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re: Wise friends of the MB: Am I anywhere close to buying a home? UPDATED pg. 3
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:08 am to bayoubengals88
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:08 am to bayoubengals88
quote:
I'll ditch Ford and up my contribution to $300/month.
I agree 100% with ditching any individual equities, but just don't forget that a Roth is merely a "shell" for investments. You could own Ford within a Roth IRA (although I don't recommend it for your particular situation).
quote:
Indexing is the goal as soon as I get 3k in my Roth to buy an SP 500 or world market fund. I'll be there in a few months.
Who do you have your Roth IRA with right now? You probably have some index ETFs that you could buy with less than $3k. What funds/stocks do you currently own within your Roth?
1
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:13 am to hungryone
quote:in time I'll probably get the Masters. Definitely if it's paid for. And
Get a job with the right school system, and they'll pay for your next MA. Seriously. But kudos to you for teaching--thanks for taking on high school kids.
Now, TRSL. How the hell does it work? I know that I contribute 8% of my gross. What I don't know is what the district or state contributes...the school board finance lady said 32 percent. I don't understand that at all. Do you?
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:17 am to kennypowers816
quote:Vanguard. I own the Target retirement 2045.
Who do you have your Roth IRA with right now? You probably have some index ETFs that you could buy with less than $3k. What funds/stocks do you currently own within your Roth?
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:17 am to bayoubengals88
quote:
Now, TRSL. How the hell does it work? I know that I contribute 8% of my gross. What I don't know is what the district or state contributes...the school board finance lady said 32 percent. I don't understand that at all. Do you?
They should have a match.
Meaning they will match whatever you put in, up to a certain amount.
32% sounds really high, even for government. My brother works for the City of Fayetteville (Arkansas), which is pretty wealthy, good benefits and they match 15% I believe.
Obviously could be 100% different at a LA school district, but I'd simply figure out what they're willing to match and try to put in the maximum that they will match.
My company matches 8%, so I put in 8% currently and am technically saving 16% of my salary while only paying for 8% of it.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:18 am to bayoubengals88
quote:
Vanguard. I own the Target retirement 2045.
Check some of their $1000 buy ins.
I think there are some pretty good ones with low fees and good returns.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:19 am to bayoubengals88
TRSL is an old fashioned defined benefit plan. You pay in, state/school system pays in, and what you get out of it is determined by the number of years you work & your salary average of the three highest years' pay. TRSL actually has a decent website: LINK
But always remember that you're not SS eligible, so your retirement planning needs to take this into account.
But always remember that you're not SS eligible, so your retirement planning needs to take this into account.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:20 am to STLhog
By law we contribute 8 percent. No more, no less. They can't match 32 percent. There's no way. I'm trying to figure out what the hell she was talking about. I asked her 3 times. She said "32 percent."
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:20 am to bayoubengals88
quote:
TRSL
It's a "defined benefit plan" which means you don't need to worry too much about how much is being contributed.
When you retire (eligible at 60 & minimum of 5 years of service), you get a "defined benefit" per year. It basically means that you get a pension to replace your salary after you retire.
I believe TRSL uses the following formula:
(Final Avg. Comp.) x (Years of Service) x (2.5%)
FAC is this according to TRSL website...
quote:
Final monthly average compensation is the average monthly salary of your three highest consecutive years of employment.
So let's say your 3 highest years of employment averaged to 50k and you retired at 60, which meant you were in the program for 35 years.
50k x 35 x 2.5% = $43,750/yr
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:36 am to kennypowers816
Do I need to set up a Vanguard brokerage account to buy ETFs within a Roth?
Thanks for clearing up what a "defined benefit plan" is.
Thanks for clearing up what a "defined benefit plan" is.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 11:54 am to bayoubengals88
quote:
Do I need to set up a Vanguard brokerage account to buy ETFs within a Roth?
You don't need a separate account. I assume you have a vanguard roth IRA.
Go into your account, hover over "my accounts" at the top and click on "buy & sell". On the right, you'll see some options to "trade ETFs or trade stocks". Enter the ticker of the ETF you want (or stock if you want to buy Ford in your IRA). I think vanguard ETFs are commission free in your vanguard IRA, but stocks probably arent.
You can't set up recurring transactions, like you can with a Mutual Fund, but you can place individual orders for as little as 1 share for ETFs.
ETA: LOTS of info on Vanguards website about ETFs, etc. And I'm 95% sure you can use your Roth IRA account to perform pretty much any of the transactions they refer to.
This post was edited on 4/8/15 at 11:55 am
Posted on 4/8/15 at 12:00 pm to kennypowers816
It doesn't give me that option. Mutual Funds only.
