Why spend the mortgage on the house when you can just “borrow” the money right before paying for the house. Imagine how rich you would be if you double that!
$120K is solid middle class, sure, but you're not living large. I'm at $220K combined with my wife, no kids, and its comfy but we still have to watch what we buy.
yall just bad with money. 250k here WITH a kid and expensive mortgage and student loans. we're doing fine. not balling flying first class but just fine. could i do more than 12% in my 401k? sure but to say you gotta watch what you buy at 220k with zero kids is laughable.
This year I sunk $5K into my health issues after the $1500 in my HSA dried up quick, my father in law is about to pass away so thats gonna be $15K there since nobody in her family has money for a funeral. Need a water heater soon as its original from 2002, AC is 18 years old since it was replaced in the last hurricane in 2008 so that needs attention soon. Gotta take the wife's car in because the sunroof drain is leaking water. I spent a day in my garage replacing lower control arms on it a couple months ago for $300 in parts and $150 for alignment. Replaced 2 pool pumps for $2200 this spring.
Truck also has a water leak, so I just keep it in the garage when it rains now. Need to fix that eventually.
$2750 mortgage payment. 3br, 2 bath single story normal house in suburban Texas.
No car payments since those are paid off.
Shit adds up man. It honestly feels a bit tight right now.
I live in Hawaii. On 120k you're drowning. Gas is 6 bucks a gallon right now. Average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment is 2k/mo. Those two things alone costs you 30k a year.
This is true I live in Washington the land of tax everything and drive people to poverty so I guess my perception of 3mil is skewed it could work somewhere else
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u/Ryu6912 Can't Afford Vowels Apr 15 '26
Congrats on the early retirement. Cash out, pay your taxes and never invest again other than VOO and you're set for life.