u/K-man21

I have finally become sick of my current Honda HRX217, and would like to upgrade. I also have a John Deere X590 with a 48" deck, but I never use it, due to the amount of trees, fencing, and trim work required for my yard. The rider doesn't save me any time because I still have to go back around with the Honda to do trim where I can't fit the rider. It also does a worse job cutting, so it ends up sitting in my garage. Lastly, there is also a small hill that it loses traction on due to the slope, so it ends up creating ruts and tearing up the grass.

I am looking to get rid of both the Honda and the John Deere, and find the absolute best option for my yard.

I have 4/10ths of an acre of northern grass, with a large fence around part of it, and about 20 total trees. Most of the trees are on an easement that I am required to take care of, but I do not want to do any beautification or mulching/edging around those trees, since it's not my property. I just want to mow as quickly as possible around them.

My thought is to go with a Toro Timemaster, thinking the walk behind aspect will help with the obstacles, but still save some time with the 30" deck compared to the 21" deck the Honda currently has.

Are there other options in the market I should consider, in the larger walk behind segment?

Yard

I have two kids, 6 and 4. I am planning on covering their college costs, up to the amount a public state school would cost.

I have been contributing to my, and my wife's Roth IRAs, with this in mind. Currently, we have about $65k and $60k in each account for the two of them. We will be contributing to the Roth's regardless, knowing the money is accessible to myself and my wife in retirement. My thought process for this is that Roth's allow for unpenalized withdrawals for education expenses. I don't plan to give them anything extra, above the amount a state school would cost. Because of this, I have not been using a 529 plan, because anything that is left over after the cost of school is not available for myself or my wife to use.

Currently, my wife and I max out our 401ks, I purchase 10% of my salary in company stock at a 15% discount and sell it once it is quaified, moving it to a brokerage account. We also max out our HSA.

Outside of the additional access to tax advantaged savings, what am I missing by not opening a 529 for each of them? I just don't see the benefit of one, assuming we will have enough in our 401k/HSA/brokerage for our own retirement needs. Anything left over in the Roth after college costs would be gravy.

Lawnmower Recommendation for 4/10th acre yard, lots of obstacles