How did you start out (financially) after college/marriage?

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

I'm gonna be making like at least $200k a year because I'm in AP chem.

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

I love how you really seem to have all the right ideas -- and then you keep coming back to the $50 for audio. I don't see anything wrong with it, I just think it's funny how your talking in terms of significant financial matters and then the caraudio comes back up.

Lol, gotta get that processor!

 

[Fast1one 10+ year member]

An aero space engineer and a respiratory therapist together only make 70-80k a year?

All depends on location...Here in cali Ill be making 65-80K as a Mechanical Engineer, Aerospace is making near 100K starting IIRC...

 

[HitManSE 10+ year member]

Ehh, I could write a load of stuff here but ill just be simple about it.

-Dont get into debt, pay off any cc bills right away (my credit score = 800+)

-live beneath your means, you cant make $ by taking out loans and giving your $ to someone else.

-its not how much you make (though it sure helps) but what you do with what you make.

-buy assets, not liabilities. Simple definition of assets is something that puts money into your pocket, liability is obviously the opposite.

- Get a prenup done. Not a 5 yr, or whatever. Solid. locked. No bs. Get it done...why? because you dont know for sure. and if you end up wrong X years down the road, you'll be wrong with half your sh!t gone.

-Search, read up on finance/investing, ect.

-Your house is an asset, not to you, but to the bank.

Ill leave you with this, be careful about loans. They compound like hell. Just to give you a small example. I for some reason had a $16 fee on my house's monthly payment. They gave me a a choice to either pay the $16 with a separate check, or just let it sink into my monthly payments and it would increase $3.89 over my normal monthly total for 12 months.

I guess I forgot to mention to them im not an idiot from the start. $3.89 x 12 months = $46.68 Why the hell would I pay nearly 3x the money for something that small. Dont let small things fall through the cracks. It will cost you dearly in the long run.

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

-buy assets, not liabilities. Simple definition of assets is something that puts money into your pocket, liability is obviously the opposite.
-Your house is an asset, not to you, but to the bank.

I agree with almost everything you said (well maybe not the prenup) but are you suggesting that he not buy a house?

 

[HitManSE 10+ year member]

I agree with almost everything you said (well maybe not the prenup) but are you suggesting that he not buy a house?

Prenup, IMO isnt for everyone. Personally though, rather have that net there then not. Its upto the couple. I just strongly suggest it be done because if you stay together it will never become an issue.

No no, //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif buy a house. Im just saying, realize that its not an asset to you. Even when its 100% paid off, its still a liability because its still taking $ out of your pocket.

You can go around that though, kind of. A couple can make upto $500,000/2yrs in capital gains and not pay tax on it. In other words, they can sell their home and either upgrade or just move to a diff area with similar pricing (if feasible) and use that $ gained to pay off depts, buy assets, whatever just be smart with it.

Another option is to move into a home worth more, and continue to do so every few years while not having to pay capital gains. Another option is buying a property, you can use 1031 tax def feral and work that up as well. However now ive started to complicate it.

Reading up on finance, investment, ect. Some of those books can contain some valuable information. In no way do I claim to be an expert, im not. These are just things ive picked up from what ive read, what ive done, and what im still learning.

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

Prenup, IMO isnt for everyone. Personally though, rather have that net there then not. Its upto the couple. I just strongly suggest it be done because if you stay together it will never become an issue.
No no, //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif buy a house. Im just saying, realize that its not an asset to you. Even when its 100% paid off, its still a liability because its still taking $ out of your pocket.

You can go around that though, kind of. A couple can make upto $500,000/2yrs in capital gains and not pay tax on it. In other words, they can sell their home and either upgrade or just move to a diff area with similar pricing (if feasible) and use that $ gained to pay off depts, buy assets, whatever just be smart with it.

Another option is to move into a home worth more, and continue to do so every few years while not having to pay capital gains. Another option is buying a property, you can use 1031 tax def feral and work that up as well. However now ive started to complicate it.

Reading up on finance, investment, ect. Some of those books can contain some valuable information. In no way do I claim to be an expert, im not. These are just things ive picked up from what ive read, what ive done, and what im still learning.

Ok, just making sure. Like I said before, buying/selling homes has been very good to me.

 

[HitManSE 10+ year member]

Ok, just making sure. Like I said before, buying/selling homes has been very good to me.

Oh yeah, buying/selling homes can make for some nice profits. Depends on how far out you leverage yourself and the market at the time.

Lets also be very clear about this (this goes to everyone) Car audio IS a liability //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

WhoSayWho, unless im blind and somehow missed it. Can you write up a somewhat brief overview of what you look for, your process, ect. of buying/selling homes. I love to hear peoples opinions, ect that have had success doing something because obviously they are doing something right.

