Ok so I figure in our current situation we could be about 7 years to FI if we didn't buy and just stayed in our cheap rental as long as possible. Emotionally--I gotta be honest, we want to move out, move up, and just get a nicer place. We do love our neighborhood but so does everyone else here and that's why they put up with living in 900 square feet 100 year old houses(or....they are millionaires and it's quite the opposite).
SO we are left with a tough call, do we a.) Stick it out here and save about 60k a year in pre-tax income......
or b.) buy a $250k to $300k house and maybe save more like $18k to $30k in pre tax income(if that)....I know houses can be beasts so who knows how much?
Our current situation is:
MFJ
Age: 30ish married couple(2 years)
Income: $115k
Stable: Both govt. She is stable with a good boss. I am stable, but new micro managing boss so feeling waaay less stable
Current retirement savings: $210k. Mix of TSP, IRA, Roth, Deferred comp, 403b. If I retire out of gov, I have a 1/3 pension(I pay 1%....sweeet)
Cash: Included in that $210k is $83k cash which always we had planned on using for a house
Car: 1 car. Beater but not to bad shape. We are hoping to buy another AWD vehicle before winter as we live in a mountain town and this is actually a legit mountain town(not vail or Big sky).
No other major assets/investments.
Thoughts? I have run the numbers and I figure we could be millionaires by about 7 years. Downside is I am pretty miserable in my job at this point. It's a good job but with the micromanaging it has turned into a nightmare for everyone in my group. This could change quickly or it could stay the same--who knows?
Open to any advice, criticism, cutting jabs, and inspirational ideas. Thanks all.