I can only wish for my kiddo to ever be under my roof again. More likely that, at some point, we could be under his.
On the “four years cash” note, hubby reminded me that we still only have two years cash. The other two or so years will eventually drain from the 529 our military kid is not using. So, yes, that part is still in the market.
so how does it work if you have a 529 and your kid doesn’t need it? Will you save it for potential grandkids?
I must be some sort of mean mom, but I do not wish for ds to ever move back in with us after he is launched in June. The only reason I can imagine his doing that is out of financial necessity, so I’m not sure why I would want that??
We are in the process of a major, out-of-state downsize as dh retires. We’ll have a 2BR/2BA, 935 sq ft condo. So, he’ll have a bedroom 
It would certainly be cozy if he needed to move in, but we could do it. And, we would certainly allow that if it were necessary, but it isn’t something I yearn for.
HogGirl, we are talking doomsday, bottom-fell-out-of-economy scenario. Nope, don’t want my baby birds back in the nest, but if the worst hits us…
@BunsenBurner - I had seen that aspect, but I must have misinterpreted the thread to have taken a turn to wanting adult kids back in the house in general! Thanks for clarifying.
I’m not a great market timer on a big scale – when I was doing it professionally, we did have a market-timing algorithms that worked but were very short-term. At the moment, we have too much in cash as I had to roll over my Defined Benefit Plan into a 401K and had to surrender certain investments. My instinct is that the market will benefit greatly from the repatriation and reduction in corporate taxes because executives will buy back shares to lift stock prices up (and increase the value of their options). But, then we are in the 8th year of the upward expansion and that gives it a somewhat limited lifespan.
I’m looking at an investment in a private equity fund. Did very, very well with my last investment with this firm even net of high fees. I like the focus of the fund and the skill set. I’m sure my financial advisor will try to talk me out of it given the fee level.
No, the Military Family Tax Relief Act enables us to withdraw all of the funds without penalty, just taxes on the gains. The service academies suggest either keeping it parked in the event your student does not graduate and needs it for civilian college or withdrawing at the rate you would be paying for civilian college which is what we are doing. I just consider the 529 part of our four-year cash flow so forgot in my post up thread that it is actually an investment.
And I was only kidding (sort of) about wanting kiddo under our roof again. I just miss him so much.
@veruca, I think you have a couple of choices with a 529 Plan if your kid doesn’t use it. I’m assuming you are the owner and the kid is the beneficiary. You can change the beneficiary to another kid. And, it has a one-generation generation-skipping property so you can change the beneficiary to a grandkid. But, you can’t go two generations.
Otherwise, you can take the money back but will pay a penalty of I think 10% of the gain above the capital contributed. Need to check exactly how that works.
Wow. Kids moving back in. Seems pretty unlikely as they seem eminently employable, but I suppose if the world collapsed. ShawD started her new job today as a nurse practitioner for a state government agency. She expects to work at that job for a year and then volunteer in Asia or Africa and then move with her BF to the Bay Area (he’s a very good programmer in a hot area). ShawSon raised several million dollars at year-end for his venture. Should last a couple of years. If the world falls apart, he might have trouble getting the next round of investment, but I think he’d likely have options at some of the major tech companies or would create a new opportunity. We’ve been renting in the winter in the Bay Area. In our city, we have our house and two rental properties that could house both (ShawD just moved into one of them and is paying us a slightly discounted rent). But, if ShawD moves to the Bay Area, I think we might over time shift to a larger place out there (we’re renting a very small place for the winters) and downsize on the East.
Our kids are also launched with their own houses but have mortgages. H and I have our home here in the city and our lake home and both are mortgage free so kids/grandkids are more than welcome!
A few pages back tax prep was discussed. Our D2 is a CPA so she does her own taxes. H and I pay someone to do ours. I did the taxes for 25 years and got tired of doing them so H didn’t want to take a turn so he found a tax guy. I imagine I will get the job back when H retires soon…I hope. No set date yet. He will be 62 this year but is enjoying his job so I guess I will enjoy the fact that we have health insurance and are building a bigger nest egg!
I would be overjoyed if either or both kids moved back home, including bringing SO’s with them.
We’re unusual in that we have very little exposure to the stock market, less than 5% of our net worth. We’ve been able to achieve better returns in other markets.
“We’ve been able to achieve better returns in other markets.”
Such as? Real estate? Inquiring minds want to know.
Real estate and high yield real estate lending.
I miss my kids. They are launched, and they like it that way, but I sure wouldn’t mind if they took long extended vacations at home. We have a big empty house, and yeah, I’d be fine if they moved back, though it’s not the social norm to desire nowadays. And if the economy fell apart, 100% fine to stay as long as desired.
Our Bay Area born and raised kids moved across the country and now are quite settled with their jobs and their families. Once they left for college they never returned home to stay more than short college breaks. I am envious of friends and families whose kids remain in the Bay Area.
We had been hoping that they may move back but since both S and SIL were promoted to partners of their respective firms, we realize they will remain in the east coast in the foreseeable future. So for us, we decided we will go to them and recently purchased a pieds-à-terre closeby. We enjoy seeing our grandchildren for longer periods of time without getting underfoot.
But I doubt I will move to the east coast permanently so we plan to stay bi-coastal. DH is originally from NJ.
I have been investing for a very long time, mainly in CA RE and equities. As I age, I have become more conservative. Some of my investments have been wildly successful, multi “tenbagger”.We are mortgage free and have no other debts so if the economy goes down, I have seen it and am prepared.
@colorado_mom , I do realize that having a guaranteed pension is becoming very rare, but Texas teachers do not participate in SS, so I won’t be getting SS for my work for the last fifteen years. My SS on my previous work record and/or spousal benefit will be greatly reduced by the GPO. I realize this is all fair, but it still feels off. According to the calculators at SS , I’ll be drawing only $300 more per month than if I had never worked for money and collected only spousal benefits. Oh well, I loved being a SAHM and love my teaching job, so it’s all good.
Now back to our post-apocalyptic market crash discussion.
That does seem bizarrely unfair, dragonmom.
I never got any SS contributions nor any benefits at all for the 8 years I worked for the state because they were careful not to let anyone work enough hours so we’d quslify for any benefits at all. This is lowering my SS benefits as well. H will never collect any SS spousal benefits as he is getting a govt pension.
That sounds unfair also, HImom, unless you didn’t have to pay in. I think that if you didn’t have to pay in, then it’s too bad it’s not a choice.
@dragonmom : I’m in the same boat, but with only SS. My SS income will be nearly the same as 1/2 my spousal benefit, so likewise will be receiving the same amount as I would if I had not worked at all. Always worked, but on a part-time basis, and took a few years off when the children were young, and the economy tough.