Hello! Longtime reader, pseudo mustachian (I try, but usually fail. I think i've got the big stuff down though), first time poster. I have a case study for all you wise mustachians!
Life Situation: Married, I'm 26, my wife 22. In the suburbs of Minneapolis. Our 1-year anniversary is coming up soon.
Gross Salary/Wages: $165k-ish (wife: 60k, me: $55/hour - probably work around 2000ish hours this year)
Pre-tax deductions: 401k: $9,000 annually (15% of wife's pay, my employer doesn't offer a 401k somehow). Health insurance: $4,000
Other Ordinary Income: None
Qualified Dividends & Long Term Capital Gains: not significant
Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation: None
Adjusted Gross Income: $150k
Taxes: Federal, state/local, and FICA: Federal: $25,380, Minnesota: $8,916, SS: $7347, Medicare: $2204
Current expenses:
Mortgage: $1013 P&I, $320 T&I (both monthly), $80 PMI, extra principle payment: $1600 (monthly)
Utilities: $250/month (electricity, gas, water, garbage)
"Her" budget: $650 / month (shopping, gifts, restaurants, hobbies, hair, nails, lunch with friends, home decor)
"His"Budget: $150 / month (shopping, gifts, restaurants, car maintenance)
Cell Phone: $35
Gym Membership: $19 (don't get mad!!! this honestly almost pays for itself. I swim every weekday morning, use their showers, their soap, their sinks, their shaving equipment, hairspray, mouthwash. It comes to less than 1 dollar a visit)
Car insurance: $55 / month
Gas: $55 / month
Target: $200 a month (toiletries, household cleaning, makeup, some food)
Grocery: $250 (we eat like kings - ALDI is the greatest thing known to man)
Netflix: $12 / month
Spotify: $16
Amazon Prime: $8.50
Taxable WealthFront accounts: $1950 / month
Emergency/Savings account: $693 / month (this will probably drop off soon-ish. Currently have $12,000 in a 1% savings account through discover bank - we expect our 6 month true "emergency" to be about $13,500. But, we use this account for unexpected purchases as well (e.g. new water heater (september), dishwasher (november), etc.)).
Roth IRA: $900/ month (for both of us)
Vacation fund: whatever is left
Assets:
Home Value (Zillow): $240,000
Roth IRA: $30k
Traditional IRA: $9.5k
Taxable WealthFront Accounts: $8k
401k: $2k
Emergency Fund: $12k
Liabilities: Home Mortgage: $197,000
Specific Question(s): When can we have children, responsibly?
My wife wants to quit working when we have a child. She really wants a child, but she also wants a bigger house to raise the family in. At the neighborhood we're looking at, that could mean a 500-600k house (which is crazy, i know). I told her that if we want all these things, we need to wait like 10 years before children, so we can amass more wealth to be closer to FI. She was thinking more like 2 years to start trying (she'll be 24, me 28), and have a child in about 3 years. We've talked about getting a dog to push off the need for a child right away, but that's just another expense that pushes our FI goals further down the road.
Thanks for your help and analysis! I really appreciate it!