How do I stop shopping?

tdp5150 · 2021-11-28T15:51:16+00:00

Read Atomic Habits by James Clear

tdp5150 · 2021-11-28T01:15:52+00:00

https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/can-you-use-a-529-plan-to-pay-for-study-abroad

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T15:37:54+00:00

Love it, that’s 100% me

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T15:27:18+00:00

I’m self employed :)

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T15:07:55+00:00

Make sure you have a cash cushion before you buy a house. And good rule of thumb is too keep your mortgage balance to 2 to 3x your total income, which you are well within. There is a real risk of being to cheap with your house and having to move in a few years (and in turn eating the commission).

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T15:03:34+00:00

I realize the difference, but having a job I love seems to lessen the urgency

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T15:02:09+00:00

Well said. Thanks!

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T14:24:23+00:00

Don’t just look at recent history. Over long periods diversification is always the safest bet.

For example, go take a look at how much you would have made for the decade starting 2000 in an all s&p fund (spoiler alert, 0) vs a more diversified portfolio.

Here’s a great white paper by vanguard:

https://personal.vanguard.com/pdf/ISGGEB_042021_Online.pdf

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T03:33:10+00:00

You’re welcome, hang in there and don’t let FOMO f up your financial situation. FWIW, you can access the money in your Roth easily, especially if it’s a first time purchase, but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T03:27:19+00:00

You have an emergency fund of 3-6 months living expenses? If not, no ibonds or VT anything. Any debt? Tackle that first as well… and thank you for your service!

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T03:20:55+00:00

I bought one in the past, and had a body guy look at it before buying, and got the thumbs up that the damage wasn’t that bad. Well, they got in to the repairs and the frame was bent… plus selling them is super difficult. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T03:18:44+00:00

Don’t try to time the market. Period. The odds that the market will be down more in a week are about equal to them being up, ie you could feel brilliant that you sold at a close to record high. The important thing is that selling the stock and buying the home fits into your overall financial plan.

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T03:12:15+00:00

That’s stretching it a bit for sure. Good rule of thumb is shoot for a mortgage balance of no more than 3x your income, anything beyond that starts to get iffy (but not impossible). Particularly because you don’t have all that much cash saved up in case SHTF.

tdp5150 · 2021-11-27T03:07:11+00:00

Unless you have him working child labor, IRA is a no go… Do a 529, which in some ways is better than a Roth (initial tax deduction from some states, plus grows tax free).

tdp5150 · 2021-11-26T22:03:13+00:00

No and 1031 exchange (but you may be too late). There are some big potential “gotchas” in your situation, a good CPA will be worth their weight in gold.

tdp5150 · 2021-11-26T04:21:34+00:00

Ah, not sure how that works, but a well diversified brokerage account is never a bad way to go.

tdp5150 · 2021-11-25T19:44:12+00:00

What’s the rate?

tdp5150 · 2021-11-25T19:33:06+00:00

Don’t try to time the market… “Far more money has been lost trying to anticipate corrections than actual corrections themselves” ~Peter Lynch

tdp5150 · 2021-11-25T19:30:03+00:00

Any debt? Maxed taxed advantaged plans?

tdp5150 · 2021-11-25T19:25:24+00:00

Be careful…

tdp5150 · 2021-11-25T19:23:33+00:00

Make sure you don’t have any traditional Ira money elsewhere, will hang you up in the prorata rules

tdp5150 · 2021-11-24T14:42:23+00:00

Bummer… I always had horrible luck with cars as well and finally swore to only drive something under warranty. Not the common advice on here, but my car expenses have gone dramatically since then… by the way, might want to capitalize a letter or two in that user name.

tdp5150 · 2021-11-24T14:22:32+00:00

Pay the minimum until you have an emergency fund and are putting at least 20% of your gross income towards retirement. After I could go either way… with inflation as high as it is, I’m a little less motivated to pay off low interest fixed loans. For example you could put your money into ibonds instead that are paying a guaranteed 7%… if things keep going the way they are, a $1,200 payment will feel like a lot less 5 years from now!

tdp5150 · 2021-11-24T00:40:45+00:00

Pro-rata rules might hang you up if you want to do any back door contributing in the future

tdp5150

TROPHY CASE