We are incredibly fortunate that DH got a full-time offer with benefits (he's been working part-time for many years). Same parent company as mine, so I'm already familiar with the benefits offered, but I'm wondering if the hive has any tips on how to take advantage of two incomes?
I think he'll get his own HSA to get the work contribution (I'll just scale mine back so we don't go over the limit). But everything else I already cover the whole family.
Where would you send this new income?
pear / 1521 posts
Maxing out retirement and then probably try to invest some. Save more towards college. And ditto @peaches1038
@pachamama: ha!!
Congrats!!
pomelo / 5573 posts
We have a vacation fund - we pay a certain amount into it every month and then when we want to go on a trip we already have the money set aside to pay for it. Iād do something similar for an emergency fund to pay vet bills, mechanic surprises, etc.
kiwi / 656 posts
In the years my husband took a high paying position we knew we didnāt want him to be in forever (stress, insane unpredictable hours, etc) we made the intentional decision to aggressively pay off student debt and to avoid living to our means. That meant many of his colleagues wondered why we lived like we did (we didnāt own a car, we had a modest apartment, we didnāt eat out at fancy places all the time, our clothes were modest in comparison) but we didnāt want to get stuck in golden handcuffs where he felt he couldnāt take a lower paying job because we had to maintain a lifestyle. All the extra we didnāt spend went straight into savings or an invest account we opened into market diverse ETFs. As a result, we have a vey comfortable best egg that gives us flexibility now, even with him having taken a 30% pay cut 2 years ago, and me moving from Full to part time contract work. Iād honestly set aside a tiny bit of fun money from the net gain and pretend like the rest doesnāt exist- find a way to invest it and let it grow for a rainy day.
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
My financial advisor would tell you to direct all the extra money directly into a savings acct of some form before you ever see it. In our case- retirement and a brokerage. But we still have student loans so we use every raise to increase our payments to those, for now.
nectarine / 2460 posts
After everyoneās excellent suggestions (retirement, savings, etc) I would invest extra money towards convenience. A cleaning service, yard service, etc. If I magically came into extra money right now thatās where Iād be putting it.
pea / 14 posts
Max out the retirement accounts! Max out the HSA most people don't realize that at age 65 you can use the HSA for Non-medical needs. So it can act as another retirement account. If you owe on your home, make extra payments pay it off faster, you save on the interest in the long run. Definitely keep some cash liquid as an emergency fund.
Not sure how you feel about kids and college funds I personally believe it's good to let a child pay for at least half of their college (I've seen too many ungrateful children when their parents have paid for it) but set some aside for college funds.
Also definitely any family vacation you've been planning on going on! Any upgrades to your home or vehicles that maybe needed. If this is all covered then possibly look into some alternative investments. Not sure if you want flip houses or be a landlord with a rental property but I'm sure there are some other side investments you can get into for fun!
I also agree with Jennypenny If you don't already have a cleaning service, do it! Yard service, possibly the grocery delivery services. Anything that would make your day easier or better do it! Personal trainer, nutritionist, spa days, salon days, take up a new hobby. Whatever would make you feel good to do, go for it! 
eggplant / 11716 posts
@codeitall: I don't know what your financial situation is right now and what you allocate where, but I'd sit down and figure out necessities and nice-to-haves and prioritize.
Do you already have full time childcare, and do you already do the dependent care fund/reimbursements for that 5k? I know that's a small drop in the bucket, but you may as well save where you can.
Is your insurance plan exactly the same, and will it be cheaper for him to have "his own" plan rather than you carting him in your plan? Like before, if your insurance covered the whole family, is the employee (now also your husband ) totally employer paid?
Assuming you have no high interest debt like Cc, car loans, private student loans:
-make sure both of you have the right amount of life insurance
-max 401k, get the employer match for each st the very least
-see if you qualify for a ROTH IRA and max that if you can
-index funds
-make extra payments on house
-529s, aim to have your child's agex2k each year.
-if you haven't already, spend the money to plan your estate, wills, power of attorney, guardianship, DNR orders, etc
-vacation
-house cleaners
-yard work
-date nights
I fall asleep making these lists/goals, haha.
nectarine / 2808 posts
@pachamama: ha!! Made me laugh.
Iād use it for vacations and savings.
pomelo / 5866 posts
Our extra income goes into retirement, extra mortgage payments, future ortho, extra gifts, future car fund, future home improvement savings, extra investing and additional college savings.
grapefruit / 4291 posts
Iād pay down debt so any extra $$ we get goes onto our mortgage. Iād then allocate a small amount as āfun moneyā for enjoying or improving life then the rest would go into savings (either for retirement or a rainy day).
pomegranate / 3809 posts
Max 401k, Roth if still eligible, then HSA in that order.
