NiteFlyer's Account Talk

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$3,596/mo!! sell that house and move to Georgia! They are cheaper down here and taxes are too!
 
nnuut said:
$3,596/mo!! sell that house and move to Georgia! They are cheaper down here and taxes are too!
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It's a really nice house. 3,750 sq.ft. above ground and a finished 2,500 sq.ft. basement on 1.3 acres in the Wash. DC area. Before the housing crash it was valued at over $800K. Now it is worth about $125K more than I paid for it but that's not enough for a no-MPI refi.
 
Remember when money comes out of TSP it is taxed at your AGI level - you'll also pay up on your annuity income. The only place to hide money from your AGI level is in a Roth or stock market capital gains which are taxed at a lower 15% level providing your income is less than $450K. Dividends are also taxed at 15% for now. If you are ever offered a defined contribution plan instead of your defined benefit plan - take it. You will be more in control of your AGI.
 
OMG! Burn the house down and rebuild with the insurance proceeds. Make sure no pets are harmed or PETA will have your ass! :laugh:
 
NiteFlyer said:
It's a really nice house. 3,750 sq.ft. above ground and a finished 2,500 sq.ft. basement on 1.3 acres in the Wash. DC area. Before the housing crash it was valued at over $800K. Now it is worth about $125K more than I paid for it but that's not enough for a no-MPI refi.
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Sounds like a really nice home and at a Great price, good work!!
 
My house and cars are paid for and I make enough retirement income to pay your house payment every month, with some left over that's after taxes, FEHB, Life Insurance and survivor's benefit deductions. Not rich, not poor.
 
nnuut said:
My house and cars are paid for and I make enough retirement income to pay your house payment every month, with some left over that's after taxes, FEHB, Life Insurance and survivor's benefit deductions. Not rich, not poor.
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Nice... I'm planning to get to that point :) The not rich, not poor part seems true for every income level I've had in the last 20 years. I always feel comfortable but never like I have everything I really want (within reason).
 
WOW!!! You must be pulling in D.C. area locality pay. I don't take home enough in 2 pay periods to make one of those payments. Hey, at least our cars are payed for. We saved up and paid cash for them. It was nice to be our own banker for a change. :)
 
NiteFlyer said:
I can't retire until 2023 at the earliest. My wife's debt is worse than mine but I can't talk to her about money. So, while my credit cards could be paid off within two to three years, hers are maxxed out (only way she keeps from going higher) and would take about six years. I've made the mistake of refinancing the house, twice, and paying off all debt, only to have her run hers back up again. One of the good things about having my TSP witholding maxxed, is that if I ever needed to, I could drop it enough to take over her debt payments.
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Hey Brother, if I may, I'd like to offer a suggestion. My wife and I took a class called "Financial Peace" taught by Dave Ramsey. It was one of the most financially life-changing decisions we've ever made. It's really turned our finances around, and put us both in the drivers seat, financially. I would highly recommend looking into it (try Googling it). Classes are taught all over the country via DVD's and workbooks. It's an excellent resource, and will really bring you and your wife together on the same financial page. I think a lot your money/debt/retirement issues might get resolved this way. If nothing else, it will give you both a LOT to think about.

Best of luck to you,

JR
 
Cactus said:
WOW!!! You must be pulling in D.C. area locality pay. I don't take home enough in 2 pay periods to make one of those payments. Hey, at least our cars are payed for. We saved up and paid cash for them. It was nice to be our own banker for a change. :)
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Basically, I pay for a mortgage, utilities, food, and gasoline. My cars have been paid off for many years (I have a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 and a 1995 Pontiac T/A; my wife has a 1993 Ford Bronco with 57K miles). I WANT a new Dodge Viper... that's not happening though. Even a used Yugo would cost too much, and I think they pay you to take them.
 
MrJohnRoss said:
Hey Brother, if I may, I'd like to offer a suggestion. My wife and I took a class called "Financial Peace" taught by Dave Ramsey. It was one of the most financially life-changing decisions we've ever made. It's really turned our finances around, and put us both in the drivers seat, financially. I would highly recommend looking into it (try Googling it). Classes are taught all over the country via DVD's and workbooks. It's an excellent resource, and will really bring you and your wife together on the same financial page. I think a lot your money/debt/retirement issues might get resolved this way. If nothing else, it will give you both a LOT to think about.

Best of luck to you,

JR
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I'd LOVE to get her to something like that. If I bring it up though, I'm likely to be injured. I am ok with the way things are now. We have a joint checking account for household expenses and separate accounts and credit cards for ourselves. She can make slightly over minimum payments on her cards and can save a bit for things she really wants. I'm paying mine down fairly well and will then start saving/investing to have enough to pay hers off in case I ever need to. I won't pay them off as long as she has the ability to run them back up though. Maxxed credit cards are the only way she can control her spending. She's retired and wants everything NOW while she can enjoy it. I just need more COLA's or my GS-15 so I can have more discretionary income.
 
Well then this lowly GS13 is doing ok then, debt free except the mortgage, and that will be done before 2016 if i stay on track. we are lucky, no student loans.... and a house that is half the size of yours, not including the basement, not in DC! And my car has 175k miles on it. But we are a single income, and have 1.95 kids (any day now). So life is good.

My wife used to work with a girl who was $90k in debt, renting a house, renting furniture, then got a bank load for her nose job and second boob job (guess what, she was still ugly). That was a messed up story. So its all a matter of perspective i guess. Of course if you are not able to recognize that its time to start paying it off, then you are really hosed. That girl didnt have a clue.
 
maverick06 said:
Well then this lowly GS13 is doing ok then, debt free except the mortgage, and that will be done before 2016 if i stay on track. we are lucky, no student loans.... and a house that is half the size of yours, not including the basement, not in DC! And my car has 175k miles on it. But we are a single income, and have 1.95 kids (any day now). So life is good.

My wife used to work with a girl who was $90k in debt, renting a house, renting furniture, then got a bank load for her nose job and second boob job (guess what, she was still ugly). That was a messed up story. So its all a matter of perspective i guess. Of course if you are not able to recognize that its time to start paying it off, then you are really hosed. That girl didnt have a clue.
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That girl was nuts... (hmmm, I wonder if there's any relation to... nevermind).

The best thing about my mortgage (unless Congress really screws me) is the tax deduction for the interest. That reduces my taxable income enough to drop me into a lower tax bracket! If I were to pay my house off, my taxes will go up. Of course, the extra income from no mortgage would be higher than the tax savings I'm currently getting.
 
I've thought about taking out a home equity loan if they're still being offered - the interest is still tax deductable. Get a home equity loan and use the proceeds to pay off the credit cards and at least be able to deduct the interest. Or, open a margin account and borrow against your collateral - the interest is also tax deductable. Just be sure your pockets are deep enough to cover when the market goes against you.
 
Thats a great idea, get rid of the high interest credit card debt. Which is good unless you hit the credit cards after you do so, which would be terrible.
 
I'm trying to get my LTV up to where I can refinance and save a bundle. A home equity loan would put me farther from that goal. As for the margin account, I've fantasized about doing that but I don't like the possibility that I could get in too deep.

My credit cards are fairly low interest. I have them at 0% (I use this one and pay it off each month so no finance charges), 3%, 8%, and 11%. The last three were used to pay for expensive repairs (like replacing my engine and exhaust in my Trans AM; 350 hp, headers, and a loud Borla catback exhaust).
 
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