[jbergmann1]

I may be lame for living at home, but for others that have recently moved out of their parents home, when did you know it was time? I’ve been working for 3 years at a small CPA firm. I have been able to save close to 70k but half is in retirement accounts. I’m just worried I won’t be able to save as much which IMO is lamer than living at home.

Any thoughts?

Passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam!
License application in progress

[aaronmo]

@studynow…are we talking about prisoners? I can't understand moving to Texas on purpose 😉

True story…

7 years ago my company wanted me to move to Houston…it was a $20,000/yr raise…title…

I told them no thanks…I'd be poorer being richer in Houston. They countered with Dallas, which is sort of like offering a guy a kick to the teeth after he turns down a punch to the nose.

I think I'm just very north eastern…Texan cities look like suburban sprawl to me (not counting Austin, which was pretty cool), and the people I was meeting were just so…not the kind of people I wanted to work/live around. Hard to explain, but they'd probably feel the same way about the people around me. I'd move to Denver…Pittsburgh…but Texas is like an extended strip mall populated by people who try to convince you that it REALLY IS A CITY!

[CPA2BEE]

@bigcore My response was to the OP, who's apparent concern is not being able to save as much money when he/she moves out, no other information presented that I can speak to. The reason I say in my first post that I will “hopefully” never move back in with my parents is because of situations like what @scaredCPA is going through. Sick parent, I'd be home no doubt. The financial reasons you all have for staying at home are something I tackled head-on and that is what my post is about. I had a low starting salary, educational debt, rent to pay, car payments, paying for CPA exam materials, the list goes on. I embraced the struggle, and every year I get further and further from what life was like when I first started out and it makes the progress that much richer. I was simply sharing my experience and why I'd rather have it this way than living at home.

If the terms “mommy & daddy” and “safe space” bother you, then you're just validating my opinion. Because you are, in fact, living at your mommy & daddy's house where it is SAFER for you to save 100k before going on your own than going for it with nothing. Those terms angered you enough to reply with “condescending passive douche”, big words from an anonymous poster on a CPA Exam forum lol. Your defensiveness oozes insecurity and completely goes against the point you unsuccessfully tried to make to me – you don't know me, so why call someone something like that?

Good luck @bigcore and remember, its not nice to call people names. No need to be a cyber bully 😉

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[aaronmo]

I wish I was perfect enough, or versed in anthropology and psychology sufficiently, to condemn the culture/choices of people I don't know based on a paragraph they typed on the internet. It must be nice to be able to make determinations about people you've never met, whose shoes you haven't walked in.

Poor me…I'll just have to continue thinking it's not my place to judge.

[bigcore20]

@CPA2BEE – It's cute how you quickly try to perform damage control on your obviously condescending original post. Don't act like you weren't saying those terms in a condescending way; any idiot could see that. You actually WERE being a condescending douche based on your first post. On top of that, you judge people without even talking to them at all. You can spin it anyway you like at this point, my point remains correct.

Try not to be so judgmental in life, it will make you a better person in the long run 😉

[CPA2BEE]

No damage control bud, just clearing a few things up for your lack of comprehension. You read with an angry mind, I've seen other threads on here with you getting into it with other posters too. I don't care to change the way you interact with people, but just take into account how pathetic you look when you make accusations and call people douches on a freaking CPA exam forum. I posted to share my experiences and thoughts (which is what the forum is for), you post to attack people based off your negative interpretation of whatever they say. All behind your anonymous “safe space” on an internet forum – sad.

Cool your jets turbo, life is too short to be angry all the time 😉

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[tcheney3]

Tough to get a viable answer without knowing your specific circumstances.

What is your relationship with your parents like?
Are they well off financially and you being there is not a financial burden to them?
Is it a fairly large house where your presence isn't as felt?
What are your goals?
Have you spoken to your parents about your plans?

