Going nowhere fast- help

[TiJR]

Hi, newbie from Australia.

50 and married, with 2 kids aged 12 and 16.

Income is $65k after tax. Wife hasn't worked for 16 years

Assets
Home- $550k with $210k mortgage.
Rental property valued at $335K, mortgage $285K. Costs- $7k per year.

Super- $177k

No other debts

No emergency fund or savings.

High stress each fortnight meeting bills etc

Question- advice on reducing financial stress please

[MrOnyx]

I don't know much about the Australian system in general, but the crux of this, for anyone, is to work at reducing your biggest expenses. If you don't know what they are, then track your spending and categorise everything. If you find you're spending a disproportionate amount on your car(s) or entertainment etc., then you know where to start economising. Once your expenses are in order, and you're working at a money surplus each month/fortnight, then you start building up an emergency fund, then a retirement fund.

Is there not a possibility of asking your wife to return to work? It would seem apparent that the children, while young, are not entirely dependent on there being a parent at home 24/7 anymore. Just worth a consideration.

[Villanelle]

I'd advise you to read the post about writing a case study and then post a very thorough one.  Without that all any of us can really tell you is spend less, make more, or do both. 

[mrmoonymartian]

Is there not a possibility of asking your wife to return to work? It would seem apparent that the children, while young, are not entirely dependent on there being a parent at home 24/7 anymore. Just worth a consideration.

+1. Unless she's disabled or something? Otherwise I don't get her position. You might be hitting your 50's, but you're not in the 50's.

Also am I reading you right that your rental is negative cashflow, or did you just not separate our the rental income? Unless there is good cashflow I'd probably sell it and put the money to better use - like tax-free interest savings on your PPOR.

Make sure you've checked the investment order as a starting point.
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/investment-order/msg1333550/#msg1333550

[TiJR]

Thanks for the replies.

Fair point about the case study. I guess I am looking for some general advice because I reckon we could cut back a bit, but not a huge amount.  I reckon we just don't have enough money coming in. My wife does spend a bit more than I'd like but not ridiculously so.

My wife was sick a long time ago, and has gotten used to not working, and I obviously can't force her go back to work so am trying to make some decisions to reduce the stress. Haha- maybe she does think she is in the 1950's.

The rental has a negative cash flow but marginal.

Cheers

[TiJR]

Yes, and will check out investment order
Thanks

[Villanelle]

Thanks for the replies.

Fair point about the case study. I guess I am looking for some general advice because I reckon we could cut back a bit, but not a huge amount.  I reckon we just don't have enough money coming in. My wife does spend a bit more than I'd like but not ridiculously so.

My wife was sick a long time ago, and has gotten used to not working, and I obviously can't force her go back to work so am trying to make some decisions to reduce the stress. Haha- maybe she does think she is in the 1950's.

The rental has a negative cash flow but marginal.

Cheers

Which is more important to her--continuing to not work or her family's financial and emotional security?  I'd hope that's an easy question to answer, and it sounds like that's the decision with which you may be faced.  If her decision is anything more than the obvious, then I'd say there are far, far bigger issues at play here. 

[mrmoonymartian]

My wife was sick a long time ago, and has gotten used to not working, and I obviously can't force her go back to work so am trying to make some decisions to reduce the stress. Haha- maybe she does think she is in the 1950's.

No, you can't force her to. But there was a little thing called the "women's liberation movement" which meant that assumed roles went out and negotiations on how best to contribute to the household came in.

Did you agree to be a sole breadwinner forever after or did you just get gender-stereotyped into it?

If you are feeling stressed, communicate effectively and in your hypothetical worst case scenario get zero understanding or help... what would that tell you about the health of your relationship? And wouldn't that information be just as valuable as actually getting some help to deal with the source of the stress?

[Dicey]

If your wife does not share your concern, she's never going to be motivated to seek outside employment.  How candidly do you discuss your family's finances?

[Chrissy]

Advice on immediately reducing stress:  GET RID OF THE RENTAL.  Take the $50k from the sale and use that as your emergency fund.  In one swoop, you will have eliminated a huge responsibility, an EXPENSE (since it doesn't make money) and added some financial security.

[Cranky]

If the rental isn't making money, get rid of it.

If your wife doesn't work away from home, how does she see that? What did she do before?

Let me say that I was a sahm for 16 years, and I was not lazy and I wasn't old fashioned, either. My dh worked long hours and was unavailable for parenting between 7AM and 7PM. He didn't cook or clean or do laundry or walk the dog. He got to do the work that he loved, and then came home and did whatever he wanted.

Teenagers take a lot more supervision and hauling around than many people realize.

I went back to work, part time, because our oldest was going to be off to college pretty soon, and a job pretty much fell in my lap. In a lot of ways, it would have been better if I'd been home for another year or two, but we did make it work.

Anyway, if money is that tight, it's time for a serious family budget and planning meeting.

[frugaliknowit]

Nix the rental.

Beyond that, please provide a case study as we have zero to go by...

[TiJR]

Thanks for the helpful replies, especially in the absence of a full case study. It's really helpful just to hear some thoughts aside from your own. I am going to seriously think about selling the rental, unless my wife decides to work soon. Cheers