Read the headline 3 times trying to guess the answer, thinking wow that’s not a huge nest egg to retire on but maybe they inherited a brownstone and rent out part of it so they cash flow to cover expenses or something creative. But no it’s over $200K of annual income lol.
Is the answer “Quite comfortably, but still with the precarity of the American Health Care System hanging over their heads”?
Sadly they can’t afford vacations and have to settle for their weekend house.
Health insurance not referenced at all. The husband is retired from a 40-year city job so I’m guessing they get some sort of retiree benefit.
Well, the important part is in the thumbnail. A couple making 400k in the Bay Area that feel broke because reasons… “we live paycheck to paycheck” but not really, etc.
FWIW, my daughter and son-in-law live in a suburb that’s near the last stop on one of the DC Metro lines. They makes a combined gross of 140K and have one child, a toddler in daycare.
They rent a 2-br apartment, and they can’t find any decent 3-br homes they can afford to buy, even when they expanded their search to be a 10 minute drive further out from the Metro station. Many homes on their own land go for nearly 7 figures, and any townhouse closer to 500K gets snapped up quickly, often at or above listing price.
Northern Virginia has been nuts for awhile IMO. Even further south down in Fredericksburg where I used to live is expensive. But crazy fuckers live like my father live down there and commute to D.C. Nothing like spending a large chunk of your life on 95.
Every desirable place to live has gotten completely out of hand, the cost of housing, health care and child care is the defining issue for Millennials who are somehow still not represented in government as fossil fucks refuse to retire.
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You gotta hand it to millennials.
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I mean, the fossils are the ones that benefit from the rising cost of housing because for them the houses are an asset, not an expense. Of course they’re not going to relinquish control of the policy levers is that means that the millenials will drive down the value of their assets in the name of affordable housing.
Wasn’t sure where to put this. Wife got minivan rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light. Vehicle is at the shop awaiting an estimate. It seems to me like they might total the vehicle. Any advice on how to navigate this situation? I’m mainly worried that insurance company will lowball us on the value of the vehicle.
I considered that, but this seems more like a “How to deal with an insurance company” question. That thread seems more about mechanical issues and buying a car. I’m sure this would technically qualify, but doesn’t seem like a focus of that thread.
You could search that thread for mentions of insurance to see how it fits.
Something similar happened to my dad recently. His car was less than a year old and the insurance company ended up totaling it. I think the gave fair market value, but depreciation during the first year is pretty steep.
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Just check the book value through some online sites. As long as your wife is not claiming any medical expenses, I don’t see them really wanting to play games about the book value.
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They will likely try to lowball you, find the highest priced similar vehicles for sale near you and use that to help negotiate. Especially with another driver at fault their insurance will be motivated to settle the claim because there’s liability hanging over their heads until it’s done. Draw it out if you’re not in a rush to get paid. Don’t accept excuses that don’t align with getting the full value for your car. I had someone try to tell me their software only allowed them to value my car pre-accident as flawless or average with no gradations in between. Average was probably more than fair but I insisted it was above average and their software limitation was not my problem and they magically found a work around to offer me another 10%.
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Book value is lower than Retail value.
DUCY?
How do you search a thread? I can only see an option to search a category.
You can search Carvana and other online sites for other vans the same year and trim model.
The insurance company should provide some comparisons in their valuation report. If their comparisons are way lower that the ones you see for sale, don’t take their first offer. Take screenshots of other cars for sale and send them in. Also if you have things like newer tires, or great maintenance records, bump your offer up some because your car is in better condition than average. Worst they can do is say no. They’re not going to lower their first offer or anything
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