Your parents should be the target of this question. If they are fine with it and you are fine with it, go for it. It obviously makes sense financially. I lived with my parents off and on until I was 25. Now I couldn't do it, but I'm at a different stage in life than I was then. Not sure about all the vitriol going on around here but it doesn't have to be emotional. Buy your parents dinner and have some discourse with them. It will reduce the anxiety all around.

Nice work on the savings too by the way. I had more liquid cash at 22 in savings than I do at 27 so I'm jealous. Then again I do own a house now.

BEC - 82
REG - 86
FAR - 85
AUD - 84 and I'm out!!!!!
Ethics - 95
In Skynet's Honor:
Act I: Shutdown Skynet and prevent Judgment Day.
Act II: Add a comma and three letters to my title.
Act III: Time Travel and marry a young Denise Richards (and prevent subsequent plastic surgery),return to present.
Act IV: Serve as Successor to Elon Musk as CEO of Tesla.
Act V: Ensure Judgment Day has been stopped. Utopia achieved.

[neaux]

I don't think you are lame at all, but you've made an incredibly mature decision that most people can't seem to understand. I think you are smarter than the average person by living with your parents, and saving/investing instead of moving out. Remember, the average person barely has any savings (or not significant) so I'd be careful about getting advice from the “average” person. I wouldn't move until you are serious about a relationship, i.e. engagement/marriage.

Ask yourself, how will I benefit from spending $1,000 more a month (more or less depending on cost of living) for my own place and saving $1,000 less vs. your current situation. Hopefully you are paying for your fair share of expenses, otherwise, good for you for making the mature decision!

[bigcore20]

@CPA2BEE – No comprehension issues here buddy, your post was clearly condescending. Spin it how you will. I'm just voicing my opinion here, you can agree or disagree as you wish. Have a good night 🙂

[Missy]

My humble opinion and let me be up front it's not for everyone is that moving out isn't about prestige it's about learning life lessons you're not likely to learn under your parents roof. And it's the exact same lessons you WANT to learn in an awful apartment lol. First time you have to figure out how to handle an overflowing toilet you don't want it to be onto YOUR lovely new marble floor you want it to be on someone else's crappy shag carpet in a bathroom of all places. Learn to make a quick repair on someone else's leaking kitchen sink before you have your own cherry cabinets getting ruined. I know it sounds petty but I learned so much more as a renter than I learned under my parents roof and glad it was before I was a homeowner. I also think the lessons learned in the time between being my parents daughter and my husband's wife made me a better person in general because I learned how to rely on ME and know when I'm home alone and the basement starts taking on water that I can just handle it.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[acamp]

This is a complicated questions with lots of variables, so I'm not going to bother addressing them and just speak my opinion (you know, those stinky things everyone has)

I value my independence and would never want to move back with my parents. I too had several years of living on my own before getting married, which, honestly I could not imagine going from my parents house to directly living with someone. With that said, if you have a good relationship with your parents and they don't mind you being there, sticking around with some financial goal may not be a bad decision–but you'd probably want define that goal from the onset and make it reasonable, e.g. saving for a 5% down payment, saving for a 20% down payment, saving to buy a house cash are very different time horizons–do you want to live with your parents until you're 36 so you can buy a house cash? I think we as humans do a lot of growing with independence and I believe staying tethered to the old parentals for too long stunts your growth.

So for the original poster, you saved a nice pile of cash, nicely done (a lot of people would have bought a BMW lol)! But ask yourself what the goal is? Obviously, the purely financial play has you living their indefinitely, but but at some point the healthy move is to flee the nest!

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[Anonymous]

Please tell me that you're totally joking with this post…. The time to move out was YESTERDAY. Last week. Last month. Last year, take your pick. You banked 70 grand and you're still living with your parents?? Move out and start living your own life, please. Your mind (and your body) will thank you for it. Myself – left home at age 21, I transferred to a different university where I finished. Until then, I had no money and my jobs were not enough to pay any rent and I was still in school. I moved back for some months after graduation at age 23 a couple years later, when I once again had no money and no job. But, once I got the job and was earning paychecks, I left again and never looked back. I advise anyone to do the same. Cash is nice, but at some point you need to cut the cord and start using the cash! Cuz you can't take cash with you! Gooooooood Luckkkkkkk……not that you'll need it.