I compare to my own, add to my knowledge if need be. (usually I do) Ive learned you cant live long enough to learn from every mistake that can be made, however learning from what others have done is smart IMO.

A lot, and a mean a lot of lessons ive learned werent just from mistakes Ive made, but from what others have made as well.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

I'm gonna be making like at least $200k a year because I'm in AP chem.

It's gaurenteed.

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

how i started after i got married, i got a job prior to it, and i kept my job.

 

[kballa422 10+ year member]

I'm gonna be making like at least $200k a year because I'm in AP chem.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif I wonder who this was directed to? LOL

 

[Rmsanger 10+ year member]

I'm getting married in June. My girl graduates in May and is already working at a hospital (she's a respiratory therapist). I graduate next Spring (aerospace engineer) and am co-op'ing right now. I know we won't be rich, but between the two of us we should be making $70-80k/year before taxes, maybe more. I've never saved money (I always eat out or burn gas), and knowing that we'll need all we can for a while, I've decided to start saving about 55% of each check. I still have car payments ($292/month) and there are a couple things I want to get, so I've decided to give myself a $50 allowance out of each check to put towards my "car audio fund". My fiance already has $6000 saved up, and we'll live rent-free in a house her parents own for at least 1.5 years, then we'll build. Her dad's a contractor so it'll be cheaper anyway to build rather than rent. We both have credit scores over 750, so I imagine that getting a loan won't be extremely difficult. I'm just curious how some of you started out when you got married/out of school. I have some friends who are living it up...but not debt free.

It's always about balance between consumption/happiness & planning for the future. I would suggest that you max out your 401K contibutions (employer matching) and max out your Roth IRA contributions. After this anything else is great.

I would also suggest thinking long-term in respects to your first job. For ex. if you have an offer or 5k more in salary vs. another offer which provides a better opportunity for career growth then I would take the latter. Happiness & satisfaction is more important than the extra $$.

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

WhoSayWho, unless im blind and somehow missed it. Can you write up a somewhat brief overview of what you look for, your process, ect. of buying/selling homes. I love to hear peoples opinions, ect that have had success doing something because obviously they are doing something right.

Well this what I have done. It may not be anything new and it may not all be right, but it has worked for me.

The first thing that we do is identify which area of the community has the best performing schools. For us, this has a double benefit since we have kids. But even if you do not have kids I think that this is a good idea since it goes a long way in ensuring that the housing market will stay strong in your area.

Second, we try to figure out which of these areas will be the hot area to live in the upcoming years.

From there, we have always bought houses that were low - mid to middle of the pack for that area. I think that is obvious that you do not want to buy the most expensive house in the neighborhood. And it may be best to buy the least expensive, but we have generally bought a little up from that and it has worked out fine. I tend to thnk that you do not want the next "buying wife" to be hugely dissapointed when they compare other houses to yours.

One thing that we have always kinda lucked into was buying from sellers who did not have their homes listed. The gives them room to negotiate and hopefully gives you instant equity in the home. However, you have to be careful with this because it seems to be common that if someone has not had a realtor price their house then they may over value it and become emotional about negotiating the price. If this looks like it will be the case, don't waste your time.

If you do look at a house that is listed, I would advise you NOT to just call whatever realtor has it listed. If you do that, then the listing realtor will end being a dual agent. For the life of me I can't figure out how someone is expected to represent the interests of the seller and the buyer at the same time.

One way or another, you have to know what houses are selling for in the area per sq. foot. Of course not all houses are built out the same, but this gives you a benchmark. You want to get under the average price as much as possible.

If you can find a house that will allow you to get a little "sweat equity" that is a bonus. In any case, once you are in the house you should work steadily toward the day you will sale it. Landscaping / maintenance can be done relatively cheaply and can make a huge difference in curb appeal.

Of course the terms of your financing are critical. I know this does not apply to you personally, but I would advise anyone that has really bad credit to forego home ownership until they can repair thier credit. You are much better taking a year and focusing on your credit than getting involved with a loan that has a high interest rate, adjustable rate, prepayment penalties and fees out the ass.

Now when I go to sell, I will list with a realtor. I have made one mistake here that I will warn you about. On the first house I sold the realtor offered to list my house for less than the customary commission rate. If they do this, make sure that the cut in commission comes solely from the listing agent's side, not the selling agent's side. If it comes out of each, no realtor will want to show your home.

Learning from that mistake, I now will actually offer a bonus to the selling agent if the house is sold within a certain time. I will also have the klisting agent specify that the house comes with a home warranty (which costs me about $400). I think this helps put the buyer's mind at ease, although some realtors would say wait and negotiate this.