If you came into some money

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Feanaro_s_Wife

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If you and your family were going to receive a lump sum of money (lets say $15,000 american), what would you do with it? Let’s assume that you do not have credit card debt.

Would you put in towards your mortgage? Buy a vehicle? Invest it?

What would you do?

Malia
 
I would put it towards my kids education, my oldest daughter has her heart set on dental school, and while she is only 12, its never too early to start saving, I want her to be able to have some help from us so she doesn’t get too deep into school loan debt, I’ve seen that in my hubby’s family and its horrible how much school loans are, really not right in my opinion, anyways, I would put it in a savings for my kids 🙂
 
I would hire a financial planner to tell me based on our age, cash flow, etc what would be the optimum way of saving and spending the money. I would probably start planning at least a minor indulgence like a vacation or some home upgrades, but would not be hasty to use the money. $15,000 is not a lot of money. I would probably want at least $10,000 being put into some sort of savings.
 
I would push an extra 15k into investments and turn it into more.
 
Shouldn’t one of your options be give to the Church? I would give my parish first don’t know how much though. Maybe 20%. Then take care of the bills and /or other things. Would not buy a new car or anything like that. Would maybe save for kids education they go to a private school so would take care of that also. As for what I would like, money does not make my world, for i already have a great paying job and have property.

If you do have 15grand don’t be selfish with it. Take care of the people who took care of you first.
 
On my way:
Shouldn’t one of your options be give to the Church?
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Sorry, I didn’t give options, I gave examples hoping to hear your ideas. Giving to Church and/or charities is a great idea.

Malia
 
  1. Give some to my church
  2. Give some to the Secular Franciscans
  3. Invest the rest in my house – there’s any number of projects waiting – add a half bath, finish the basement, etc.
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OK, here is the situation. When hubby comes back from Afghanistan he will have a lump sum of money.

We have a mortgage (21 years left on it).

We have a 1994 Geo Metro that we are needing to replace.

We do not have credit card debt.

We do not yet have any children.

We live off of one income…I am disabled.

We do not have any savings.

We do not have any investments.

What would you do in our situation? We are leaning towards a vehicle because we could never take one on payments. We would like to have a safer more reliable vehicle for any future children.

We have until next summer to make a decision. As someone pointed out, it is not a lot of money. We would like to do the “smartest” thing with it and i am looking for advice.

Malia
 
Feanaro's Wife:
OK, here is the situation. When hubby comes back from Afghanistan he will have a lump sum of money.

We have a mortgage (21 years left on it).

We have a 1994 Geo Metro that we are needing to replace.

We do not have credit card debt.

We do not yet have any children.

We live off of one income…I am disabled.

We do not have any savings.

We do not have any investments.

What would you do in our situation? We are leaning towards a vehicle because we could never take one on payments. We would like to have a safer more reliable vehicle for any future children.

We have until next summer to make a decision. As someone pointed out, it is not a lot of money. We would like to do the “smartest” thing with it and i am looking for advice.

Malia
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Would you consider starting an investment though? With patience it could make you so much more.

But the need to buy a new car makes sense…it’s just that if you could delay the purchase until the following summer or longer, you could buy the car and have more money growing for you.

Possibly.

Investments are never 100% certain.
 
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Princess_Abby:
Would you consider starting an investment though? With patience it could make you so much more.
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Yes, we would take anything into consideration. If we had already made up our mind to buy a car, asking for advice would be pointless, lol;)

Malia
 
Feanaro's Wife:
OK, here is the situation. When hubby comes back from Afghanistan he will have a lump sum of money.

We have a mortgage (21 years left on it).

We have a 1994 Geo Metro that we are needing to replace.

We do not have credit card debt.

We do not yet have any children.

We live off of one income…I am disabled.

We do not have any savings.

We do not have any investments.

What would you do in our situation? We are leaning towards a vehicle because we could never take one on payments. We would like to have a safer more reliable vehicle for any future children.

