Emergency funds: $50K in VUSXX
Debt:
Mortgage $1.85M principal @ 6.375% 7-year ARM
HHI: $550K gross
Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly
Tax Rate: 35% Federal, 9% State
State of Residence: CA
Age: 37
Desired Asset allocation: 100% stocks
Desired International allocation: 0% of stocks
Current Portfolio size: $1.25M investible assets
Taxable - $500K
30% VTSAX
10% Individual Equities
Retirement - $750K
60% VTSAX
_______________________________________________________________
Contributions
New annual Contributions - $86K
$23k His 401K
$23k Her 403B
$40k Taxable brokerage
Questions:
1. I'm debating two paths to paying down our mortgage. I recognize that paying the principal is akin to a guaranteed 6.375% return. My goal is to reduce the mortgage loan down *as much as would be optimal* with a refinance in 5 years time (and hoping that interest rates will be lower at the end of that timeframe).
I'm debating A) a "DCA strategy" of paying down the mortgage over the next few years from our additional savings or B) a "lump sum" strategy of investing our additional savings into our taxable brokerage and waiting for 3-4 years time for when we are about to refinance to pay down a lump sum of principal.
It seems to me this decision is based on my views of the market - DCA strategy seems optimal if I believe the market will return WORSE than 6.375% (nominal growth). Lump sum strategy seems optimal if I believe the market will return BETTER than 6.375% (nominal growth).
Am I thinking about this correctly? And am I thinking about market return being nominal growth if I am comparing to a fixed mortgage interest rate?
2. We have been frugal in our working years to accumulate a nest egg of $1.25M in investible assets. I am also debating whether or not to draw down from the taxable brokerage (and incurring 20% LTCG) to aid in the reduction of mortgage down to $750K. Part of me feels like I don't want to reduce our nest egg below $1M because the snowball effect feels more sizeable with the annual market returns.
Am I thinking about this correctly or do I have some illogical aversion to reducing my investible assets back to the $X00 K's? Should I more strongly consider liquidating a significant portion of my taxable brokerage in order to reduce my monthly mortgage obligations? What's the best way to think about this?
Welcome all input and feedback, thank you.
Debt:
Mortgage $1.85M principal @ 6.375% 7-year ARM
HHI: $550K gross
Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly
Tax Rate: 35% Federal, 9% State
State of Residence: CA
Age: 37
Desired Asset allocation: 100% stocks
Desired International allocation: 0% of stocks
Current Portfolio size: $1.25M investible assets
Taxable - $500K
30% VTSAX
10% Individual Equities
Retirement - $750K
60% VTSAX
_______________________________________________________________
Contributions
New annual Contributions - $86K
$23k His 401K
$23k Her 403B
$40k Taxable brokerage
Questions:
1. I'm debating two paths to paying down our mortgage. I recognize that paying the principal is akin to a guaranteed 6.375% return. My goal is to reduce the mortgage loan down *as much as would be optimal* with a refinance in 5 years time (and hoping that interest rates will be lower at the end of that timeframe).
I'm debating A) a "DCA strategy" of paying down the mortgage over the next few years from our additional savings or B) a "lump sum" strategy of investing our additional savings into our taxable brokerage and waiting for 3-4 years time for when we are about to refinance to pay down a lump sum of principal.
It seems to me this decision is based on my views of the market - DCA strategy seems optimal if I believe the market will return WORSE than 6.375% (nominal growth). Lump sum strategy seems optimal if I believe the market will return BETTER than 6.375% (nominal growth).
Am I thinking about this correctly? And am I thinking about market return being nominal growth if I am comparing to a fixed mortgage interest rate?
2. We have been frugal in our working years to accumulate a nest egg of $1.25M in investible assets. I am also debating whether or not to draw down from the taxable brokerage (and incurring 20% LTCG) to aid in the reduction of mortgage down to $750K. Part of me feels like I don't want to reduce our nest egg below $1M because the snowball effect feels more sizeable with the annual market returns.
Am I thinking about this correctly or do I have some illogical aversion to reducing my investible assets back to the $X00 K's? Should I more strongly consider liquidating a significant portion of my taxable brokerage in order to reduce my monthly mortgage obligations? What's the best way to think about this?
Welcome all input and feedback, thank you.
Statistics: Posted by dkwang — Wed May 15, 2024 11:37 am — Replies 13 — Views 523