My employer does not provide retirement benefits.
Currently my SO and I are arduously saving as much as we can for a down payment. We live and work in Los Angeles, and it is a firm goal of ours to buy a home in Los Angeles. We are aiming to purchase a $1M home with 20% down. We are currently saving about 20k a year each, and aim to have 200k total in <4 years. We are aggressively saving and budgeting our spending.
Today I came across several websites all saying that I should prioritize my retirement account before saving for a house. (example) I understand that the earlier you start saving the more you'll have to work with after retirement. But I honestly am not convinced that I should prioritize my retirement at this moment. We are in the 25-29 age group.
Factors:
- We're aiming to buy a $1M home in LA. The average home price nationwide is way lower than that, so perhaps all these articles that I've seen are speaking with the average home price in mind). If we were talking about a 350k home (non existent in LA), and talking 20% of that, then sure, I wouldn't mind putting a little aside into a ROTH.
- We are currently renting in LA.
- I understand I can do ROTH and take out up to $10k towards buying a home. That doesnt motivate me towards opening a ROTH yet. Buying a home is our #1 priority. I want 100% of my savings (emergency fund excluded) to go towards the home purchase down payment. $10k does not amount to much when putting 200k down for a 1M home.
- For the sake of this question, no, we are not considering a cheaper area. I'd like to know why I should prioritize my retirement in regards to this specific scenario, or see if I am indeed being pragmatic in thinking I should get the down payment savings out of the way first.
Submitted October 03, 2018 at 05:40PM by regularhumanbeing123 https://ift.tt/2IEQJJS
