My Case Study: At a cross roads
Life Situation: MFJ, 3 kids under 8 y/o, live in sunny California
Gross Salary/Wages: 155,000
Pre-tax deductions:
Health Ins - 346 (only 10 months out of the year)
State Pension - 1,300
Daycare FSA - 417 (max)
Other Ordinary Income: Wife teaches dance one night a week for $108/wk.
Taxes: $22,367 federal, $6,400 state
Current expenses: I've attached the case study spreadsheet, but it boils down to the 1,700 left over at the end of the month and what to do with it.
Assets: not sure if it belongs here, but I have a rIRA with 5,300 and a tIRA with the same and wife has a 403b with 4,800. None are currently receiving any contributions
Liabilities: Vehicle 1, original loan amount $14,000, rate 2.79%, original length 36 mo, and monthly payment $406, current balance $8,300 (just over blue book, you may remember me from "Should I keep troublesome car?" thread earlier this month)
Vehicle 2, original loan amount $23,260, rate 2.49%, length 48 mo, monthly payment $509, current balance $22,360 (DW's new baby, not going anywhere)
Specific Question(s): I decided to do the case study because this morning I asked about what I should be doing with the $1,000 extra I have been paying towards the student loans. I had previously been paying off CC debt, but that is all gone, so I moved down on my snowball list.
Our goals are to be consumer debt-free and buy the house we currently rent (worth about 350k) with a 20% down-payment, but I don't entirely trust our pensions and since they pay by years of service, if either of us wants to retire early, it would mean a huge cut, so I would also like to start saving for retirement.