We just got our tax refund back (Booyeah! It was a big one!), and since my wife is a CPA, I do nothing for our taxes other than signing the return. I didn't even look at our W2's. Therefore, I was stunned to see my W2 and my wife's W2 and our gross income. It seemed very high compared to where I think we should be financially. But, we do have three kids, we have very aggressive college savings and investment savings programs, and lots of expenses, so, I guess I probably works out.

So, how you doin'? Hit the poll and also share thoughts, but don't share your numbers OTHER than in the poll.

Stew

Where the poll?

Where the poll?
It's there now.

This is in the wrong section.

might wanna make a condition to state whether it's a one or two-income household. :)

For my family...I'm it. I invest my time in the Government, we get paid dollars. My wife invests her time in our kids, we get 'paid' by having well-behaved, 'raised-right' kids...so far.

:p

:D

^^werd^^

If you're a two-income - count both you and your spouse/partner/wife/etc. If you're just "rooming" with another person, that doesn't count.

Counting my gig and my wifes ... well, let's just say we are very happy with the results.

One income from two jobs -- teaching regular school 10 months out of the year, and summer school for a month and a half -- puts me in the, uhhh, turquoise category. ;)

One income (I live alone). I'm in the $50-70k bracket.

well my household income includes 3 people.. mom dad and I.
moms a dentist so things are pretty well off if you ask me.

what i find interesting is you have 20-35 and 30-50

Houshold gross, thats when the ex wife took a stinky crap and the fan didn't handle it, oh, income sorry:)

Divorced and paying support out the booty. My job pays fairly well but perks like free car/free gas and free insurance really add up.

well my household income includes 3 people.. mom dad and I.
moms a dentist so things are pretty well off if you ask me.

what i find interesting is you have 20-35 and 30-50

Well ... I'd put you in the "relying on someone else" category.

Yeah, I saw that as I posted it ... oh well ...

Divorced and paying support out the booty. My job pays fairly well but perks like free car/free gas and free insurance really add up.

NO DOUBT!

My buddy used to work for a big consumer tobacco company and drove around merchanding stores in this godawful charcoal grey Crowne Vic. He called it "the best car in the world". When we would say, "aw bull ... that's a terrible car", he'd say, "Ok, it may not be prettiest, or the fastest, or the coolest, but it sure as hell is the MOST FREE car I'll ever have!"

Can't beat free on a price!

Well I am the sole worker in my household. My wife spends her time with the kids and taking care of the household, I spend 6 - 14 weeks offshore working 7 12's.
In the end I do fairly well, considering I get paid 80 straight and 88 hours overtime each payday. In the end, I gross 50 -75.......................wish it could be more.

NO DOUBT!

My buddy used to work for a big consumer tobacco company and drove around merchanding stores in this godawful charcoal grey Crowne Vic. He called it "the best car in the world". When we would say, "aw bull ... that's a terrible car", he'd say, "Ok, it may not be prettiest, or the fastest, or the coolest, but it sure as hell is the MOST FREE car I'll ever have!"

Can't beat free on a price!


Well....I kinda get to pick what I drive so no Crown Vic's for me!!

might wanna make a condition to state whether it's a one or two-income household. :)

For my family...I'm it. I invest my time in the Government, we get paid dollars. My wife invests her time in our kids, we get 'paid' by having well-behaved, 'raised-right' kids...so far.

:p

:D

Same here, I am fortunate that I earn enough so the wife doesn't have to work and can look after our son.

Well I am the sole worker in my household. My wife spends her time with the kids and taking care of the household, I spend 6 - 14 weeks offshore working 7 12's.
In the end I do fairly well, considering I get paid 80 straight and 88 hours overtime each payday. In the end, I gross 50 -75.......................wish it could be more.

That's not enough $$ for the work you do ... and the danger factor - presume you're talking off-shore oil what with the Bay City location and all. I thought you oilers made more than that.

That's not enough $$ for the work you do ... and the danger factor - presume you're talking off-shore oil what with the Bay City location and all. I thought you oilers made more than that.
I am in the oil industry, I fly ROV's (Underwater Robots) and actually the money I make is pretty good, considering I get paid for 12 hours a day, and only work about 1 to 2 hours a day depending on wether we are drilling or in completion mode. The only downside to my job is I am away from home for so long, but then when I get home, I can get from 2 to 4 weeks off. In actuality I only work a little more then half the year. So 50 - 75 for half a years work isnt bad. BUT, it could be better....as I have said.

