Annual Evaluation Post

[Gardenhand]

Hello its become sortof an annual ritual for me to throw my personal finance details out on the interwebs for complete strangers to anylize and give feedback. So mide as well keep the ball rolling

Montly Net Income: +4000 from job +300 from Child Support= 4300

Monthly reacuring bills: -3300

Mortgage 1200 LTV 79 percent (interest rate 3.75)
Utilities 400 includes cable phone water gas electric...
Car payment- 750 (interest rate 2.99)
Fuel and tolls 150
Car insurance 100
Food 500
School lunch100
Karate 100

Other Debt- 5k credit card debt on zero percent interest card for about 12 more months (kids brayces).

Emergency Fund/Savings

Roth IRA= 6375 (contributions-5500) gains up 875 this year.

Physical Silver Value= 4225

Savings Account= 1,000

I expect a tax refund in the amount of 7,000 dollars for 2019. I realize giving the government a tax free loan year after year is silly on my part however my dependent situation has changed a few times over the years and to play it safe I choose to be Single One on my paycheck when I end up being head of household with two dependants. 

With the 7K refund I plan to put 6k into the Roth IRA 

-and 1k towards the 5k credit card debt. 

I plan to keep maxing my Roth IRA out year after year.

I will be vested in my pension through my job in four years.

I plan to add to my Physical Silver Bullion Collection over time.

Im making minimum payments on my mortgage.

I plan to pay off the credit card debt before the zero percent interest offer runs out.

All my Fico scores are about 780.

I do realize my car payment is high. Its a sweet truck though and Toyota Tacomas hold there value realativly good for an automobile.

Any feedback good or bad is welcome and Happy Hollidays!

[M_Smart007]

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@Gardenhand wrote:

Hello its become sortof an annual ritual for me to throw my personal finance details out on the interwebs for complete strangers to anylize and give feedback. So mide as well keep the ball rolling

Montly Net Income: +4000 from job +300 from Child Support= 4300

Monthly reacuring bills: -3300

Mortgage 1200 LTV 79 percent (interest rate 3.75)
Utilities 400 includes cable phone water gas electric...
Car payment- 750 (interest rate 2.99)
Fuel and tolls 150
Car insurance 100
Food 500
School lunch100
Karate 100

Other Debt- 5k credit card debt on zero percent interest card for about 12 more months (kids brayces).

Emergency Fund/Savings

Roth IRA= 6375 (contributions-5500) gains up 875 this year.

Physical Silver Value= 4225

Savings Account= 1,000

I expect a tax refund in the amount of 7,000 dollars for 2019. I realize giving the government a tax free loan year after year is silly on my part however my dependent situation has changed a few times over the years and to play it safe I choose to be Single One on my paycheck when I end up being head of household with two dependants. 

With the 7K refund I plan to put 6k into the Roth IRA 

-and 1k towards the 5k credit card debt. 

I plan to keep maxing my Roth IRA out year after year.

I will be vested in my pension through my job in four years.

I plan to add to my Physical Silver Bullion Collection over time.

Im making minimum payments on my mortgage.

I plan to pay off the credit card debt before the zero percent interest offer runs out.

All my Fico scores are about 780.

I do realize my car payment is high. Its a sweet truck though and Toyota Tacomas hold there value realativly good for an automobile.

Any feedback good or bad is welcome and Happy Hollidays!

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Just want to say, all that is in Blue Excellent Job!

I to Have a Roth IRA ..A 401K and Physical Silver (along with some Gold)

Emergency savings is a MUST!!

Congrats, you are doing well

Wishing you ..Happy Holidays and Great Success!!

[BearsCubsOtters]

$1,200 for mortgage...must be nice. $700+ for a Toyota is a little ridiculous..hopefully that means it was a 48 month loan. 

I am not sure of your age or how long you have been saving for retirement, but typically the "experts" say that by age 30 you should have saved the equivalent of 1 year's salary and by age 40 2x your annual salary and by age 50 3x your annual salary etc. Maybe I am reading it wrong, but you only have $6,375 saved for retirement? Even if you are 29, contributing more to your 401K or retirement account should be top priority over a high riding, cramped, Camry-V6 powered Tacoma. **I see that you say you have a pension through work...that is good but I wouldn't rely on that entirely. Ask a former Enron or Qwest employee about their pensions....

Do you have a 529 account for your kid's college? Or any kind of savings account for the kid? 

Also, you should have 6 months of monthly expenses saved in a savings account. Again...priority over the Tacoma (assuming you do not need the truck for work). 

Anyway, I'd say you are doing really d@mn well, especially if you are under 30. I am jealous of your mortgage...around here you cannot buy a cardbord box under the freeway overpass for less than $400,000.....

Do not take anything I said too personally; I am grouchy and ready for Christmas to be over. LOL. 

[Gardenhand]

No worries at all. If I was sensitive I wouldn’t have put my business in the net like this. Thanks for your honest opinion.

I’m forty years old. I started my Roth IRA last April. That’s all I have for retirement- just my Roth, my house, my pension and my silver.

That said I have about 100k in equity in my home by my calculations. I bout it for 160,000 but put 24k down. At that time it appraised at 185,000 but now the same model house is selling for 200 to 250.

