I just can’t understand it-and I can’t take it either!

amother

Navy ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 9:38 pm

amother Fuchsia wrote:

Just my 2 cents & I am not knowledgeable in this at all
5k tuition for 8 kids isn’t a lot
2k for household help is a lot
3500 groceries is reasonable , but could be less I think
Why can’t you pay less in health insurance?
Is child health plus a possibility at all ?
Even at their highest income , you pay much less per kid than private insurance
But you need knowledge broker to guide you in the process
Don’t know what heloc is

NY Child health plus full premium is very expensive and on top of that you need a plan for yourself and spouse.
If you get a family plan through an employer you're usually better off.
I am paying much less for a family plan through work than I would be paying for full premium chp

amother

↑ DarkRed ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 9:40 pm

amother Lime wrote:

But she's paying at least 15k in taxes for herself.

It is actually adding up.
The only way it doesn't make sense is if her husband is on a c-corp in which case she needs a much better accountant.

If he's on a salary making 525k then he's actually only bringing home around 330k per year after taxes.
Crazy!

That's the poor middle class.
You work and pay taxes so the government can send money to Iran.

The millionaires get away with taxes and they defect to China and Russia but they have enough money to hire lawyers to defend them. Wink

She's actually paying 35 to 45k in taxes for her own income... add it up.

amother

↑ Lime ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 9:51 pm

amother DarkRed wrote:

She's actually paying 35 to 45k in taxes for her own income... add it up.

I didn't do an exact calculation but that was my point.
When someone makes a half a million to a million in 'salary' they're not rich at all.

The only way to have the benefit of making this amount of money is by making it as a business owner.

amother

↑ Lemon ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 9:52 pm

amother Lime wrote:

I totally hear that!

amother

↑ Lemon ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 9:53 pm

amother Lime wrote:

What do u mean? It's better tax-wise? (I know it's late, don't answer if you're too tired! Was just curious...)

↑ ittsamother ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 9:55 pm

amother Navy wrote:

Last I checked a few years ago with Fidelis, full price was $225 a month. But CHP is capped at 3 children, it says here: https://www.health.ny.gov/heal.....t.htm

So even if it's more than $225 a kid a month, since they would only have to pay for 3 kids, it can't be near the equivalent of paying private insurance for 8 kids.

Our kids are on CHP and my husband and I are on United Refuah. We save a ton that way.

amother

↑ Lime ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 9:56 pm

amother Lemon wrote:

What do u mean? It's better tax-wise? (I know it's late, don't answer if you're too tired! Was just curious...)

Yes the biggest chunk in OPs income goes towards taxes.
If you own your own business or Corp taxes are very differently calculated.

amother

Blush ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 10:15 pm

OP, have you looked into Refuah instead of health insurance? You can save tens of thousands of dollars a year.

And yes, to echo many posters here, this thread is making me super depressed. I earn about a 1/5 of what OP earns with about the same amount of kids and we are actively working to increase our income so that we can meet our expenses and breathe a little easier. It's so disheartening to see people waaay above our income level living with the same amount of penny pinching and never ending stress over finances.

↑ imaima ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 10:23 pm

amother DarkRed wrote:

Thank you for pointing this out! People here don't seem to value their time at all. I have the kind of job that the more hours I work, the more money I make. If I spend half hour making challah, for example, if you factor in how much my time is worth it comes out slightly more expensive than grocery challah. Same for making desserts or dips (some dips are super easy to make but some like matbuchah are more time consuming).

I can‘t emphasize enough having kids chip in.
Have them one salad to make, make Sunday into a challah baking batch. Seems like OPs kids are mostly boys but it shouldn’t be an excuse to do something.
Everyone is in charge of cleaning their room.