[Anonymous]

You should stay in your parent's house as long as you possibly can.

Your numbers tell me that you're saving 23k per year.

Take 23k and compound it at 8% – the average market return for 30 years.

That's $231k your saving by living with your parents…every year…

If you are not in tears having to get out – you should stay. You probably get laundry done, dinner made, etc.

You have the ability to work much later than others and not deal with certain pita chores. I see no reason to leave.

Opportunity cost guys…opportunity cost…this person is saving so much.

If someone questions you, show them that math…

[Anonymous]

Uh, he/she can't move out on their own and still save money? Maybe not as much, but what does the average person do? Stay at home until they're 35 or 40, just so they can save up a lot of cash? This person should be buying a home and letting the equity build with the years. MY GOD! Yeah, dude, “Show them that math…” Show them the math for the money you're LOSING by forking cash every paycheck into a retirement account or a savings account that earns 0.001% interest every year. Or even a retirement account.

There comes a point where everybody needs to start living their own life. You can't do that while you're living under the roof of the people/person who brought you into the world. I'm thinking that some of the people who responded to this thread are like 22 years old or younger, and/or live in different parts of the world (I assume you live in the United States.) They're cheering you on while not understanding the big picture.

Original poster (sorry, I forgot your name) – heed my advice, and those others on here who told you that you should hit the trail and begin living your life. You can still save money after you are out on your own. If you're making that much money, you should be putting it toward a mortgage payment. Use the cash you have to make a down payment on a house. There are tax incentives for first-time home buyers. And above all, start being your own person, away from the watchful eyes of mom and dad. You will thank yourself for it later if you do it now, or hate yourself forever if you don't. And… I don't know if you're in a relationship with another person right now…but I'll tell you, I wouldn't want to “be intimate” with somebody in the house where my parents live!!

Sorry if I sound harsh…..but you asked, and I answered. I've been through this before so I can relate.

[Anonymous]

The dividend yield in the stock market has never been .001%…I looked up Phillip Morris as a random example and they are over 4%.

Investing in a mortgage can work, but we dont know if OP plans to remain in the same place long enough, if there will be HOA fees, high real estate taxes, etc, or if OP can get a palatable property they'd like to live in for however long. We dont know if OP's income will grow faster than projected rate increased – if his/her specific buying power increase/decrease over what horizon – and what rate would be no longer worth the time.

There are no tax incentives for first time home buyers right now. And if so, getting them with $70k of income is not going to be an easy feat. You can itemize deductions, but that only has value to the marginal extent it exceeds the standard deduction. If the property is cheap and comes with a low rate, there's not much to itemized.

OP will have to run through that long list of factors to evaluate if real estate is a consideration – then run the two scenarios on an excel sheet to see what pans out more. There's also the risk of default (everyone's got it) – and if it turns to foreclosure and not a short sale the homebuyer loses all of their equity to the bank (even if the property was worth $1M and the remaining loan balance was $1k). The homeowner loses absolutely everything.

I'm closing on my 1st time home purchase in under 4 weeks…It's a consumption decision, not a wealth builder…There's a difference

[Biff-1955-Tannen]

Instead of talking about the money you would earn investing in stocks/bonds/retirement, or the massive interest you would save by putting 2 or 3 times as much down on a house, crazyleon talks about the minimal money you would earn by putting it in a savings account. This is probably why crazyleon also talked about him being broke multiple times in his life.

But yea OP you should definitely listen to crazyleon. You'd be crazy to not take financial advice from somebody that self admittedly can not manage his own finances.

AUD 93 Jan 16
BEC 83 Feb 16
FAR 83 Apr 16
REG 84 May 16

99% Ninja MCQ only

[Author]

Replies