My girlfriend and I are in the 125000-140000 category. I am 25, she is 24. We do very well, but I have no idea where all the money goes.

My girlfriend and I are in the 125000-140000 category. I am 25, she is 24. We do very well, but I have no idea where all the money goes.

Outrageous cost of living and insurance in the northeast, that's where it goes. :D ;)

I am the smallest percentage other than the 0's :D

Weird personal poll but some make less and have more disposable income depending on the cost of living.

My girlfriend and I are in the 125000-140000 category. I am 25, she is 24. We do very well, but I have no idea where all the money goes.

Ahh, nice to know you're American and human :)

Weird personal poll but some make less and have more disposable income depending on the cost of living.

Man, that's the truth. My wife and I combined are in the "upper bracket" yet, with college savings, three kids in braces, three bar mitzvahs to pay for in three years, a very nice suburban home in the seventh most-expensive real estate market in the country with a five-figure property tax bill and all, I do have less disposable income than my friend in DesMoines who has a combined income with his wife of about $110K, has a nicer home than we do, but very young kids, and manages to have the money to spend on a 5-series BMW for him, an X5 BMW for his wife, AND take a family cruise once a year.

It's the house and the age of the kids that killing us ...

Ahh. always just temporary though. Once the bar mitzvahs, college, and braces are over (about 12 years from now), we'll be rolling in it! Hope i'm still around to enjoy it! :)

stew

A buddy of mine does/or did that... Ever hear of a guy named Mike Lane? You might know him if you fish also.



On topic:

I live alone, and I can barely make ends meet. How do people with families get by so well with an income the same or less than mine?

I am in the oil industry, I fly ROV's (Underwater Robots) and actually the money I make is pretty good, considering I get paid for 12 hours a day, and only work about 1 to 2 hours a day depending on wether we are drilling or in completion mode. The only downside to my job is I am away from home for so long, but then when I get home, I can get from 2 to 4 weeks off. In actuality I only work a little more then half the year. So 50 - 75 for half a years work isnt bad. BUT, it could be better....as I have said.

I don't even want to say what me and my wifes gross is. Its way to low for what we do, we are both gossly underpaid. But I am gaining experince and wife is ready to find better job so hopfully Thing will improve in a month or so.

Same here, I am fortunate that I earn enough so the wife doesn't have to work and can look after our son.

I'm happy to be able to do that, too. She's been able to stay home with all three kids for the most part, going back over 10 years now. If she could bring in even half as much as me we'd be rolling in disposable income like pigs in shit, but I love knowing our kids always have mom around... and as much as I work from home, dad as well.

The funny thing is my income is about 7 times what it was when my oldest daughter was born, yet we were all very happy and lived just fine, even though it was borderline poverty-level. Now life is soo much more complicated with multiple mortgages, multiple large car payments, credit cards out the ying yang, stocks, funds, ridiculous property taxes, etc... but I guess it's worth it. Now I just need to find a way get my three daughters through college : )

Well I am the sole worker in my household. My wife spends her time with the kids and taking care of the household, I spend 6 - 14 weeks offshore working 7 12's.
In the end I do fairly well, considering I get paid 80 straight and 88 hours overtime each payday. In the end, I gross 50 -75.......................wish it could be more.

Some people (and I agree) would say that you could consider her taking care of the kids and the house as income; money you don't have to spend for child care, housekeeping, personal assistant (the list goes on and on :D ).

I am in the oil industry, I fly ROV's (Underwater Robots) and actually the money I make is pretty good, considering I get paid for 12 hours a day, and only work about 1 to 2 hours a day depending on wether we are drilling or in completion mode. The only downside to my job is I am away from home for so long, but then when I get home, I can get from 2 to 4 weeks off. In actuality I only work a little more then half the year. So 50 - 75 for half a years work isnt bad. BUT, it could be better....as I have said.


That sounds like wild job- very cool. Do you ever get to take the ROV's on personal jaunts to look at reefs, shipwrecks, etc?

Question for all you fellas with stay at home wives who take care of the kids:

Are you putting aside DOUBLE amounts of money for retirement to cover both of you? You realize that while your wife is at home taking care of your offspring, she's not earning any Social Security bennies, she's not contributing to a company 401k with employer-matched funds, she's not getting vested in any pension plan, and if you two every split up down the road she's screwed -- she'll be forever behind and playing catch-up all because you two wanted her to be a housewife.

Just a thought.