I feel like OP has a large house that costs a lot to own and upkeep. Maybe she can take tenants as her kids move out.

amother

↑ Dill

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 10:51 pm

ittsamother wrote:

Depending on what state op lives in she may not save anything on her premiums by taking 3 kids off her plan.
Or she might. Some states like NJ are age banded and pay per person, while others like NY the price is for a family whether it’s 2 parents and 1 kid or 12 kids…
She may save on copays and coinsurance (I’m not familiar with the plan you referenced), but I also don’t recall seeing that she says she has medical bills.
Maybe that’s another unaccounted line item in ops budget.
Or maybe she has an amazing health plan with zero deductible and low copays for service and paying 3700 a month is a smart choice for them.

amother

↑ Ebony ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 10:56 pm

Of the top 2 things that are standing out one is OPs 80k-100k job. Because her husband is already making over 500k, her Federal Tax rate is 35% on all of that income. Add FICA 7.5% tax plus state and or city tax and that 80k is only a bit over 40k of take home pay. 24k of that goes to the cleaning help, leaving OP with 16k of actual take home pay for all of her efforts!

If OP wants to work she would be far better off taking a much lower paying job that offers either full health insurance (tax free) or is an educational institution that can give tuition benefit instead of salary straight to her kids schools tuition. She could take a 30k to 40k pay cut and still come out ahead.

The other option is to quit working entirely and take care of her home and household budget on the cheap, also probably coming out ahead financially.

As others have mentioned, consulting a tax expert about ways to lower her DH tax burden is a must. There are often creative solutions that can leagally save a bundle in taxes.

Most people pulling in OPs income would NOT be in OPs predicament. They would proactively strategize to maximize their after tax take home pay.

Dolly Welsh

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 11:12 pm

Heloc means "home equity line of credit."

OP, maybe you shouldn't work. You are not making much, after paying the cleaning help which is needed to make working possible, and, the car to get you to work, and, the necessary work image, meaning done nails, nice clothes. And work lunches, often necessary for office life.

With more time at home, your grocery bills might go down, just from you doing more cooking from scratch.

amother

Leaf

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 11:20 pm

OP, I think you need to learn to budget. Budgeting and learning money will get you out of this. Many of us making less are saving more simply because we know how to budget and plan. You think you don’t need to budget at this salary but you really do because even someone eating triple your salary can spend it all.

amother

↑ Currant

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 11:26 pm

amother Starflower wrote:

She’s also earning 80-100k on top of that. It’s not really adding up

It is because she did not include clothing for her family because she said it's not a monthly thing but she still spends it over the year. Even cheap, it's at least 5k a yr- think hosiery,shoes etc.

She didn't include camp and she said she sends four kids so that's about 12,000.

Sge didn't include extra yt expenses, easily extra 5k plus over the year.

amother

↑ Blush ↓

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 11:45 pm

amother Brickred wrote:

her time is better spent making 50K per month....
she and her husband are in a high income bracket!

Huh?? She's making 80-100k A YEAR, not a month. Read again.

And yes, at that income level she definitely can and should spare the time to cut her own fruit and/or make her own dips. If she can't find the time, better to quit her job and spend less on conveniences and cleaning help. She'd likely come out ahead and feel better without seeing her salary disappear every month.

nylon

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 11:45 pm

On OP's income, with a large family, a health share is a huge risk. They don't guarantee payment. So if anything happens, c"v, your exposure is huge. And with a large family there's always a big chance something will happen.

If you want to cut that, find a job with insurance. Even if it's paid at 75-80% and leaves you some premium to pay, your savings will be significant and could outweigh even a serious pay cut.

Other than that you need to see a financial adviser. Moving with current interest rates would be a last resort. You also want to focus on paying off your HELOC because it will be eating you in interest.

amother

Aconite

Sat, Sep 14 2024, 11:50 pm

This is scaring me😬
I’m in my early 20s, have only one kid and my husband is in school. I work part time (don’t make much) and we are able to get a lot of benefits because my husband doesn’t really work (he’s doing tutoring on the side to cover extra expenses)
We’re not really able to save at the moment and trying our best but this is making me feel like we’re never going to get there! Especially because I want a large family… does anyone ever actually “make it”?