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I would like to do this, but it does not seem to be realistic compared to the housing price in NJ. It's probably more applicable to mid west states or TX.
it's entirely realistic, you might just not be able to afford every single thing you desire in a home.
put it all into turbotax with spouse and 2 kids, and after you pay the mortgage and taxes (fed income, NY state, SS, Medicare, property, ...) you have $8,500 left a month.
So if that is enough for you to live on (You should be fine, but you will not be going to Europe every year), then you have your answer for a $1M house.
put it all into turbotax with spouse and 2 kids, and after you pay the mortgage and taxes (fed income, NY state, SS, Medicare, property, ...) you have $8,500 left a month.
So if that is enough for you to live on (You should be fine, but you will not be going to Europe every year), then you have your answer for a $1M house.
What about SAVINGS? 401k is not savings, it is money for retiremenet.
I'd say minimum of 250-275k. Normally i stick to keeping payments to 20% of income, which if followed here would require 300k income. The 28% rule gets alot of people in trouble. However, at upper income levels, i don't think it has to be quite so strict because even saving a few % is alot in $ terms. With income in that range though, i'd personally much prefer to save a bit more by looking in the 750-800k range, there are still very nice houses in great towns in that range.
Also... generally speaking, the high end buyer ($1M+) is less reliant on monthly income from salary, and more reliant on income from other sources.
What about SAVINGS? 401k is not savings, it is money for retiremenet.
that can come from the $8500. How much do you spend a month on a family of 4?
we spend on average about $3K/month for food/utils/cars/fun
Kids go to public schools.
save about $3K/month. Put $11K/year in Roths (via a 1 day stop in a TIRA which is at $0 so we can convert all $11K tax free)
it all depends on what you want to do and how much money you waste on things you "need"
All I am saying is that you can (because I am) totally do $1M house on $250K, with a family of 4, live well, save and enjoy life in general. You will NOT have a new car every 3 years or be visiting Rome for the weekend, but again, it is all up to what you spend your money on.
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