Hi,
My wife and I are looking for some advice, so thank you in advance for any assistance.
We live in a HCOL area. We make decent money, me $130k, her $160k, and are both 35. We have $90k combined in our 401k, another $50k between a ROTH and a T-IRA. We will max out both our 401ks this year. We also have about $225k in a HYSA.
Neither one of us wants to have a long commute, as we have a 4 month old daughter (We have started and are funding a 529 for her), and this means that we really can't afford a home or even condo in our area, we would have a mortgage of at least $7k a month after putting down the full $200k. Really to save money on housing we would have a 1 hr commute each way. Our current rent is $3,500 + about $350 a month in utilities. Our daughter just started daycare at $2,500 a month.
I know we are in a better position then the average American but am just unsure how to move forward right now. We have talked with grandma about retiring and watching our daughter full time to save on daycare but it seems like a lot for her (She really wants to do it), and our daughter has taken to daycare well and is pretty social.
I guess our question is, what would you do with the money in the HYSA? The S&P seems terrifying right now, the interest rate in the account has dropped from a high of 5.5% down to 3.5%. Would you invest in another markets real estate, put in an index fund, start a small business? How can we take this money and use it for something if it cannot help us purchase a home.
I will add, both of our jobs are a bit up in the air, and we are near the top of what we make in our industry currently. We could be a bit house poor and get a place, but it scares us both knowing finding similar jobs could take a lot of time.
Thank you for any help!