Investment accounts, then general savings.
pear / 1881 posts
Max out the HSA (and the max amount is the total you BOTH put into it, including employer contributions). So, if you maxed it before, it really won't change what you put in now since the total amount will not be increasing.
Contribute to a dependent care flex. This will reduce taxable income.
Max out 401k, if possible.
Save some for fun things, like vacation! It's definitely great to save, but you also should have some fun if you can.
clementine / 911 posts
My company offers free phone consultations with a financial planner as a benefit. Once we combined incomes and got to a comfortable place, we met with them to review our life insurance and retirement contributions. We also contribute monthly to our daughter's college savings. Extra money we put into emergency savings, pay extra on the mortgage, and pay extra on the auto loan. After that, any extra goes to fixing up things around the house or vacations.
nectarine / 2243 posts
We donāt really have this situation exactly but DHs bonus is like a lump second income but we treat it as a bonus (we live on his salary alone). The bonus gets directed towards all saving efforts, most of which have been listed above so I wonāt repeat them. But Iād also have a sit down and discuss anything youād like to add to your life. What brings you joy or causes stress? Stress: loans, cleaning, savings, aging parents, house needs repair etc. joy: travel, food, electronics, seeing family, baby sitters etc.
whatever those things are, agree on some (or each choose a few) and throw some money at those things.
kiwi / 656 posts
One other thing that just popped into my head is that you may want to pick up the book "Smart Couples Finish Rich" As many people mentioned, having extra income is great, and there are lots of good places to send that money. That book will help you and your spouse define your values and align your spending with your values, which I've found super fruitful in my own marriage. We worked through the exercises when we engaged and are now doing a refresher 7 years later! We also gifted it to my BIL and his wife who also found it to be a very helpful framework for talking about money and making financial goals/ decisions.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
Similar to @Littlebit7: we are just okay with 2 incomes, but we usually a a decent-ish tax return and some years we put that straight into savings, this year for example, even though we have 2 in daycare, we chose to put it towards home improvement and so far worth every penny since it really adds to our quality of life.
honeydew / 7235 posts
@pachamama: haha. love it.
@codeitall: do you have/are you interested in 529 plans? that's a good place to send some money.... do they match for retirement? I'd make sure you're doing full match as well.
otherwise pay off debt and build savings.
persimmon / 1095 posts
I'd bump out the retirement savings and have you both max out 401k contributions if your company matches to a certain percent. The save and splurge a little. With my last promotion we treated ourselves to a house cleaner every other week which is so nice as working parents so we aren't worried about cleaning every weekend.
clementine / 874 posts
@NorthStar: We do have HSA maxed out and Dependent Care FSA maxed as well. Still need to max out retirement, and I very much like your vacation idea 
@JennyPenny: Just scheduled grocery delivery so we don't have to drive 10 minutes to the store every week! Still working on convincing DH about the cleaners...
@Silva: DH's salary goes straight to savings accounts, only mine goes to checking, we keep enough in checking to essentially cover one month at a time, so that reminds us not to overspend.
@hellobeeboston: we put a little bit into 529s, but we may increase that a bit. They'll need to contribute because I'm not going to pay for it all, but I think a 50/50 split could work for us.
@MrsBucky: We're very open with our finances but I've never read that book, I'll add it to my list!
@808love: Future ortho! Hadn't thought about that one!
@pachamama: Well DH does need a new wardrobe anyway.... 
@Anonymous B UP: LOVE my HSA. I maxed it out as a single adult covered on a family plan and we've never had to worry about medical expenses. Really convenient having a 3rd type of retirement fund! And I'll definitely put some money into my hobbies with the kids.
@Anagram: You make a very good point about wills and such. My company offers a service to do them, just haven't finished it yet! And DH is behind on retirement so I think we'll probably need to max that every way we can. If HR doesn't throw a fit about it, I'll keep the family health coverage and he can do employee-only so he can get the employer contribution to the HSA. He'll pay about 330 to net 1000.
eggplant / 11716 posts
@codeitall: My husband's job also offers a discount with certain attorneys for wills and stuff, and we still haven't done it. BUT I just read the book "This is the year I get my financial life in order" and I really loved it and it motivated me to take this year to get every single thing I listed above in order. I also bought a workbook thing on Amazon where we will actually write down everything we have in every category, plus passwords and things on accounts, and then store it in our safe in the event of death or some other kinds of unforeseen circumstance.
Obviously, at this point, all I've done is buy the workbook, but the whole idea is to take a year to do these things, and I made a month-by-month goals list, so hopefully by this time next year, we'll be organized in all of the above categories and we'll have one streamlined workbook where all the information can be found.
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