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Conversation about... Buying a Beach House
The following is an edited excerpt of an email sent to an actual client of the firm. This is not intended to be specific advice; it is only included to give you perspective on the way we communicate with clients regarding various planning and investing topics.

We should talk about whether a second home is a good investment for you.

We typically advise against a second home until someone is safely on the path to have met retirement and college savings goals. When someone says, "What do I do with this excess capital or cash flow that I don’t need for college or retirement?" then we answer, “How about a second home, earlier retirement, a charitable foundation, etc.”

Often vacation homes are not great investments over long periods of time, even if you do get a little rental income. They can be money pits, due to taxes, insurance, repairs, hurricanes, etc. The stress of owning a second home wears on some folks much more than others so some personalities are better suited to this than others.

On balance, I would suggest spending $6,000 per year taking great vacations with the children to varied,interesting places and let someone else own the real estate.

Sorry to be such a tyrant.

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