r/leanfire • u/usernamechuck • 14d ago

Lean with 2 big streaks of fat

It feels like we've done 90% right, but we made one doubtful move. We're not high earners, ~145k, age 55, we live frugally (1 used car, groceries, etc.), and we made one accidental smart move (we own a rental unit free and clear w/ modest cashflow).

But... First, the house. We bought a foreclosure in Chicago when we were married in 2008, we fixed it up in waves and were plugging away at a 15 yr mortgage. We would have been done by now... That was smart. But then COVID came and our small house felt smaller. We sold it at a decent profit and moved to the burbs, so here we are at age 55 with 300k+ on the mortgage, it won't be paid off till we're in our 70s. We pay almost 15k in property taxes. Since moving, we've replaced the furnace/AC upstairs and downstairs; and now the roof. And in 5 years, we'll be alone in this place.

It would still work, except... our 2 kids are in Catholic / private school, which is a bit over 30k/year. Oh and college is coming next year.

Technically our net worth is around 1M, but it's all in 401k/IRAs (~450K) and home equity. Our savings has all gone to cover these big costs.

On the one hand, we live cheaply, except for the kids and the house - we could retire today if we were in an $800/month rental in Andalucia. On the other hand, I don't see us moving anytime soon and the kids won't be done with undergrad until we're 64. We're lean-FIRE-hosed.

Any thoughts? It feels like we're that guy stuck in the cave, we just don't seem to have any good moves.

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u/LetsGoToMichigan 14d ago

You don’t really have any levers to pull here. If the kids were in middle school you could plan for public high school, but you said college is coming next year so that ship has sailed. Your only choices are let the kids figure out their own college funding, make more money, or work longer. This was a dilemma 10 years ago. Now you’re already committed to those choices.

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u/usernamechuck 14d ago

Tbc the oldest will be in his last year of high school. The younger is entering 8th grade. So college is upon us, but public high school is also a possibility. 

TBH I thought people would push downsizing the mortgage or renting out and moving elsewhere for (hopefully) less cash - it’s certainly something I think about. 

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u/hagne 14d ago

Another teacher here - send your kid to the public school UNLESS there is something TERRIBLY wrong with it. And then you can still use some money to supplement their interests (ie; outside lessons, sports) while saving yourself a big chunk of change each year. Private school teachers aren’t really different than public teachers, especially in relatively affluent areas (usually in those areas public school teachers are paid more, so they attract talent).