Question for all you fellas with stay at home wives who take care of the kids:

Are you putting aside DOUBLE amounts of money for retirement to cover both of you? You realize that while your wife is at home taking care of your offspring, she's not earning any Social Security bennies, she's not contributing to a company 401k with employer-matched funds, she's not getting vested in any pension plan, and if you two every split up down the road she's screwed -- she'll be forever behind and playing catch-up all because you two wanted her to be a housewife.

Just a thought.

For myself, yes, my retirement plans include agressive 401k investing, stock options and a nice pension plan that will take care of the two of us down the road. I'm only 35 though so we still have a lot of work left to do before retirement. And for the record, I have encouraged her to go to work part time, or start a business, or work on another degree, or whatever makes her happy... it's her choice to stay at home. Now that we just had a baby 3 weeks ago, she's going to be stay at home at least for the next 5 years (I'm not a fan of day care)... at that point we can re-assess the situation.

Question for all you fellas with stay at home wives who take care of the kids:

Are you putting aside DOUBLE amounts of money for retirement to cover both of you? You realize that while your wife is at home taking care of your offspring, she's not earning any Social Security bennies, she's not contributing to a company 401k with employer-matched funds, she's not getting vested in any pension plan, and if you two every split up down the road she's screwed -- she'll be forever behind and playing catch-up all because you two wanted her to be a housewife.

Just a thought.


We aren't putting much of anything away towards retirement. We'll handle that when she goes back to work, as the kids are in school full-days.

(shrug)

If she and I split, she surely won't be 'screwed' - not at least for the next 15 years as the State of Washington would impose near poverty upon ME for ridiculous amounts of child support.

:(


And it's very presumptuous of you to assume she stays home because "I" wanted her to be a housewife. You don't give other women enough credit sometimes.

What she means is to set aside say 6% instead of 3% into your 401k.. If you're already contributing near max , 14% or so like I am then you're already ahead of the curve. Also, both of you should be maxing out IRA's.



For myself, yes, my retirement plans include agressive 401k investing, stock options and a nice pension plan that will take care of the two of us down the road. I'm only 35 though so we still have a lot of work left to do before retirement. And for the record, I have encouraged her to go to work part time, or start a business, or work on another degree, or whatever makes her happy... it's her choice to stay at home. Now that we just had a baby 3 weeks ago, she's going to be stay at home at least for the next 5 years (I'm not a fan of day care)... at that point we can re-assess the situation.

All I can say is SAVE EARLY, SAVE BIG.

We did that as well ... and it gave us the seed money to start our businesses as well as set up a nice tax-deferred base for us.

Because now, with the three kids, our savings rate other than 401K and college fund contributions, is next to nothing.

Aside from 14% income into my 401k, a whole life insurance plan, and maxing out a ROTH IRA, I can't seem to save any money! What's a good way to save cash for an emergency fund or buy a house, etc?

Why don't Americans send their kids to universities in Europe and save on college fund contributions? Fees overthere are usually much lower.

If my parents had sent me to europe for schooling I would never have finished... Well I never finished anyway, but I would have had alot more fun not finishing i'm sure!

BTW, Maybe if you're talking about IVY League schools.. State Universities aren't all that expensive really.

Why don't Americans send their kids to universities in Europe and save on college fund contributions? Fees overthere are usually much lower.

Well I never finished anyway, but I would have had alot more fun not finishing i'm sure!
Actually I was thinking the same about American colleges after seeing all these college movies. When I studied I simply didn't have time to party. (I can't talk about other European countries though.)

Aside from 14% income into my 401k, a whole life insurance plan, and maxing out a ROTH IRA, I can't seem to save any money! What's a good way to save cash for an emergency fund or buy a house, etc?

Wow, you're maxing out a Roth IRA and 14% to a 401K? Dude, don't worry about saving for extra cash ... your savings rate is probably 10X what the average person's is.

about the only thing you could do is reduce your IRA or 401K contributions slightly to give your a little freeer cash flow, but my guess is you don't want to do that.

Stew

Well, my financial planner says i need 13k in cash for an emergency fund, and I want to buy a house.. I know I can take a loan from 401k and use 10k of my IRA for that.. Just looking for better ways. I cant loosen up my 401k investment, if I do I will be thrust into the next tax bracket... the way things are working now, I pay less taxes and I save more for long term, but I have no short-mid term savings.

ROCK ---- YOU ---- HARDPLACE

Wish I had better answers for you. You're doing all the right things.

Catalyst - Cool freaking job man!
Stew - What are your thoughts ?

