Topic Title: Sixkids case study-- Is there any hope?
Life Situation: Married filing jointly, myself (age 38), stay at home wife (age 30), six kids ages 8 month to 6 years, living in Ohio.
Gross Salary/Wages: Commission based, so it varies, but approximately $50,000 figuring conservatively.
Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions:6.5% to 401k, $27.11 weekly for health insurance through employer
Other Ordinary Income: Monthly bonus at work. Also varies between $525 and $2,000. This amount is through corporate, and is 1099 income.
Qualified Dividends & Long Term Capital Gains: none
Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation: none
Adjusted Gross Income: This should equal the additions and subtractions above.
Taxes: Federal, state/local, and FICA. The past couple of years, my kids have gotten me tax credits resulting in $0 net taxes.
Current expenses:
House rent $950
Wife's car lease payment $360.50, 30 payments remaining.
My car payment $310, payments remaining.
Student loan $442 monthly. Forever remaining.
AT&T wireless $220 monthly, including payment plans on both phones, which add up to $51.05 per month $398.11 and $769.99 remaining balance
electric $225 monthly, budget billing
cable/internet $80 monthly
car insurance $127 monthly
monthly unlimited car wash plan $19.99
monthly gym contract $37.35
credit monitoring $29.95 monthly
abcmouse.com $7.95 monthly
groceries--wife covers this expense.
misc--gasoline, coffee, haircuts, etc. $200/monthly
Total monthly expenses $3009.94
Credit cards, not sure if I count them here. I use them and pay them in full for daily expenses, as well as the recurring monthly bills...
Expected ER expenses: (optional, if relevant) Not sure what this is.
Assets: $3,552 savings, deposit whatever I can, typically 10% of net weekly pay, but not always, and $4,088 401k balance. 6.5% pre tax income with employer matching 3%. I just got into this plan.
Liabilities:
2017 Chevrolet Traverse lease. 36 month term, $360.50. About $11,500 remaining payments, 30 months.
2014 Ford Fusion purchase. 72 month term, $310.20 per month. Not sure of remaining balance, but just bought the car when my old one failed.
Student loans. They're a mess. I owe about $105,000. Paying $442 monthly currently, with $50,000 in deferment. One account has balance of $9600, $202 monthly and 45 months remaining. another is $240 monthly, with about 20 years remaining. Should be around $50,000 balance there.
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Specific Question(s): I just want to get out of debt and grow a mustache. Is this even a possibility at this point in life? I'd love to retire at 55. I don't have the most interested spouse, but if I can make some progress, I think I can convince her of the benefits.
This spreadsheet
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B45krBaG0b6KTWZDeXEySVBHVXc/view?usp=sharing can be downloaded and used to help organize your case study posting.
It includes income, expense, and investment categories that will cover most situations. For "not too complex" cases it will calculate IRS, SS, and Medicare taxes exactly, and state taxes approximately, helping one evaluate the after-tax effects of 401k, HSA, etc. There is also a simplified section to evaluate "how long to FI?".
See this post and the spreadsheet itself for more details.
However you format your study, don't forget to subtotal each category and total up all major categories (income, expenses, assets, liabilities), rather than expecting the readers to add up your food + cable bill + etc. etc.
WARNING: If you have a "Your hair is on Fire!" debt emergency you will get face punches if your spending categories include line items such as a "new car loan" or spending that should only be part of your life if you are debt free such as a "gym memberships" or "manicures".
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