Once I see how much my paychecks net out to, I'll have a more clear plan of how much we can save, where we will spend, etc. I'm excited to work on a new budget that includes my income! As background, my new job comes with the following compensation elements:
- Salary
- Annual bonus (30% of my salary)
- Stock
- A sign on bonus - $60k paid out in year one, $20k paid out in year two)
How will we spend the sign on bonus? Our plans are as follows:
- $5k to my nephew for college
- Max my 401k - $23,500
- If allowed, put $1k/per kid in the 529 match account, to earn the match - $2,000
- Save the rest for taxes
I need to research the rest of our benefits, but I'm hoping that maxing my 401k & the 529 contributions are allowed through the sign on bonus.
As for the rest of my income, I'm planning to largely keep our spending the same, with a few small tweaks:
- Increase our travel budget/savings for 2026+. It's my 50th birthday, and our 20th anniversary, and if things ever settle down in the middle east, we know we want to see M's mom at least one more time before she's unable to travel. And, she can't come here with the current travel bans. So, we're likely looking at another trip to Dubai, and we will bring both boys, if we can work it around their schedules. We will also have additional travel to/from Boulder, and if possible, would like to do a family trip (if schedules don't align for Dubai) & maybe take my parents to Las Vegas. All of this is still TBD, as we figure out availability, budget, time off, etc.
- Pay for a cleaning service. One of my mental tradeoffs with going back to work. ;-)
Our larger financial goals are as follows:
- Max out 401ks, HSAs, and any 529 contributions with company match
- Save $5k/month for investments
- Potentially considering remodeling our bedroom/bathroom area of our house. Very much TBD
- Pay for both boys college degrees. (They will use their saved money from jobs to cover their "fun" money, eating out, etc.)
- We'd love to continue to help my nephew with some of his college expenses, and will try that out this year. He is going into his junior year in the fall.
Any big financial goals on your side, or planned changes to your budget & income?
I am so incredibly happy for you on the new job and the benefits are fantastic! My income doesn’t normally vary since I am 3/4 time, there are administrative limits by the state regarding retirees, so I just carry on working with what I have …..lol. I just plan to go to the beach for day trips if the traffic isn’t too bad, and head to lakes and rivers near my oldest for other trips. I will fly out West in October to visit the grands. I loathe the Atlanta airport and I will only fly nonstop and it is the nearest nonstop. May do some more foundation work and tree branch removal in the back yard IF the budget permits… ugh$$$$$. Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteOur financial goals are just to manage retirement.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure you two were fine, even if you remained without employment, yes? Regardless, it didn't sound like you were quite ready to hang it up just yet, so I'm thrilled that all these good things are coming your way. And without the stress of, OMG, we need this job!
ReplyDeleteFor so many reasons, I hope that you are all able to visit your MIL in Dubai. I will continue to send positive thoughts that it works out.
Over here, Social Security is coming on line for us both, and we are actually not sure what we'll use it for, a nice problem to have of course. We're so happy in our new home and it's location, that our traveling bug has quieted a bit, so for now we'll just let it accumulate.
I'm so happy for you to get the compensation you wanted and deserve. Next year you'll get to do the higher 491K catch-up. That change at age 50 is where our accounts really helped towards our goals to retire by 62, and now in my case 59 1/2.
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