We have until next summer to make a decision. As someone pointed out, it is not a lot of money. We would like to do the “smartest” thing with it and i am looking for advice.

Malia
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If you have no savings or investments, that’s what you should put it towards–in SAFE investments. Start reading up on safe investments so you have a plan. I don’t know how it is Canada, but in the U.S. we have CDs (Certificate of Deposits), different kinds of U.S. Savings Bonds, various bank and credit union savings accounts, money market mutual funds, stock mutual funds, and bond mutual funds. Anticipating $15,000 and having no other savings or investments, stick with safe and short to medium term investments. Don’t waste your money getting an investment advisor. You should be able to get good sound investment advice from books, magazines, and newspapers.

The rule of thumb is to put 6 months of your expenses first into a very safe, very liquid investment (such as savings or money market mutual fund). That money is your safety cushion against your husband losing his job or becoming disabled. (If your husband is career military, you probably don’t need a full 6 months. In the U.S., the advice would be 3 months emergency savings for a career military member.) Since you will probably buy a new car soon, you should consider keeping the money you will spend (as downpayment or as cash) also safe and liquid.

So when you consider these priorities, you probably won’t have much left to invest. But if you can buy a cheap or used car, then you should try to invest a small amount in longer term, higher yielding (though safe, not risky) investments. The big key is to add a little bit to long-term investments every paycheck. For example, most people can afford $100 a month which if saved regularly can add up quickly.
 
Well, in that situation, I would probably sell the Geo or donate it to charity to get the tax write-off (depending on which would bring the greater benefit in the long run), or if it was really needed (considering it probably isn’t worth very much) keep it as a second vehicle. Then I would purchase a car in the $5-7 thousand range. Probably something like a used Hondai. And I would save the rest. You most likely will not be in the same house 21 years from now (especially considering his occupation), so I would NOT put it into the mortgage. Your husband isn’t making much in the military and you don’t appear to expect to work any time in the near future, and you also sound like you are expecting to have children. You’ll need the savings. The tires will blow out on the car or the kiddos will put a pen in the dryer with dh’s dress greens/blues/whites after the clothing allowance is all used or you will get stationed somewhere like Hawaii where there is no base housing left and the housing allowance doesn’t cover the cost of living in town… I would definitely look into savings with the highest possible returns with no penalty if removed. Also, any chance you could live on base now or in the future? Depending on location, it could save you a LOT of money.

(I just asked my hubby and he said pretty much the same thing: if you really need a car, go ahead and get that, but put as much as possible into some sort of savings or investment.)
 
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Forest-Pine:
You most likely will not be in the same house 21 years from now (especially considering his occupation), so I would NOT put it into the mortgage. Your husband isn’t making much in the military and you don’t appear to expect to work any time in the near future, and you also sound like you are expecting to have children. You’ll need the savings. The tires will blow out on the car or the kiddos will put a pen in the dryer with dh’s dress greens/blues/whites after the clothing allowance is all used or you will get stationed somewhere like Hawaii where there is no base housing left and the housing allowance doesn’t cover the cost of living in town…
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:rotfl: Sounds like Forest-Pine has first-hand knowledge of military life! And kids!
 
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Forest-Pine:
Well, in that situation, I would probably sell the Geo or donate it to charity to get the tax write-off (depending on which would bring the greater benefit in the long run), or if it was really needed (considering it probably isn’t worth very much) keep it as a second vehicle.

We would most likely give it to my parents as a second vehicle so my mom doesn’t have to keep driving my dad to work and picking him up at odd hours (he is a truck driver).

Then I would purchase a car in the $5-7 thousand range. Probably something like a used Hondai.

We need something very good on gas and that can fit a 130 pound dog and a car seat, lol.

And I would save the rest. You most likely will not be in the same house 21 years from now (especially considering his occupation), so I would NOT put it into the mortgage.

Actually, the Canadian military is different and we are not expecting to move.

Your husband isn’t making much in the military and you don’t appear to expect to work any time in the near future, and you also sound like you are expecting to have children.

