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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH).

We were a one-income family for 13 years. In late 2015 my spouse returned to work (minimum wage/part-time/seasonal). Something recent on his resume just buys us more options for the long run. The main benefit of this job is that he just works while the kids are in school. As always, we are saving 100% of his income.

{2023 Update: I expect that MH will retire from this job when kids are done with college and/or home is paid off. I think he likes the idea of finding more interesting or full-time work, with kids both adults now. But practically, might just stick out the *good* and very flexible job as long as possible. The very part-time job is allowing him to pursue his film passions. We are only about 5-ish years away from financial independence. Would be very different if we "needed" the money or he thought he might have decades of working years ahead of him.}

We saved a lot while we were very young and also moved to a lower cost-of-living area, to make life much simpler. We still live in California though (in one of the most expensive regions of the U.S.). *Simple* and *inexpensive* is relative.

Likewise, we have never had debt aside from our mortgage.** My blog is a testament to how much simpler life is without debt; how we have that much more money to both save and enjoy!

**Caveat: I have no problem whatsoever with credit cards paid off monthly, or low-risk credit arbitrage (for example, 0%-interest debt while earning 5% on FDIC-insured cash). These are the kinds of debt we have had. Just not interested in high-interest debt, using debt to buy beyond means, and not interested in the hassle that comes with loans and payments. With age and means, the latter (hassle) is our biggest debt avoidance motivation.

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2024 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($35 @ 1/31/24)
...Trying to be more mindful about how the little amounts add up and are helpful.
...This is not an all inclusive list of charitable giving but it is a new habit I want to add in addition to other donations of time, goods and money

[ ]Pay cash for college
...This is so much a given, to me. But I realize not everyone can read my mind, and so will memorialize in my goal list.
...#1 We don't do Debt
...#2 The student loan system is a scammy and corrupt mess.
...Seriously, wouldn't touch these student loan servicers with a ten foot pole.
MM YEAR 1 ✔
MM YEAR 2 ✔
MM YEAR 3 ✔
MM YEAR 4

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($4,529 @ 3/31/24)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($1,750 @ 4/30/24)
...$350/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 4/30/24)
...Topping off with snowballs and/or excess cash
...Keeps us on track with $10K principal paydown per year

[/]9% of household income to work retirement plans
...(9% @ 3/31/24)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.
...Note: Total retirement savings rate is 20% (with IRAs)

Goal savings rate = 25% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources.

[ ]$14,000 to IRAs 2024 (MAX)
...($0 @ 4/30/24)
...Will fund with MH's income
...Will not fund until the year is over. This is for tax and planning reasons. I won't know what mix of Traditional/ROTH IRA we literally can contribute until we do our 2024 taxes. In addition to that, can make a more informed decision based on our financial and tax situation for the entire year.

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**Long-Term Goals**

[X]$500,000 in retirement accounts by age 45.

Current big picture goal:

[ ]$1 Mil in retirement accounts by age 52.

Stretch Goal: Achieve by age 50

Have decided to pretty much stay the course. Keep saving 20%+ to retirement. This means taking 401K match & maxing out IRAs.

NOTE: WE HAVE NEVER CONTRIBUTED LESS THAN 10% TO RETIREMENT. NO EXCEPTIONS.

If we can't achieve at least 10%, then something else has to give. I share because it's infinitely easier to save for retirement if you start early. Let the investments do the hard work for you.

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Debt: $85,000 mortgage
{Home Purchase Price $290,000}

Ongoing goal is to *never borrow money again.*

Took on a $230k mortgage in 2001 and have not added to that.

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Net Worth: Increase net worth by $600,000 in the next 10 years. This is my "financial independence" goal.

2017: +$ 70,000 (partial year)
2018: +$ 51,000
2019: +$105,000
2020: +$104,000
2021: +$215,000
2022: <$ 65,000>
2022: +$ 85,000
TOTAL: +$565,000

This is in line with prior goal, saving 100% of our expenses every year.

{Our expenses are far more consistent than our income. Also, helps to prevent "living up to income."}

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My Pages

Savers' Credit (but why bother...)

August 15th, 2007 at 05:11 pm

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=172969,00.html

IRS has a good article on Savers' credit (good reminder...)

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I just had an epithany about how when this credit has been mentioned in the past (here, forums, real life discussions) as the genral concensus is usually, "no one can make that little and save" or something like that. (Well I have managed to and I wouldn't consider a $45k income, "little." Wink

I was just thinking about that as I hesitated to post it, in terms of the recent reaming I got for making $30k out of school in the most expensive area out of the country. How combined with our measly $30k wages, dh and I made more than the average american household, just out of school. (Even though you can't buy a home for less than 1/2 mil and few understand how freaking daunting that is even with a six figure income. Was never able to reconcile those home prices to financially sound living; that is why we moved.).

So, um you can't have it both ways. $60k is insanely rich but $45k is insanely poor.

Which is it? LOL.

I guess I just right now realized the duality of it all, and the fact that you just can't win. Wink

It also could be an apples to oranges comparison. $45k is a household average and the credit for singles is much less (can't have income more than $25k for single filers). So the single filers have to be a lot poorer than the married filers to qualify. Though in both situations often there is just one wage earner. On the flip side $60k probably sounds like a darn decent wage to most young single people, though it isn't that hard to attain with two wages. So maybe that is where the juxtaposition comes from. I have always said life was financially easier having a partner...

I think most of the time we are all comparing apples to oranges though, everyone's situation has its own nuances.

Posted in Just Thinking | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Savers' Credit (but why bother...)”

princessperky Says:
August 15th, 2007 at 05:24 pm 1187198675
1187198675

45K certainly isn't little I could use a raise to bring us up to that!
baselle Says:
August 16th, 2007 at 03:30 am 1187235034
1187235034

that 45/60 K duality is a good reason why ignoring most items in the mass media pays off.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Savers' Credit (but why bother...)

2 Responses to “Savers' Credit (but why bother...)”

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