Meet Lee
Age: 44
Salary: $225,000 a year combined
Lee’s main concerns, in her own words:
Married 20 years this month, children in 11th, 6th & 4th grade. I’m 44 and an attorney, my wife is 45, a private school teacher. Concerned about costs of college, budgeting with high housing cost out west, and continued retirement. Public K-12 is an issue, so spend $25k/yr on private school. Combined pretax income of $225k/yr. Max out on 401k/403b, combined $650k. 529 accounts, combined $82k. Bought in Nevada in 2005 because that’s where work took us, at top of market, underwater ever since. Positive was that as unsophisticated borrower, we had interest-only payments for 10 years! But that ended, and monthly mortgage went from 1,300/mo to $2,700/mo-on a 30 year old house that still needs work. Just so high because principal was at top of market. We’ve eliminated a lot of things to keep things even.
What we cover on the episode:
- Funding college for kids
- Dealing with a mortgage disaster
- Planning for retirement despite other priorities
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Peter Dunn a.k.a. Pete the Planner® is an award-winning financial mind and a former comedian. He’s a USA TODAY columnist, author of ten books, and is the host of the popular radio show and podcast, The Pete the Planner Show. Pete is considered one of the foremost experts on financial wellness in the world, but he’s just as likely to talk your ear off about bass fishing.