Yes, yes, and yes.🙂

. Also, any chance you could live on base now or in the future? Depending on location, it could save you a LOT of money.

Again, the Canadian military is much different. We would not save anything by living in base housing. At least owning a home gives us an investment.

Malia
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#1- don’t pay off your mortage at once or make any large payment all at once. If you can make an extra payment of $100 dollars a month to principal it would cut your years by 5. remember it depends on your interest rate.

#2- Don’t go out and buy a car that you will have to make payments on. if the car you have now gets you from point a to point b then it is still good. Hold off as long as you can.

#3- Try investing some of it not all. I say not all because you still need a savings. If you guys are going to have 15grand when he returns, investing anywhere from 8 to 10 of it would be good. The rest would be considered emergency money, not look we have this much what should we get money.

Don’t worry about what to do with the money. Pray and it will become all clear once he gets back.

Just remember investing it is not a sure thing. You will lose some and you will gain some. The only way to make a lot of money is thru high risk investing, hence the phrase high risk. Trust me I have had my share of ups and downs. It can go down fast but it takes a while to come back up. Good luck.
 
On my way said:
#1- don’t pay off your mortage at once or make any large payment all at once. If you can make an extra payment of $100 dollars a month to principal it would cut your years by 5. remember it depends on your interest rate.

Thanks…we are still looking into putting some of it towards the mortgage and if that would be of benefit to us now.

#2- Don’t go out and buy a car that you will have to make payments on. if the car you have now gets you from point a to point b then it is still good. Hold off as long as you can.

This is going to be the only forseeable time in the near future where we would be able to replace our car without having to take on payments. That is why it is our #1 option right now. Not only do we not want to take on debt, we absolutely could not afford loan payments, ever.

#3- Try investing some of it not all. I say not all because you still need a savings. If you guys are going to have 15grand when he returns, investing anywhere from 8 to 10 of it would be good. The rest would be considered emergency money, not look we have this much what should we get money.

Thank you.

Don’t worry about what to do with the money. Pray and it will become all clear once he gets back.

We are and we will continue to. He is leaving in Feb’06 and any prayers for his safety would be much appreciated.

Just remember investing it is not a sure thing. You will lose some and you will gain some. The only way to make a lot of money is thru high risk investing, hence the phrase high risk. Trust me I have had my share of ups and downs. It can go down fast but it takes a while to come back up. Good luck.

thanks for your advice.
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La Chiara said:
:rotfl: Sounds like Forest-Pine has first-hand knowledge of military life! And kids!
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Sounds like Pine-Forest has been here to Ft. Irwin, California and been shoved off post!!! Like we are!
🙂
 
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tamccrackine:
Sounds like Pine-Forest has been here to Ft. Irwin, California and been shoved off post!!! Like we are!
🙂
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Hubby got to do some training at Ft.Irwin. He couldn’t believe the base! He described it as it’s own little city. I don’t even want to tell you what our Canadian bases are like…or the base housing:eek:

Malia
 
Deployment $$$ 👍

My husband landed at 1AM on October 1st in the mid-East, so no September funds for us.

Have you looked into the Army Thrift Savings Plan? It’s a great deal.

However, I understand a reliable car - especially for a military spouse. When we married our car was literally held together with duct tape and a soda can! He was being deployed (Bosnia) and I refused to get stuck somewhere alone in a foreign country (Germany at the time). We bought a Honda Civic and just sold it after 9 years - it was still running great.

Haven’t been to Fort Irwin, but have had friends there. I wouldn’t want to be stuck out there when the car breaks down!
 
Ah… now why doesn’t the Canadian military have to move around??? Thats not fair!!! LOL!!! - No actually I miss moving in an odd way now… though I’m sure my parents would have loved it if they hadn’t had to move around - they wouldn’t still have how many odd years left to pay on a house payment when many other folks their age no longer have a house payment to make…

Aria the AF Brat
 
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