<< Back to all Blogs

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.

-------------------------------

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
...($6,653 @ 4/30/24)
...$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% @ 4/30/24)
...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.

-------------------------------

**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.

-------------------------------

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.

-------------------------

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."}

-------------------------------

My Pages

My Kids are Rich...

July 8th, 2007 at 03:00 am

Well I got fat checks for the kids today so I popped on my online Vanguard account and set up their UGMA/UTMA accounts. Very fast and easy. Woohoo.

I had some money in my bank to spare so just took care of it. Was eager. I set up auto investments so $50 is going to each account every other month.

They may get a few more dollars before the end of the month as neither of them have had their birthday yet. 2 birthdays next week. I'll just hoard it up and deposit the rest (if any) at the end of the month.

The kids' net worth is now about $6k. Most of it is in a 529 plan. I am jealous. LOL. If they don't spend a lot on college, like we didn't, they are going to have a nice nest egg when they get out in the real world. That's the part I am little jealous of. Wink

It is funny I read that MSN article on a bunch of financial tips (someone mentioned here) and one of them said yeah, take care of yourself first (retirement first), but investing a mere $25/month for college now can make a huge difference. I missed that one the first time but I must have taken it in subconsciously because it was around the time I read that article I figured I could budget $25/month/kid.

I don't really plan to do much more in the near future. Between this and the 529 (& all their gifts) I don't plan to put any more money in their name or in a 529. When our IRAs/401ks are maxed we'll working on building our taxable accounts and/or paying off the mortgage. A paid off mortgage is worth $15k/year which will go a long way for college if need be. I don't want to over-save in the kids' name. I want them to appreciate that they aren't going to get everything handed to them in life. If the rest is in our name we can spend at our discretion - college, help them buy a house out here, or just leave them to their own devices and retire early. That doesn't sound so bad...

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “My Kids are Rich...”

Amber Says:
July 8th, 2007 at 03:53 am 1183866802
1183866802

Way to go on saving for your kids, I think it's great
LuckyRobin Says:
July 8th, 2007 at 05:53 am 1183874032
1183874032

So is that $6K together or each?
monkeymama Says:
July 8th, 2007 at 01:58 pm 1183903118
1183903118

Together.

Makes it $3k/each.
scfr Says:
July 8th, 2007 at 03:04 pm 1183907081
1183907081

That's great!

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)

Name:	*
Email:	Will not be published.
	Subscribe: Notify me of additional comments to this entry.
URL:
Verification:	* Please spell out the number 4. [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]

Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

My Kids are Rich...

4 Responses to “My Kids are Rich...”

Leave a Reply