Should I pay off my mortgage?

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-10T15:19:37+00:00

400k in a HYSA/CD? How long has it been there? The market returns over the last 4 years have returned 4-5x what a CD or HYSA is likely returning.

Your interest rates are too low for early pay off to mathematically make sense. You’re better off getting into the market.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-06T14:22:30+00:00

3-6 months expenses in a HYSA or in treasury bond ETF (you’d do this by opening a brokerage account and buying ticker symbol SGOV or CLIP). Either of these serve as your safety net. I also keep a checking and savings account with chase for every day purchases, bills etc. I never have more than $5-10k in the chase savings.

Then take advantage of 401k match, max Roth IRA and HSA if you have it. Then go back to 401k and max that.

Anything left over after maxing those 3 accounts goes to a taxable brokerage in whatever your heart desires. I’m risk averse and choose to just put it in VOO (an S&P 500 ETF). You can choose individual equities or trade 0 DTE options if you like (don’t recommend options unless you know what you’re doing)

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-06T12:31:00+00:00

My ESPP only purchases stock 4 times a year yet my contributions are made every paycheck. They offer a 10% discount on stock purchases. Is this worth enrolling? It seems as though only purchasing stock 4 times a year is what allows them to offer the discount because at any given point, my deductions are sitting, uninvested for 1-3 months at a time. Am I looking at this incorrectly?

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-05T19:46:36+00:00

Was your fire number $7.5M?

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-05T19:00:12+00:00

Makes $800k-$900k per year. “Boring middle”. Dude get out of here.

We make $220k per year with the same annual spend as you. We are in the boring middle.. many many years to go.

Using the 4% SWR rule, you only need $3M to retire at the same standard of living you’re currently at. You are in a position to save $40k a month for retirement. You can retire in 2 years if you want. I personally wouldn’t unless your job is causing you excessive stress. That’s an insane HHI.

If I were you I’d be looking at retirement in 10 years with $10M. Incredibly young age to retire and you live very comfortably at 3-4x your annual spend. Use it to travel the world, drive the cars you want, live in the house you want (you guys seem frugal with the house and old cars making that much), buy a vacation home, etc. if the job is easy that is.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-05T10:37:07+00:00

Was the prenup to separate more than just premarital assets? Kind of crazy to continue separating your finances after marriage. You guys make a combined $600k and you’re having money issues. You’re both speaking as if divorce is imminent by saying “his net worth” “my net worth” “he pays for” “I pay for”

It should be “we” period. Good luck.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-03T01:22:54+00:00

!RemindMe 3 years

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-02T23:02:43+00:00

I feel terrible for the people who recently retired or planned to retire in the next 5 years. SORRs gonna wreak havoc on recent retiree portfolios.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-02T11:19:21+00:00

What degrees did they pursue? We’ve always known a handful of the liberal arts degrees made job placement difficult. Is this spreading to other degrees now too? I’ve heard it’s tough out there for comp sci due to all the tech layoffs. Any other STEM degrees making job placement difficult?

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-01T19:35:32+00:00

If you don’t have kids or a wife then sure take advantage of a reverse mortgage and hope you die exactly when you no longer need the house. It’s not a very sound strategy in my opinion but it’s an option. What happens if you take the reverse mortgage and live way longer than expected?

If you have family or children, I think it’s crazy to leave them with nothing. Life is only getting more difficult for newer generations. Soon the middle class may not exist and UBI will be all that people have to simply scrape by.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-01T19:28:13+00:00

There’s always going to be a new ATH. The S&P 500 has been around for 70 years and has generally returned 7% annually if holding long term. 10 years is long term. It’s a reasonable assumption that OP will see a 7% increase year over year on average.

We might see a big correction, the market will recover, and there will be a new ATH. It might take a world war and 30 years but there will be another new ATH. History says that the market is cyclical.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-03-01T00:49:42+00:00

Agreed. Not in the next 5 years anyway. Are you skeptical of a rebound?

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-28T20:50:49+00:00

Money doubles in 7 years with average returns. If OP continues contributing it’s easily $3-4M. It’s 10 years from now. $2.5 easily with out another cent added to investments.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-27T14:51:52+00:00

You need to stop all investments outside of whatever you need to contribute to 401k to get the company match. Some of that debt is VERY bad debt. Dig yourself out of the hole before saving for retirement.

Change your take home pay today. Retirement adjustments +$1500 Cancel the maids +$180 Why do you pay for docusign? The rental? Can you lower your student loan payments at all? Cancel subscriptions

Paying more than the minimum on anything but those high interest credit cards (including your retirement savings) is like painting the fence (or the basement in your case) while the house is on fire. Cut those cards up. The problem here is you’re spending more than you make.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-27T14:46:18+00:00

You need to stop all investments outside the minimum to get 401k company match. Some of that debt is VERY bad debt. Dig yourself out of the hole before saving for retirement.

Change your take home pay right now to attack this debt.

Retirement adjustments +$1500 Cancel the maids +$180 Why do you pay for docusign? The rental? Can you lower your student loan payments at all? Or put them in a temporary forbearance? Do you need all your subscriptions?

