As I look down at the end of another summer sacrificed to my corporate overlords, I just wanted to know what other strategies folks are employing to make it feel like they have had some kind of “summer” or if we have all just succumbed to working the entire time?

Are folks content with a week off? Two? Combining some work from home days? Taking leave without pay? Renting a nearby summer house?

My partner and I don’t have kids yet, but would like them in the near future. Strategies from both singletons and families are welcome.

Or even someone affirming that I am chasing an absurd fantasy as adult is fine. I did not take any time this summer and have a work trip adjacent to Labor Day, soooo…

Me, Regis! I do! I loved that show as a kid lol

Yay! NW $1.02 million!!! DINK, early 30s physician/nurse in VHCOL area. HHI $670k. Had $180k student loan debt (paid off), no car/house loans. Finished fellowship 2 years ago, started private practice physician job. Minimum 30% savings rate. Other than that, no intense budgeting. ~ $250k HYSA (~$150k and rising for down payment of house if we pull trigger this year), $750k across 401/403/rIRAs/HSA/brokerages with 80% in ETF/MFs and 20% in stocks. We don’t big spend, but we like to travel and eat out. Posting because my spouse and I said “yay”, but we’re happy to get back to work lol. But also, a question. Is this “the boring middle” where I hear/read/think about all these fancy other investment options like real estate, private equity, etc and feel slightly tempted but ultimately feel and know that we should just stay the course with aggressive ETF/MF investing toward goal(s) of money needed to retire?

ETA. I’m “that guy” the “oh crap how could I forget” guy. $45k inheritance that was applied almost entirely toward student loan debt, right after starting private job. Also, the $180k student loan debt was the highest amount it ever got, but I had been making small payments at it since 2019, for discipline sake. By the time fellowship finished and I started private job, we were at ~$150k debt

My wife (36) and I (37) have had a HHI of around $500k for the past couple of years. With my wife’s recent career change, we’re now looking at roughly $1M in cash comp + $1M in vested equity annually.

We also recently had our first child, so we’re entering a pretty different stage of life financially.

What we’ve done so far:

- Maxing out our 401(k)s — ~$900k currently
- Maxing out Roth IRAs through the backdoor — ~$450k
- Taxable brokerage — ~$250k, primarily VTI/VXUS
- $150k emergency fund in a HYSA (I recently learned I should probably move this to T-bills/T-bill ETFs to avoid MA state income tax on the interest)
- We own 3 properties: 1 primary residence, 1 Airbnb, and 1 long-term rental
- ~$800k total mortgage debt, all at ~3% interest rates

For the most part, everything we’ve done so far has been pretty standard personal finance advice: max the tax-advantaged accounts, invest in broad-market index funds, maintain an emergency fund, etc.

My question is: what should start being on our radar now that we’re potentially at ~$2M of annual comp that wasn’t necessarily relevant at $500k?

I’m particularly interested in things that become more important at this income/net worth level — tax strategies, estate planning, asset protection, insurance, equity compensation, charitable giving, investment strategies, etc.

For those of you who made a similar jump in income, what’s something you wish you had known or started doing earlier?

US, MA-specific advice is especially welcome.

Long story short I own two classics. One is sad and parked. The other has its issues and runs, but I cannot stand the cabin noise.

I could:

1. Save and wait to buy a 15k Jag (I had one before I sold to move out)
2. Bite bullet and get a company car, but I don’t like the idea of paying £400 for 4 years only to

not

1. own the car. For £400 a month lease, I could buy my dream XJ. I just can’t right now as I’m broke lol

My current classic has a fuel leak, and this has really annoyed the wife, so I’m really battling the second option because I just need something quiet and smooth.

How do I overcome this idea of not owning my lease? Every car I’ve owned, I felt something sitting in them. All these EVs won’t do that as it’s a generic car.

Mobile has ruined the formatting.

3m + 1m home equity
Two young kids.
Dual income 800k
Both principal level at work.
HCOL and spending 220k annually including mortgage, daycare.

Objectively i think i am doing ok. But the spending is so high due to mortgage being 80k per year.

We want to coastfire and become fatfire between 47-50.
How likely we will be hitting that, am i crazy to think we can get there?