u/europeanuppercut

34, single. income is $150-250k/year, depending on commission. 401k (currently at $415k) is maxed out, no longer qualify for roth ira. mega backdoor roth through 401k. about $520k in money market (3.15%) for emergency/eventual down payment on home.

i love the idea of buying a home in cash, or paying as much as i can up front, but i know i'm losing out on time in the market... so i'm thinking i should open a taxable brokerage and invest in s&p 500... i have no idea when or where i'm going to buy a home.

should i move $300k into a brokerage, keep $20k for emergency, and settle for $200k as a 20% (at least) down payment? or should i do less than $300k?

34, single. income is $150-250k/year, depending on commission. 401k (currently at $415k) is maxed out, no longer qualify for roth ira. mega backdoor roth through 401k. about $520k in money market (3.15%) for emergency/eventual down payment on home.

i love the idea of buying a home in cash, or paying as much as i can up front, but i know i'm losing out on time in the market... so i'm thinking i should open a taxable brokerage and invest in s&p 500... i have no idea when or where i'm going to buy a home.

should i move $300k into a brokerage, keep $20k for emergency, and settle for $200k as a 20% (at least) down payment? or should i do less than $300k?

34, single. income is $150-250k/year, depending on commission. 401k (currently at $415k) is maxed out, no longer qualify for roth ira. mega backdoor roth through 401k. about $520k in money market (3.15%) for emergency/eventual down payment on home.

i love the idea of buying a home in cash, or paying as much as i can up front, but i know i'm losing out on time in the market... so i'm thinking i should open a taxable brokerage and invest in s&p 500... i have no idea when or where i'm going to buy a home.

should i move $300k into a brokerage, keep $20k for emergency, and settle for $200k as a 20% (at least) down payment? or should i do less than $300k?

34, single. income is $150-250k/year, depending on commission. 401k (currently at $415k) is maxed out, no longer qualify for roth ira. mega backdoor roth through 401k. about $520k in money market (3.15%) for emergency/eventual down payment on home.

i love the idea of buying a home in cash, or paying as much as i can up front, but i know i'm losing out on time in the market... so i'm thinking i should open a taxable brokerage and invest in s&p 500... i have no idea when or where i'm going to buy a home.

should i move $300k into a brokerage, keep $20k for emergency, and settle for $200k as a 20% (at least) down payment? or should i do less than $300k?

34, single. income is $150-250k/year, depending on commission. 401k (currently at $415k) is maxed out, no longer qualify for roth ira. mega backdoor roth through 401k. about $220k in money market (3.15%) for emergency/eventual down payment on home.

$300k that i'd like to use to open a taxable brokerage. vanguard, s&p 500 (probably).

if s&p 500 is hitting record highs... do i pay attention to that, and wait until it drops... or ignore the market and start investing asap?

34, single. income is $150-250k/year, depending on commission. 401k (currently at $415k) is maxed out, no longer qualify for roth ira. mega backdoor roth through 401k. about $220k in money market (3.15%) for emergency/eventual down payment on home.

$300k that i'd like to use to open a taxable brokerage. vanguard, s&p 500 (probably).

if s&p 500 is hitting record highs... do i pay attention to that, and wait until it drops... or ignore the market and start investing asap?

looking to open first taxable brokerage. would be moving $250k over from a money market (3.15% interest). told that i should put it all in s&p 500.

i'm confused, though - some people say i need to do it immediately, some people say it's a bad time...

what's the answer here?

i'm confused about knowing when to invest... market is up, market is down... if i'm looking to put $250k into a taxable brokerage, likely going s&p 500, is it a bad decision to do it this week?

or should i do it asap regardless of what the market is?

34, single. yearly income is $150-250k, commission-based. no debt. money is distributed across a money market account (earning 3.15%), 401k (maxed out each year), roth ira (had to stop contributing due to income level), and checking account. when i had to stop roth ira contributions, i started doing a backdoor roth within the 401k.

money market - $500,000
401k - $415,000
roth ira - $18,000
checking - $10,000
TOTAL - $943,000

i know the money market is questionable - but i've been saving aggressively for a house. the idea was to pay for a home in full, with no mortgage, but i'm at a point where i don't know when i'm going to buy... or where... and it feels like renting still makes sense with where i'm at in my life.

thought it would have happened by now, but it hasn't, and i'm questioning what i should be doing with the money in the meantime.

should i keep doing what i'm doing, maxing out 401k, putting everything else into the money market? start a taxable brokerage? (if taxable brokerage - should i move some of the $500k money market over there? or start from $0, slow down house savings, and divide that out?)

feels like i should probably make some changes, but wanted to run this by some other folks first.