I got a late start. I spent my 20s traveling and my 30s treading water. I’m now making over 80k per year- 5 percent gets taken out for my pension and I’m maxing our my Roth IRA.

It’s a lot of truck- yes. The payment was 650 per month but I refinanced first a shorter term with better rate. It’s 750 now for 65 months. That said it’s the TRD PRO model and I plan to keep it forever. I plan on it being the last vehicle I ever buy. It is what it is.

For the kids college- no I don’t have a savings for that. They are still little but college tuition will be split with their moms. Maybe I should start sock drawring the child support payments for that. Thanks for the advice.

Again I appreciate the opinions and tips people!

[Revelate]

The facts that you can clearly itemize your expenses, have a plan for your money, and are objective about your finances and are in the black basically all add up to you are doing fine.

Not sure about silver as a hedge currently, I do like metals that have some industrial use but depending how long you anticipate working might be better off putting that in a brokerage account of some sort.

I can’t fault the car payment given my own payment at $869 which I purchased just before I got two gigs which are both working from home or getting on an airplane. Slightly over a year and I am not even at 6K miles driven yet. Will say though those decisions add up over time and it’s fait accompli that I will be driving somewhere again in time, it isn’t right now and to put that in perspective I missed out on the order of 8k or probably closer to 10k this year of market returns if I hadn’t made a non-trivial down payment and if I hadn’t paid it ahead.

My own financial analysis outside of the car found 5K spent this past year that I just didn’t need at all... bye. Beyond that though ultimately I need to be doing better in other areas of my life and as such going to worry about those things and just try not to do anything totally stupid for expenditures.

[CreditInspired]

Happy Holidays OP

Honestly, IMO, I think you are way ahead of the curve when you compare yourself to the general population, me included. Kudos to you. 

Yes, people like Suzie Orman say have 8 mos in emergency fund. I wonder who the heck she is talking about when the majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.

So, this is just my 2cents, but to drive a vehicle you really want is one of life's little pleasures to enjoy as long as it's your only expensive pleasure. Raising a child, putting monies in your 401K, and having $1K left a month after recurring expenses is pretty good. There are many who wish they were in your shoes. 

I'm impressed. And what a great idea to analyze your situation annually. Great idea. 

[iced]

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@CreditInspired wrote:

Happy Holidays OP

Honestly, IMO, I think you are way ahead of the curve when you compare yourself to the general population, me included. Kudos to you. 

Yes, people like Suzie Orman say have 8 mos in emergency fund. I wonder who the heck she is talking about when the majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.

So, this is just my 2cents, but to drive a vehicle you really want is one of life's little pleasures to enjoy as long as it's your only expensive pleasure. Raising a child, putting monies in your 401K, and having $1K left a month after recurring expenses is pretty good. There are many who wish they were in your shoes. 

I'm impressed. And what a great idea to analyze your situation annually. Great idea. 

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It sounds like I might like this Suze Orman lady. It's also important to remember that just because the majority of Americans have no savings doesn't mean that that's ok or should be seen as normal. There should be more and louder voices out there reminding that majority that they need to change their ways lest their future may be even bleaker than their present.

While I myself struggle to indulge myself on much of anything without severe guilt, I can see where one - and only one - indulgence won't break the bank. That said, people tend to misunderstand what's an indulgence and what's crippling debt and most go too far with their indulgence. Someone with $5,000 in savings and $80,000/year salary buying a new BMW or Audi is way beyond an indulgence; double the salary and 10x the savings and maybe a low-end model would pass for an indulgence. To be fair, there are two ends on that scale, and there very much are people with 7 figures in the bank who won't so much as buy a $500 game console because it's an indulgence too far.

PS - I also agree with the other posters regarding the precious metals. They're a hedge against the catastrophic world-ending scenarios, but as an investment they don't grow at nearly the rate of other assets. Gold's grown by around 400% since 1994 (the last time I held any), while stocks have done around 800%. On top of that, the vast majority of that 400% growth was over a period of 2 years; it's been relatively flat otherwise. You will do better in the long run selling most of that and investing in equities.

[VPExecutive]

Do you have home owner's insurance? I would recommend it to protect your assets. 

You have a $1,000/month profit... 

If you have kids and a high deductible health insurance plan, I would recommend an HSA and put $7,000/year into that. You're basically deducting $7,000/year off your yearly tax bill and it grows tax free. 

[Gardenhand]

Yes I have homeowners insurance. It’s bundled into my mortgage payment of 1200 per month. That includes principal, interest, home insurance, mortgage insurance (26 bucks) and property taxes. My property taxes aloan are almost 6,000 per year as I live in NJ and taxes here are higher then most other states to my understanding.

My health insurance is through my job. The money is taken out of my paycheck weekly in the amount of 42 dollars plus 1.75 for dental. That’s for my kids and myself. Our copay is five dollars and then 100 percent coverage. It’s a platinum plan according to the union/company contract.

I feel I’m all set as far as insurances goes but thanks for the ideas.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand the silver honestly. Sure precious metals are supposed to be a hedge against the end of the world but they're not. Silver has no value during a zombie apocalypse or nuclear winter or just if society implodes. Food, fuel, drinkable water, safety, etc will be the currency.