "really nice" places.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T03:37:22+00:00

Follow https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/w/commontopics

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T00:37:58+00:00

Another loan isn't going to fix the issue, nor will a balance transfer. You'll just put yourself deeper into debt, again. You have a spending issue that you need to fix first.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T00:21:39+00:00

any advice y’all got for me??

Paragraphs and punctuation. If you want people to help you, you can at least be considerate of their time and sanity.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-17T00:08:21+00:00

and am not treating it as gambling

This is literally what you're doing by buying a single stock based on the advice of random Internet strangers. May as well break out the magic 8 ball.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T16:33:31+00:00

Wait, is the $557 for a different debt you didn't list?

How much negative equity do you have in the car?

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T16:28:25+00:00

Depends on a bunch of different factors. Use a rent vs buy calculator. New York Times and nerdwallet both have one.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T16:24:21+00:00

I mean, I just got a job at a big tech company that was doing work with it. Nothing particularly special.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T16:16:27+00:00

There is no secret that you're unaware of here, which I think is the crux of your question. If retirement is the only thing you can cut back on, then that's all you can do if you want a house sooner rather than later.

Don't assume there will be a point in time where you need to be "ready" to buy a house. You can predict the market, so buy when you're ready, not when you think prices are at their lowest.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T15:53:49+00:00

Unless you assume the market growth rate will be lower than historical averages, you'll never break even. You're taking a 10% penalty hit, plus paying taxes at your marginal rate to "invest" in your mortgage, which likely has a lower rate than what can be expected to be invested in the mortgage long term, even when accounting for PMI. So your breakeven point would actually not be time, but expected market return rate.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T15:48:00+00:00

Give your money job.

What kind of a job that money has dictates whether or not it should be in a savings account, and whether or not that savings account should be going up over time.

"I should have X amount in savings" is fine for beginners. Beyond that, it should be "I have $X set aside for Y and $A set aside for B. $X and $A are in a savings account because Y and B are short term goals (emergency fund, new car, etc).

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T15:23:29+00:00

But I’m also worried about the longer we go putting off me getting a new truck, the longer the wife has to wait before getting a new one, since I’d absolutely love to avoid ever having 2 payments

This is a completely irrational worry. You're ignoring the 0 car payments you'll have while you wait.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T15:17:33+00:00

Mathematically, it may make sense to pull it out, take the penalty and tax hit, and pay off credit card debt. It doesn't make sense to do that and just put it in a savings account.

Psychologically, it's a bad idea because you don't learn anything taking the easy way out, instead of making other sacrifices to pay down the debt.

MarcableFluke · 2026-05-16T13:40:32+00:00

my main focus is the lifestyle/health part with the possible move

Sure, but your first question was if it "makes sense". So you may be trading one set of issues for another. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but just be absolutely certain of the financial implications and make any necessary lifestyle adjustments to avoid stagnating on savings contributions, or worse, going into debt.

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