I feel so fortunate to be able to do this type of work myself. Not a contractor, a retired Laser Applications Engineer who happens to be handy and loves DIY (big fan of Ask This Old House, et al). I probably spent $100k over the last 28 years dialing in the “perfect house for me” that I hope to die in (single story home, close to healthcare). When the ex and I bought our Silicon Valley home in ’96 we thought $289k was WAY too much to spend on a house! Turned out I had to ‘buy it again’ when we divorced 10 years ago but the $416k I had to pay her to keep it was well worth it since it’s worth about $2M now, been paid for quite a while, and has a ’96 tax basis.
I agree with the others about not using retirement assets towards purchasing a home. That said, you should be aware of the “rule of 5” as it relates to withdrawing 401k assets without the 10% w/d penalty. On a more important note (IMHO), I’d be more inclined in choosing your location with climate change in mind since there are looming issues that are not widely reported (research the Ice–albedo feedback, the Clathrate Gun Hypothesis and Siberian methane blowholes). I learned of these during a Global warming class I took when returning to college 23 years ago. Events that were anticipated to take 100 years to start back then are occurring now. Texas, AZ and even places like Redding CA may not be inhabitable in a timeframe shorter than we’d imagine.
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I feel so fortunate to be able to do this type of work myself. Not a contractor, a retired Laser Applications Engineer who happens to be handy and loves DIY (big fan of Ask This Old House, et al). I probably spent $100k over the last 28 years dialing in the “perfect house for me” that I hope to die in (single story home, close to healthcare). When the ex and I bought our Silicon Valley home in ’96 we thought $289k was WAY too much to spend on a house! Turned out I had to ‘buy it again’ when we divorced 10 years ago but the $416k I had to pay her to keep it was well worth it since it’s worth about $2M now, been paid for quite a while, and has a ’96 tax basis.
Post: Our Money Pit
Link to comment from January 20, 2024
I agree with the others about not using retirement assets towards purchasing a home. That said, you should be aware of the “rule of 5” as it relates to withdrawing 401k assets without the 10% w/d penalty. On a more important note (IMHO), I’d be more inclined in choosing your location with climate change in mind since there are looming issues that are not widely reported (research the Ice–albedo feedback, the Clathrate Gun Hypothesis and Siberian methane blowholes). I learned of these during a Global warming class I took when returning to college 23 years ago. Events that were anticipated to take 100 years to start back then are occurring now. Texas, AZ and even places like Redding CA may not be inhabitable in a timeframe shorter than we’d imagine.
Post: A Moving Predicament
Link to comment from May 10, 2023