My skill set is unique in that there are only about 7 companies in the country that utilize it SigInit/RF etc.. . That also means that there are about 7 areas that I can live and make fare money. Of course when the Res is dumbed down any Network/SysAdmin job will do, but they don't pay and bore me so I try to stick with its primary focus.

I moved from Boca back to PA to make the wife happy (no kids yet). This ment for me a 30% pay cut and lesser title.

I never had any savings in Boca...Single Male in South FL syndrome!
Now I do.

That being said we fit into the lower-higer pay scale 100K-125K.

I commit abt 10% combined to 401K and discounted stock purchase. She makes 1/2 what I do and will get a nice retirement from the state and assuming I am not living in bizarro world, I should have a job for a while. We also have a house almost ( 2yrs )paid in full.


My question is should I "chase" the paycheck and uproot my wife ? or say comfortable and go into the buy homes and rent them mode ? Should I find an investment ave outside the office with the extra money?

We aren't putting much of anything away towards retirement. We'll handle that when she goes back to work, as the kids are in school full-days.
Uh huh. What are the odds that you buying an RX-8 instead of putting that money toward retirement or college funds was one of those decisions you had the final say on?
If she and I split, she surely won't be 'screwed' - not at least for the next 15 years as the State of Washington would impose near poverty upon ME for ridiculous amounts of child support.
Clue to you: child support is for the children. You won't be the only one left in "near poverty" if she has to not only suddenly support herself and the kids in separate household, but also try to make up for lost time to care for her own "golden years".
And it's very presumptuous of you to assume she stays home because "I" wanted her to be a housewife. You don't give other women enough credit sometimes.
RE-read my post... I clearly said "... you TWO decide..." Meaning both husband and wife. But then again, you've given me ample cause to doubt that any decision you claim as "joint" is actually anything more than you exerting your God-given right to unilaterally impose your will on your wife.

I dare you to let your wife read this post. :D

For myself, yes, my retirement plans include agressive 401k investing, stock options and a nice pension plan that will take care of the two of us down the road. I'm only 35 though so we still have a lot of work left to do before retirement. And for the record, I have encouraged her to go to work part time, or start a business, or work on another degree, or whatever makes her happy... it's her choice to stay at home. Now that we just had a baby 3 weeks ago, she's going to be stay at home at least for the next 5 years (I'm not a fan of day care)... at that point we can re-assess the situation.
Congrats on the new baby!

We aren't putting much of anything away towards retirement. We'll handle that when she goes back to work, as the kids are in school full-days.

(shrug)

If she and I split, she surely won't be 'screwed' - not at least for the next 15 years as the State of Washington would impose near poverty upon ME for ridiculous amounts of child support.

:(


And it's very presumptuous of you to assume she stays home because "I" wanted her to be a housewife. You don't give other women enough credit sometimes.
I know it's easier said than done, but if there is any way you can free up cash to start investing in IRAs or something similar, you should do it as soon as possible. You need to have time on your side in order to take full advantage of the power of compounding money. The more you wait, the more you lose out on that.

Aside from 14% income into my 401k, a whole life insurance plan, and maxing out a ROTH IRA, I can't seem to save any money! What's a good way to save cash for an emergency fund or buy a house, etc?
Guy, are you single with no dependents? I don't know if it is a good idea now that you already have the policy, but maybe you should have delayed the insurance policy until you had adequate savings for your emergency fund and even a down payment for your house.

The sooner you get into a house, the sooner you can hopefully benefit from your house value appreciating, and also the tax benefits of paying mortgage interest (edit). Good luck to you...

Question for all you fellas with stay at home wives who take care of the kids:

Are you putting aside DOUBLE amounts of money for retirement to cover both of you? You realize that while your wife is at home taking care of your offspring, she's not earning any Social Security bennies, she's not contributing to a company 401k with employer-matched funds, she's not getting vested in any pension plan, and if you two every split up down the road she's screwed -- she'll be forever behind and playing catch-up all because you two wanted her to be a housewife.

Just a thought.

To answer your question, I'm not putting anything away for retirement at the moment. There just isnt much left after all the expenses are paid. That is something I will remedy this year as I will begin contributing a good amount of my pay in order to catch up. I also agree that stay at home wives are screwed in the long run if ever they end up along, and catching up on a retirement pension is a hard thing to do. As it stands between my wife and I, the only reason I am still offshore in the field I currently work is to alow her to finish school so that when our kids are old enough to attend school, she can spend her time making a career for herself rather then just accepting the first job that pops up. Maybe then we can both contribute more to savings, but until then it is nearly impossible. Nothing is a sure thing in life, marriages arnt eigther, but with a little hard work, and a lot of faith, things will turn out good in the end. Or so I believe. :D

True, THe policy is a tax deferred investment also (a portion of it). I am single.. but the reason I got it is incase I become uninsureable later and no longer have insurance through my company.

