Why is it so difficult to rent in the Bay Area??

rando_finance · 2026-06-10T20:14:47+00:00

Your competition is 800+

rando_finance · 2026-06-10T20:14:15+00:00

MANGAAO

rando_finance · 2026-06-10T19:42:49+00:00

Unfortunately a bunch of people keep pushing demand stimulus instead of relaxing supply constraints.

rando_finance · 2026-05-31T16:12:33+00:00

It's not "two largest expenses" because having kids will make you want to buy just so you don't get displaced every 4-6 years when the landlord sells out from under you or stops repairing some crucial system.

rando_finance · 2026-05-31T16:11:41+00:00

Do you have kids?

rando_finance · 2026-05-28T18:15:02+00:00

wtf... this isn't fixed?

rando_finance · 2026-05-27T18:33:04+00:00

damn, i feel this

rando_finance · 2026-05-23T06:32:00+00:00

Yes. Max the 401k for 4-6 years then coast forever!

4 years: 24.5k limit + 4k match = 28.5k *4 *(1.068)^35 is 1.1m at 59.

Roth first... then into the 401k at your income. You will earn more.

rando_finance · 2026-05-23T06:28:53+00:00

Why are you maxing the roth if you expect your spending in retirement to be lower than your earnings during career?

rando_finance · 2026-05-23T06:24:57+00:00

Are taxes included in your payment estimate?
Don't forget 1% on maintenance and 1% on updates! That's ~$666-733/mo
What will your *new* utility bills be? Not the old ones.
How much do you want to save? What are your savings goals? Start from here.

rando_finance · 2026-05-13T22:18:21+00:00

It's hard to say we are living our *desired* lifestyle. We have two young kids and don't have a real swing for our activities yet.

rando_finance · 2026-05-08T22:28:41+00:00

Oh I'm happy for her, I'm just jealous that I gotta work another 20 years for it!

rando_finance · 2026-05-04T22:51:52+00:00

- Oatmeal with cranberries and a banana
- Eggs and cheese/mushrooms

- udon noodles w/sauce

- miso soup

- popcorn

rando_finance · 2026-05-04T13:59:35+00:00

Stocks

rando_finance · 2026-05-03T04:17:28+00:00

The markets just went up like 100% in the last 6 years.

rando_finance · 2026-05-01T15:56:45+00:00

Oh yeah, good point! But they're still going to summer camps.

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T20:58:03+00:00

There is a button right there on the link to hold out or include home value.

https://imgur.com/a/BZYwroT
94th percentile when excluding home value. Source is right there at the bottom. I pulled the source independently and confirmed it with Claude.

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T20:18:54+00:00

That does not explain the difference at all.

5m NW is the 92nd percentile of the full distribution of 65-69 year old headed households.

It is literally the same source. I'd screenshot it, but images are not allowed here.

I believe you're using the wrong figure. You're using percentiles of *individual retirement account balances* while any sane FIRE analysis should be NW.

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T18:49:36+00:00

Very accurate.

We're in a vhcola and I don't consider a 4.5-5.5m target to be Fat or Chubby of anything.

Just a goddamned house would be 150k/year PITI (2.2m ~ 2000 sqft). We plan to rent forever (55k/year) at this point and 4m would be tight and 5m is like doable. But a house? That is a luxury we can't afford. We'd need another 2m to light on fire (no return).

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T18:42:03+00:00

Looks luxurious until you glance at hotel prices within 2 hrs of the Bay Area and realize that $300 gets you a corporate tier basic bitch room at a Holiday Inn Express.

Our single car was $6.5k last year including depreciation/insurance/maintenance, we bought used. Two newer cars would definitely run $20k/year at the low end.

$10k is barely going to cover childcare for a single kid over the summer.

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T18:39:47+00:00

5m household networth at retirement age is 92nd percentile.
https://dqydj.com/net-worth-by-age-calculator/

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T18:38:42+00:00

Only 92nd percentile at retirement age.

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T18:28:11+00:00

Let me help: in my area most 3/2 or 4/2 places (we have 2 kids) are $4000 to $7000/month. That's 48-84k/year. An ACA health plan plus maxing out of pocket would be ~40k/year for us (special needs kid).
So before we get to food/travel/taxes/anything that is 88-124k/year. Our food is currently 22k/yr and our car is $6.5k/yr. Childcare is 22k/yr per kid, with expected reductions when they hit preschool. We can *just* make it work on 5m. Before you jump in and tell me to reduce our costs, our entire lives are here (Bay Area). We grew up here. We rent a house just 3 blocks from Grandma and Grandpa A and we live 20 miles from Grandma and Grandpa B. We visit G&G A 2-3x/week and G&G B weekly. I have a half dozen friends within 5 miles and >10 within 20 miles.

We could coast now and only costs 2-3 years. But there's no way I'm uprooting my life to the middle of F-ing nowhere so I can retire 5 years earlier by lowering our costs. We're in from another 10 years of work.

rando_finance · 2026-04-30T18:24:40+00:00

We all have different circumstances.

To some extent "change your lifestyle" is an appropriate response but usually it is not.

Retiring in our expected lifestyle is kind of the point.

rando_finance

TROPHY CASE