5
Getting Personal
Getting Personal
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I just listened to the show where the Baltimore couple is planning to live on, gasp, $80,000 a year. My family lives on $60,000 a year, and we put $437 into our savings account every month, help our two children with $300 apiece every month, and give ourselves $100 apiece pocket money. It's true that we live in a low-rent part of the country. Our 69-year-old house only cost us $95,500 fourteen years ago, so our mortgage payments are under $800 a month. We track spending every month, live on a budget, and have traveled extensively around the world. Our car and motorcycles are paid for. Recently, I took a job as a VISTA volunteer, which brings in $11,000 a year. I'll use that to make sure my son gets out of graduate school debt free, as he's autistic (though a talented computer animation guy.) $80,000 a year? Piece o' cake!
On July 1,I could start collecting $253.01 per month retirement benefits from a former employer. It is/was a bank that has gone through many 'take over/being taken over' actions and has recently received TARP money. I could also take a lump sum payout of 41,247.97. If I wait to 12/01/2016, these figures become $431.70/mo. or $54,630.28 lump. What happens to this money if the bank goes broke or the retirement benefits plan gets turned over to the govt. backup? If I take the lump sum after July, I do not get the withdrawal penalty, but it would be subject to income tax. How could I invest the lump in Roth IRAs? They have a max per year investment cap don't they?
Banks prominently display their mortgage rates. However, it is impossible to find other critical information such as the percentage of loans a bank will grant in a given condo/co-op or if the bank will not grant loans if the percentage of investors in a given condo/co-op exceeds a maximum. Trying to get answers to these question before submitting an application also does not yield any results. Is there any place where this information is publicly available?