Guy, are you single with no dependents? I don't know if it is a good idea now that you already have the policy, but maybe you should have delayed the insurance policy until you had adequate savings for your emergency fund and even a down payment for your house.

The sooner you get into a house, the sooner you can hopefully benefit from your house value appreciating, and also the tax benefits of paying mortgage insurance. Good luck to you...

Catalyst - Cool freaking job man!
Stew - What are your thoughts ?

My skill set is unique in that there are only about 7 companies in the country that utilize it SigInit/RF etc.. . That also means that there are about 7 areas that I can live and make fare money. Of course when the Res is dumbed down any Network/SysAdmin job will do, but they don't pay and bore me so I try to stick with its primary focus.

I moved from Boca back to PA to make the wife happy (no kids yet). This ment for me a 30% pay cut and lesser title.

I never had any savings in Boca...Single Male in South FL syndrome!
Now I do.

That being said we fit into the lower-higer pay scale 100K-125K.

I commit abt 10% combined to 401K and discounted stock purchase. She makes 1/2 what I do and will get a nice retirement from the state and assuming I am not living in bizarro world, I should have a job for a while. We also have a house almost ( 2yrs )paid in full.


My question is should I "chase" the paycheck and uproot my wife ? or say comfortable and go into the buy homes and rent them mode ? Should I find an investment ave outside the office with the extra money?


I'd look for other ways to leverage your talents, but still live where you can afford to live well.

Case in point, me: I'd been in the advertising agency biz 17 years, had owned parts of two them. had risen to very senior management in others. I was sick of the ad biz and politics, but yet, that's what I knew. Then I met my business partner - he had developed a technology product (web based application provided on an application service provider model) that would allow ad agencies to stream line their workflow but also create new income oppties. He wanted a guy with a long history of ad agency work to come sell it and market it for him. We partnered up, I bought into the company and the rest is history. We love what we do, I'm still close to the ad biz, but far enough also not to beat my head on the wall, and I'm leveraging my experience.

Think about angles like that.

Stew

Congrats on the new baby!

Thanks! I'm really outnumbered now :D

The sooner you get into a house, the sooner you can hopefully benefit from your house value appreciating, and also the tax benefits of paying mortgage insurance. Good luck to you...

I can't agree with this advice more... home purchasing has been the best thing to happen to my financial situation. I made $75k on my home sale in Florida after just 3 short years (and if I would have stayed in it until now, I would have made over $150k), and my current home has appreciated about the same amount in the last 3 years. That instant equity is about the best and easiest investment you can make.

G8RBoy: New baby! Hey, congrats! Let's get together the next warm day and celebrate, not with cigar smoke, but tire smoke! :)

Have to agree that home appreciation ROCKS - my single best investment. On my first place that I bought 16 years ago, I put down $7500 in cash. It was a townhome that I bought for $119,000. I sold it 3 years later for $150,000, so that $7500 grew to $37,500 in 3 years. The house I bought to replace it, I bought for $190,000, rolling in the entire equity of $37500. I sold it last year for $350,000, so that $37500 grew to $160,000 in value in 11 years. I put all that equity into the house I bought last year for $450,000. I just refinanced and it appraised at $580,000! :)

Gotta love real estate!

Stew

Uh huh. What are the odds that you buying an RX-8 instead of putting that money toward retirement or college funds was one of those decisions you had the final say on?


Zero. For two reason.

#1 I don't feel a responsibility to 'give' my children a college education - if they want college, they can 'earn it'.

#2 I have enough going towards retirement; it's more important to have quality family transportation. A $26K car isn't extravagant.


Clue to you: child support is for the children. You won't be the only one left in "near poverty" if she has to not only suddenly support herself and the kids in separate household, but also try to make up for lost time to care for her own "golden years".

No - $1500 or more per month is NOT 'for the children'. Child support 'should' be going towards those costs involving the children. It does NOT take $1500 a month or more, to 'have children living with you'. That's extortion.


RE-read my post... I clearly said "... you TWO decide..." Meaning both husband and wife.
I thought you meant 'two' being the couple of us who have stay-at-home wives...

But then again, you've given me ample cause to doubt that any decision you claim as "joint" is actually anything more than you exerting your God-given right to unilaterally impose your will on your wife.