I even searched for "VOO" and it gave me "no results"
Oh well. Thanks for your help.
I even searched for "VOO" and it gave me "no results"
Oh well. Thanks for your help.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 12:50 pm to bayoubengals88
Do you have a cash balance in your account? If not, that may be part of the reason.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 1:33 pm to kennypowers816
quote:Well that was easy enough! All I had to do was create a money market account that links to my Roth...so now I essentially have a Vanguard brokerage account and can buy ETFs.
Do you have a cash balance in your account? If not, that may be part of the reason.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 1:37 pm to bayoubengals88
You can buy a house responsibly anytime as long as you have the 6+month emergency fund saved up, 20% to put down on the house and are putting at least 15% back into your retirement portfolio.
Can you buy before that? Sure. But you'll save yourself a ton of money in the long run if you wait for those conditions to be met.
Can you buy before that? Sure. But you'll save yourself a ton of money in the long run if you wait for those conditions to be met.
Posted on 4/8/15 at 1:56 pm to Louie T
quote:
yeah, just be vigilant and patience. There was one on Kenmore that was around 180 a few years back. I bought my 3rd one in 2011 for 190k. I haven't been looking at the market but there's are some that are around 1700 sqft that are this price range. Even if the unit is 200K that is ok as 10K extra in mortgage would not yield that much more in monthly payment.
quote:
I've been looking at real estate to potentially buy & live in, use entirely as rental property, or split between the 2 (double) depending on where I buy, but trying to find anything that's a worthwhile investment in NOLA metro is currently lol-worthy.
I would love to find a double to quad in BR purely as a rental. I don't have children now, but my brother has 3 boys that will likey all go to LSU within 10 years.
To Louie- I purchased a double in NOLA 2 years ago and you're right the prices were and now are very high. In those two years the value of my house is up 25% (on paper).
I've been looking in NOLA for another rental option and it's almost impossible which makes BR and other markets more desirable.
Posted on 4/9/15 at 2:10 am to PeteRose
As others have said, slow down and save more. $100 a month is great if it's a cool situation for a little longer. $1,000 savings isn't enough, wait till you get to about $10k minimum or at least 20% of the purchase price. Save more into your Roth as you can pull out any contributions if you need them. I see nothing wrong with you wanting to buy a house but do it as an investment as well.
This is what I'd do. Buy a duplex and the other half will make your mortgage very small. If you do suddenly need to leave as many others here are so worried for you
then you can rent your half and be cash positive.
quote:
3 since you are single and don't need too much space, instead of buying a house, I would buy a duplex in a good neighborhood(garden district, mid city). You can get a good one for 190K. Finance it for 15 years. With the rental income, you're mortgage payment won't be that bad. And you'll increase your equity faster over time.
This is what I'd do. Buy a duplex and the other half will make your mortgage very small. If you do suddenly need to leave as many others here are so worried for you
then you can rent your half and be cash positive. Posted on 4/9/15 at 5:34 am to Sho Nuff
quote:
As others have said, slow down and save more. $100 a month is great if it's a cool situation for a little longer. $1,000 savings isn't enough, wait till you get to about $10k minimum or at least 20% of the purchase price.
No doubt. I haven't worried about building an e-fund nearly as much as I emphasize paying debt. 50% of my net goes toward debt every month. With my living situation I just don't need a large emergency fund. The $1k is for car repairs.
However, as soon as that debt is gone in about 12 months I will start serious saving.
quote:I am dead set on this. I started reading "Bigger Pockets" last night. This idea is a no brainer.
This is what I'd do. Buy a duplex and the other half will make your mortgage very small. If you do suddenly need to leave as many others here are so worried for you then you can rent your half and be cash positive.
Again, I appreciate all of the thoughtful responses here. Helping others succeed in life is what makes this place great!
Posted on 7/19/15 at 3:21 pm to bayoubengals88
I ended up buying a house. My situation improved.
1) I got a new job that will increase base pay by 14%
2) With the new job I will be driving 150 miles/week instead of 400. That's a lot of money saved.
3) I've got two roomates that will pay about 70% of my mortgage and 66% of utilities.
4) I found a house that I like for a good price in Old Jefferson.
So,
1) I got a new job that will increase base pay by 14%
2) With the new job I will be driving 150 miles/week instead of 400. That's a lot of money saved.
3) I've got two roomates that will pay about 70% of my mortgage and 66% of utilities.
4) I found a house that I like for a good price in Old Jefferson.
So,
Posted on 7/20/15 at 8:41 am to bayoubengals88
congrats! Hope it all works out. It's great to have the oommates, but make sure you can pay the rent (mortage+bills) without them because you never know when you won't have them around.
This post was edited on 7/20/15 at 9:35 am
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