Car Loan and Emergency Fund

[feh]

But it's back to the WANT thing versus the need.

It is such a sweet car. If you were in my shoes and had the same love of automobiles that I do you would understand.

Oh, I understand. I dig cars. But I'm not willing to spend $10K+ more than necessary for a sweet and/or fast car.

You obviously know what the prudent choice is. It's just a matter of whether you'll listen to the devil on one shoulder or the accountant on the other...

[PMMM]

You read it right. But it's also my general savings fund so that time could be changeable.

But I'm not sure I agree with your suggestion to pay down the mortgage and here is why.

I am not upside down in my house but in my market the house is worth less (according to Zillow) than I paid for it 8 years ago. Though I still have equity in the house and a good interest rate (4.3%) I do not intend to retire in this area. I want to move to Boise, Idaho and buy a much smaller house. The house I am in now is far too large for just my wife and I. Boise has a median housing price of about $130K (now) and a much lower cost of living than the Seattle metro area. (now) It's darned expensive around here and I want to slow down my lifestyle when I retire. I'm assuming that Boise will still be affordable when I retire and if not I will find the area that is.

I have about 15 years to go before I retire, (retiring at 70) and my wife about 19 years. My reason to retire at 70 is to get the full SS benefit. I may not work full time once I reach an earlier retirement age but I do want to max the SS benefit.

So I think I would rather keep putting money into 401K and other investments rather than pay down the house. I am assuming that I will be able to sell my home for a decent profit when retirement comes and then I will just pay cash for our end of life home. At least this is how I envision it all coming together.

I'm not sure if that makes sense to you but it does to me.

[Frugal]

I don't know, five years' worth of living expenses in an EF seems pretty reasonable. Was just thinking the other day that this kind of savings might be ideal for most people (if only most of us could afford to have so much in savings! Not likely!).