I never unilaterally impose my will upon my wife. Nothing I have posted, to a rational person would imply that. Here's the difference between what you claim, and what I posted.

When my wife and I face a 'tough' decision, and we can't decide which way to go, I 'make the call'...and she supports me.

I dare you to let your wife read this post. :D

She has read it, and sort of feels bad for the suffering you've been through, and the resulting bitterness.

My girlfriend and I are in the 125000-140000 category. I am 25, she is 24. We do very well, but I have no idea where all the money goes.

WOW!! Thats awesome!! I was barely breaking 20k when I was 25.

I know it's easier said than done, but if there is any way you can free up cash to start investing in IRAs or something similar, you should do it as soon as possible. You need to have time on your side in order to take full advantage of the power of compounding money. The more you wait, the more you lose out on that.


Thanks for the input! I've set aside the minimum towards my government-employee retirement program...as things level-out for us (read: erasing past debt), we'll start funneling money towards the nest egg...so to speak.

:cheers.

Gotta love real estate!

Real estate has been good for the past seven or eight years, but what about the seven or eight years before that? A lot of us have done very well for a while now, but a whole lot of people got screwed in the time period before that. The rapid appreciation that we've seen in many markets comes right on the heels of one of the worst residential real estate markets in modern US history where many areas saw significant and sustained depreciation...and it took many people months and months to find buyers. But we're not living in those dark times right now...

From a strict investment perspective, there seems to be a perception out there that home ownership is a slam dunk major growth opportunity and that's just not the case. Even in a soft or down market, there are many reasons why buying is better than renting for most people in most situations, but if it's solely for the money, I'd suggest caution. There might still be a lot more money to be made in the next few years...or there might not. We won't know until we get there.

Also, realized gains on a home that you've owned for just a few years are of terrbily limited use if you are going to buy a similar or better home in the same market. Appreciation has been working for them too. Unless you can increase your housing payments or interest rates have fallen, most people will find themselves looking at the same homes in the same neighborhoods that they looked at when buying the first home. Maybe even not as good after paying a realtor commisison on the home they sold, setting aside money for moving expenses and what they'll need to close ont he next home.

G8RBoy: New baby! Hey, congrats! Let's get together the next warm day and celebrate, not with cigar smoke, but tire smoke! :)

Stew


Thanks man... gotta love sleep deprivation :) hopefully spring really is around the corner and we can get to work on those bulbs of yours, and tear up some cornfields.

Real estate has been good for the past seven or eight years, but what about the seven or eight years before that? A lot of us have done very well for a while now, but a whole lot of people got screwed in the time period before that. The rapid appreciation that we've seen in many markets comes right on the heels of one of the worst residential real estate markets in modern US history where many areas saw significant and sustained depreciation...and it took many people months and months to find buyers. But we're not living in those dark times right now...

From a strict investment perspective, there seems to be a perception out there that home ownership is a slam dunk major growth opportunity and that's just not the case. Even in a soft or down market, there are many reasons why buying is better than renting for most people in most situations, but if it's solely for the money, I'd suggest caution. There might still be a lot more money to be made in the next few years...or there might not. We won't know until we get there.

Also, realized gains on a home that you've owned for just a few years are of terrbily limited use if you are going to buy a similar or better home in the same market. Appreciation has been working for them too. Unless you can increase your housing payments or interest rates have fallen, most people will find themselves looking at the same homes in the same neighborhoods that they looked at when buying the first home. Maybe even not as good after paying a realtor commisison on the home they sold, setting aside money for moving expenses and what they'll need to close ont he next home.

All good points- there's no guarantee of rapid appreciation with home ownership. However, when it comes to paying rent or paying a mortgage (often in the same ballpark $$), it makes so much more sense to own. The tax benefits of mortgage interest deductions alone is worth it.

I am the only income for my family which consists of my wife and our 2 year old daughter. My wife is in school for nursing and should finish within two more years (nurse practitioner) which should increase our household yearly income quite a bit.

I am 24 and I am a Managing Consultant (read: Senior Network Engineer) for a company based in Rockville, MD and currently pull down just over 100K with bonuses. I also own my own company MDP Enterprises, LLC which provides poker based web communities for 45+ states (currently only have 8 states operational, but planning to roll out the rest at the start of Q2). The company is fairly new, but is already pulling down an average of $30,000/yr in net revenue which is split between one other partner that I have. I also play online poker which also brings in a decent amount per year from casual play (about $350 - $1,500 a month depending on how much I feel like playing in any given month.)