34, single. yearly income is $150-250k, commission-based. no debt. money is distributed across a money market account (earning 3.15%), 401k (maxed out each year), roth ira (had to stop contributing due to income level), and checking account. when i had to stop roth ira contributions, i started doing a backdoor roth within the 401k.

money market - $500,000
401k - $415,000
roth ira - $18,000
checking - $10,000
TOTAL - $943,000

i know the money market is questionable - but i've been saving aggressively for a house. the idea was to pay for a home in full, with no mortgage, but i'm at a point where i don't know when i'm going to buy... or where... and it feels like renting still makes sense with where i'm at in my life.

thought it would have happened by now, but it hasn't, and i'm questioning what i should be doing with the money in the meantime.

should i keep doing what i'm doing, maxing out 401k, putting everything else into the money market? start a taxable brokerage? (if taxable brokerage - should i move some of the $500k money market over there? or start from $0, slow down house savings, and divide that out?)

feels like i should probably make some changes, but wanted to run this by some other folks first.

34, single. yearly income is $150-250k, commission-based. no debt. money is distributed across a money market account (earning 3.15%), 401k (maxed out each year), roth ira (had to stop contributing due to income level), and checking account. when i had to stop roth ira contributions, i started doing a backdoor roth within the 401k.

money market - $500,000
401k - $415,000
roth ira - $18,000
checking - $10,000
TOTAL - $943,000

i know the money market is questionable - but i've been saving aggressively for a house. the idea was to pay for a home in full, with no mortgage, but i'm at a point where i don't know when i'm going to buy... or where... and it feels like renting still makes sense with where i'm at in my life.

thought it would have happened by now, but it hasn't, and i'm questioning what i should be doing with the money in the meantime.

should i keep doing what i'm doing, maxing out 401k, putting everything else into the money market? start a taxable brokerage? (if taxable brokerage - should i move some of the $500k money market over there? or start from $0, slow down house savings, and divide that out?)

feels like i should probably make some changes, but wanted to run this by some other folks first.

seller has a 2012 prht, used, 80k miles. automatic. (please don't shame me! i need an automatic!)

asking $14k. offered $9k cash. too low. says he respects kelley blue book, so i ran private party value. $10k. he says it's still too low, but getting closer.

(he also said he'd run the kbb value as "excellent" - even though it has two minor accidents, and a couple other minor damages?)

anyway. $10k was my planned ceiling. i'm trying to figure out what else i can use to negotiate.

he says the brakes have been replaced recently, and the tires have 6k miles on them. but everything else is stock.

are there any repairs, replacements, etc. that i should expect on this, already close to the 100k mark? any expenses i could use to factor into the negotiation?

grew up vacationing in beaufort, charleston... but didn't pay attention to cars at the time...

recently found out bmw was building z3 convertibles in spartanburg...

are bmws the most common convertibles driven in south carolina these days? or do you see more mazda miatas, etc.?

currently live without a garage - leaning towards prht over soft top - can anyone speak to how these hold up against hail?

i've been stuck between two roadsters - a 2001 bmw z3 3.0i (titanium silver metallic, hard + soft tops, 90k miles) and a 2012 mazda miata (liquid silver metallic, retractable hard top, 80k miles).

both in mint condition. both sellers are asking $14k.

i have a primary daily - just want something fun. lightweight. and cooler than a hyundai ioniq hatchback. but i can't decide.

then i realized... should i just buy both?

the money's coming from a money market account, which is earning 3.15%. i'm saving for a home. but probably won't be buying for another 2-3 years.

so... assuming the two cars will hold their value, or even appreciate (which is currently happening with both the z3 & the prht miatas)... could i negotiate both to a lower price, spend a year driving both, decide which one i like more, and then sell the other one for 3.15% more than i paid?

or is this a pipe dream / financially irresponsible / just dumb

i've been stuck between two roadsters - a 2001 bmw z3 3.0i (titanium silver metallic, hard + soft tops, 90k miles) and a 2012 mazda miata (liquid silver metallic, retractable hard top, 80k miles).

both in mint condition. both sellers are asking $14k.

i have a primary daily - just want something fun. lightweight. and cooler than a hyundai ioniq hatchback. but i can't decide.

then i realized... should i just buy both?

the money's coming from a money market account, which is earning 3.15%. i'm saving for a home. but probably won't be buying for another 2-3 years.

so... assuming the two cars will hold their value, or even appreciate (which is currently happening with both the z3 & the prht miatas)... could i negotiate both to a lower price, spend a year driving both, decide which one i like more, and then sell the other one for 3.15% more than i paid?

or is this a pipe dream / financially irresponsible / just dumb