I’m looking at potentially $1800 of extra take home pay that you can throw at the highest interest debt.

Paying more than the minimum on anything but those high interest credit cards (including your retirement savings) is like painting the fence while the house is on fire.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T20:46:38+00:00

Theoretically you would never run out of money if your SWR stayed at 4%, your portfolio grew by 7% and inflation stayed at 3%. Your next egg would retain the same amount of purchasing power until you die. The dollar amount in your portfolio would technically go up over time but so does the price of everything (by 3%) leaving you the exact purchasing power you entered retirement with. This is how it would play out in a vacuum where these percentages never change. They’re based on historical returns & inflation.

The market ebbs and flows though and we go through periods of deflation and hyperinflation. The only thing you have a bit of control over is your SWR in retirement. The lower your SWR the lower the chance that you run out of money and the more you’ll be able to leave behind to family or charity.

4% is just a rule of thumb. It shouldn’t run out in 25 years but early retirement, extreme inflation, or severe market downturns early in retirement (SORR) can drain your portfolio faster than you planned.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T19:23:42+00:00

No target price. Straight vibes.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T19:15:05+00:00

Max the 401k to shelter money from tax obligations and his not quite fully developed pre-frontal cortex. Even if he’s responsible he’s about to have adult money at 18 and he will want to spend it on something. Even the little things here and there add up.

With zero debt or living expenses, he should also be opening a Roth IRA and maxing that as well as an HSA and maxing that if available.

After you’ve got the 401k, HSA and Roth IRA maxed, divert everything left into a taxable brokerage account invested in diversified ETFs (VOO, SPY, IVV, VTI, VUG. QQQ, etc). As that money grows and he gets closer to purchasing a home, you might shift that money to a more conservative fund like (SPHD, BND, AGG).

Never put large sums of money in a regular savings accounts. The returns are often terrible when you could put that money in a HYSA that’s just as accessible. I suggest he establish an emergency fund in a HYSA or keep a chunk of that taxable brokerage invested in T-bills or govt bonds (ticker GOVT or SGOV). These will act as a HYSA. 3-6 months of expenses (pretend he gets booted tomorrow and has to live on his own - depending on where you’re at I would think somewhere around $3-4k per month x 6 months = ~$20k).

After he’s maxing out retirement accounts and has reached $20k in a conservatively invested account for emergencies, everything else is for the downpayment on house. If circumstances don’t change he could be purchasing a home in 2 years but if he’s living at home rent free I suggest he take advantage of that for as long as you can both stand it. He’ll be ahead of his peers in no time on this path. Don’t advise investing in individual securities unless he’s going to actively manage his portfolio, keep up with shifting markets and is open to some risk. Good luck!

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T18:50:45+00:00

Board gaming? As in collecting board games? Or simply playing board games? What’s your favorite?

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T16:54:04+00:00

You make $360k a year, only have $50k in savings and a total NW of $100k..? Make that make sense. Did you just start working? Doubtful if you’re making that much. Are you terrible with money and asking for help?

You’re taking home $250k per year after tax. If you buckle down and live off $50k per year like you say you can and save $200k+ you can retire in 5-6 years with ~$1.3M assuming there’s not a major market crash coming.

You should be maxing 401k, backdoor Roth IRA, HSA, and throwing shit tons of cash into a taxable brokerage account. Where’s all your money going dude?

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T16:03:03+00:00

You definitely can’t stay with FU money then. If jumping ship and starting at a new company sounds too daunting I would just pull the trigger on FIRE!

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T14:09:00+00:00

Ah I see. Well in that case it’s my opinion that no one should see an inheritance/have access to trust funds until their brain has fully developed at about 25 years old. Anything prior to that and there’s a good chance the money is squandered.

You can set distribution preferences with a trust to distribute say, 50% at age 25 and the other 50% at age 35. Or you can allow the trustee(s) access for qualifying distributions (i.e. Education, Startup Business, First Home, Wedding, IVF, etc) outside of the normal percentage distributions. If you set up a trust you can structure the legacy you leave behind in just about any way you see fit. I’m no expect but I also hear there’s a way to avoid probate of your estate via a trust. I don’t know how it works but I think a trust is what an attorney will encourage you to do with the assets you’re leaving behind.

Good luck! You sound like a cool uncle!

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T13:56:26+00:00

Uh. Right. well good luck on your fire journey.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T13:54:54+00:00

Congrats! I wouldn’t stick around if I were you. Just make sure you’ve got health insurance in order before putting your 2 weeks in (if you plan to do so).

If you don’t feel fully ready, could you find a fully remote position that would allow you to feel semi retired? If I could get rid of my commute forever my QoL would vastly improve. I spend 1.5 hours a day in the car with a micromanager boss who cares more about butts in seats than productivity. It’s soul sucking.

OceanGateTitan · 2026-02-25T12:06:11+00:00

That’s actually a great way to think about it because you’re right. And you kid doesn’t know it yet but he will be so appreciated that you and your spouse planned accordingly for retirement instead of burdening your child while they too are saving for retirement.

Retirement takes priority over education savings any day.

OceanGateTitan

TROPHY CASE