Add another $1k-$2k of crypto, I just throw a hundred bucks at a time at this here and there
Pay an extra $4k on the mortgage
Increase charitable giving by $1k
The biggest challenge here is I want to build a large, covered porch next summer, and that’s going to be pretty expensive. #6 may go out the window to help with that, and I may dial brokerage down as needed once I see the price tag. We do have a tailwind though, our travel budget is likely to stay low due to a) COVID and b) about 800,000 points/miles I’ve accrued over the past few years. So maybe cash flow + stealing from the travel budget + not paying extra on the mortgage will get us there. My bar napkin math says a porch will be in the $35k to $40k range.
Max out 401k, including the $6500 catch-up for old farts like me
Be able to save $1000 per month into post tax brokerage accounts
Continue to pay for college expenses out of income and not dipping into savings. This will include a graduation present for kid #2.
Try to make wise spending choices, and not do anything dumb like pre-paying extra on my mortgage.
Put any annual bonus into brokerage account without spending a penny of it
I’m not HSA eligible. Crypto is not appealing. I have a budgeted amount for charitable giving, and I will hit that. I assume the covid-19 situation will keep the possibility of leisure travel rather unlikely, so there’s no planned expenditure there. This year I had some car repair & maintenance expenses that I hadn’t prepared for, but with an old vehicle that’s not truly unexpected. I’d like to investigate options for reducing my monthly expenses on phone, cable tv, streaming service and internet because 400+ per month seems staggering. All my other regular spending is under control because I am a Grade A+ budget maker and follower, even by actuarial standards.
Well, we already have the porch, but the lattice cover is probably the original from 30-40 years ago, and I haven’t done anything to keep it up for the last 20 years or so. I want something that I can keep ignoring, and I want it to be a full cover, not a lattice, but that means making sure the rain, when it comes and it comes in torrents, will drain off properly. One of our drains does not drain fast enough, and the overflow goes into the pool, which is bad. And, I’ll want some tie-down “walls” so it can be warmed by a space heater, perhaps for people to watch the Super Bowl.
Just a lot of big things adding up to a clusterfuck.
I once set out to replace a kitchen sink drain that had rusted out. But once I got under there, I decided to re-pipe it because it wasn’t done properly. And then decided to replace the disposal because it was crap. By Sunday night I had a new cast iron sink, a new faucet, and all new plumbing. Cost me like $700 to replace a sink drain, but I guarantee it’s still in that house and working properly.
I never have set amounts, I just put my $$ into HSA, 401k, IRA, Taxable, Crypto. If I need to spend money on stuff I spend it. Whatever I don’t spend goes into that. By spend I include travel, charity, gifts, mortgage, etc.
I appreciate the planned spending being part of the goals. provides the expenditure so me kind of priority, as in you def want it to happen.
I have to get a car. daughter gets her license and so it will happen (she gets the trickle down 2008 but serviceable car). but really, I intend to just spend it all if it wasn’t listed as saved.
Oh, I need to figure out stock options. My company is private but the expectation is to IPO in 18-24 months. I have options on 15k shares @$3 per. Current fair market value is $12, so if I exercise now it’s $9/share of income. But we will be re-calculating fair market value in January and it’s gonna go up.
On one hand, if I exercise now and things go well, I pay less taxes at the current market value vs the future market value. We had our last round of funding about a year ago and the valuation was about $38/share.
But, there is risk. If I exercise and the company goes belly-up, I lose it all. If we IPO but the valuation is low, I might lose the tax game by paying taxes now.
I have total flexibility in exercising options. I can literally exercise 1 share today, 4 more tomorrow, and 18 next Wednesday if I’m so inclined. I think I’m going to sell some equities in my brokerage and exercise something like 5k shares in January, right before we re-calc FMV. And then next January, if it really looks like IPO is imminent and I think the valuation is holding, exercise the rest. What say you, GoA??? Should I YOLO this and just grab all 15k in three weeks??? I already know what @John.S.Mill will tell me to do.
I’d be exercising options, so buying shares in a company that could be a pretty volatile play. I thought someone holding a ton of NIO would appreciate this investment.
And I see our revenue/profit numbers on a weekly basis. The company is solid, running in the black now and YoY revenue growth is in the 35-40% range.
