OK, that’s what I was thinking but wanted to check. So all of my income at this point, 100%, is “unearned” I guess, meeting, not only RMD money but Social Security and pension and etc.Originally Posted by Tybee
OK, that’s what I was thinking but wanted to check. So all of my income at this point, 100%, is “unearned” I guess, meeting, not only RMD money but Social Security and pension and etc.
I understand the struggle to spend, completely. My old YMOYL habits have served me well, I have a relatively stable setup now that doesn't - and won't - require a mandatory drawdown, and I currently live on about 25% of my post-tax income. Kinda hard to let go of those numbers and convince myself some luxury is appropriate.
I've gone in the opposite direction (from Lhamo's house remodel). We moved to Indy for DH job in a bit of a whirlwind and bought the least expensive house in an acceptable neighborhood that I could find on short notice, sight unseen. Not a forever space, but I've been living with zero personal upgrades to a 1941 "starter" house for four years now, except for a fireplace insert that allows us to burn some of all the hardwood that's falling out of our old trees, and frankly, it's quite relaxing. So the ancient parquet floor looks like crap and the rear french doors are more like having a hole in the wall. The last set of someone's "upgrades" were a cheapo flip that lets me know what I will never want in a house again - doors that won't shut, wooden countertops, peel n stick floor in the kitchen.
I realized that for years I'd just been substituting "necessary" renovation spending for other spending addiction behaviors. This house could use help but it's not really worth doing. One of these days I'll either move or roll up my sleeves, but personally, life's rather short to spend staring at drape swatches.
I guess my conundrum is that I've maybe painted myself into a corner - figuratively. (Literally I've barely touched a paintbrush in five years.) Everything I haven't chosen that I might like in terms of a living arrangement seems to have the potential to upend my stability. It wouldn't today, but given the current political instability, I question how much of my comfort zone and cushion is simply going to disappear at some point. Will muni bond income continue to be tax free? Will it continue to exist? How long will annuity companies be able to shell out payments ... etc. etc.
I'm a little too attached to my security, maybe.
Kib! my house in Hermann is from 1941! It is adorable.
It was cute but rough when we bought it, and we sunk several hundred thousand dollars into it and now it’s cute and nice.
We like fixing up old houses, and I feel that it’s kind of a “rescue “mission. We just prefer old houses. Every piece of property we have purchased in Missouri has left our hands better off than when we acquired it, and so far that is 6 pieces of real estate either gone or better after we sell.
I've been a rescuer of old houses for a long time, too, and it has definitely helped my bottom line. This one's got me stuck, though. It's badly laid out and the cost of a gut and remodel would be ridiculous, considering I can't see the input it needs ever paying for itself, and we don't want to stay in the area after DH retires in a couple of years. I grabbed it in a panic to have a place to live, an impulsive mistake for a flipper, but it's serving that purpose reasonably well.
That leaves me a bit unplugged, though. I am big on Having A Plan and then rolling up my sleeves and doing, and this seems to be a season of waiting and breath holding. I get in my head about what else to do, finances, aging, relationship, interim plans, diet, ideal community or like-minded place, exercise, travel, and a lot of other crap. A big circle, really. The money's fine if I stay and sit tight. The money's maybe not always going to be so fine, and if I leave, that might happen sooner than later.
We are in a similar conundrum with getting old added to the basket. The constant chaos of the past few years makes one unsure on how to proceed. We bought this house sight unseen nine years ago and put about $50K into remodeling the kitchen, cosmetic stuff, landscape etc. But it was never a house we LOVED - it was just what we could find and afford at the time. Do we stay because its comfortable and familiar and give up the search for the next one? Sometime I will lay out the pros, cons and choices to see what the simple folks here advise from afar.a season of waiting and breath holding.
I've been a rescuer of old houses for a long time, too, and it has definitely helped my bottom line. This one's got me stuck, though. It's badly laid out and the cost of a gut and remodel would be ridiculous, considering I can't see the input it needs ever paying for itself, and we don't want to stay in the area after DH retires in a couple of years. I grabbed it in a panic to have a place to live, an impulsive mistake for a flipper, but it's serving that purpose reasonably well.
That leaves me a bit unplugged, though. I am big on Having A Plan and then rolling up my sleeves and doing, and this seems to be a season of waiting and breath holding. I get in my head about what else to do, finances, aging, relationship, interim plans, diet, ideal community or like-minded place, exercise, travel, and a lot of other crap. A big circle, really. The money's fine if I stay and sit tight. The money's maybe not always going to be so fine, and if I leave, that might happen sooner than later.
what is “badly laid out “though? I think of the little street of 1941 houses I know in St. Louis, pre-war houses, and they are really NICE. They are upscale compared to our 1941 country cottage built by country folk which did have its oddities “layout” mainly because the front of the house was situated toward the direction they thought the road would go in.
the road later went into what they built as the back of the house. so that made entry staircase weird.
To answer the original question, most of my money is still in my former employer's 401k account. It's with a well-regarded financial institution with good investment options and low fees, so I've never seen any reason to move it. Most of DH's money is in a Vanguard account. We also keep a much smaller amount in an online high-yield savings account.
I'd love it if you would! This is more or less exactly what we're facing. The way it comes back around to money, subject of the thread, is that I do have cash available to cash out of this house, throw a bit more into the pot and move on to something more suitable, but the timing's wrong, and inflation has me nervous too - do I really want to double the amount of equity I have in real estate, and then watch the property tax increase price me out?
Well that was weird, I was replying to Iris and instead of the post I was creating, it put Pinkytoe's in twice.
Badly laid out: This house has been a rental for a long time. Someone who maybe didn't know what they were doing converted the attic to a bedroom and put in a staircase, taking up precious real estate on the first floor and creating a not particularly pleasant or usable room upstairs. This little neighborhood in the middle of the city is on well and septic, god knows what's in our water. We really need a second bathroom. The "dining room" taking up more precious real estate is basically a foyer between the kitchen, living room and backyard, there's no practical space for a table. There is both a coal chute and an old oil burner in the basement along with the current inefficient gas furnace.
There are some sweet features like these old french doors, brick patio and paths, built in shelves and nooks, but on the whole the cheap reno's and the actual location of the property within the city weigh heavily against upgrading. Probably the biggest factor is just that I don't want to be here - i.e. in a bigger city, and especially not Indianapolis. The feel is "suburban, with inner city prices". Putting sweat and money into this til I love it makes it that much harder to get out.
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