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I don’t know why y’all are criticizing the 20k. The rule of thumb is typically 3 times your months salary and we’re consultants…who make pretty good money. This is also a great investment. Diamonds often don’t lose their value and if you fall on hard times you’ll have collateral. Congrats on your upcoming engagement.
C3 I hope you find love again ❤️
Think about who your will-be fiancé is before spending that kind of a money. What are her priorities? What kind of money did she grow up around?
Because I would be absolutely FURIOUS if my fiancé spent that kind of money on a ring when it could go towards a house, a wedding, savings, debt, etc., whether we could afford it or not. Like that would really have me questioning how our views on finances match up.
Wedding? You’d rather spend that money feeding a bunch of your friends and family for a night than a beautiful piece of jewelry that should last a lifetime?
Chief
Seriously $20k? will she love you less for $10k? My wife’s engagement ring was under $1000. We’ve been married 30 years. She owns no jewelry that costs $20k today either. If you are having to save for ring, you should spend less.
Chief
SM1 and others who have been married a long time, you should check your gems for potential retipping. Depending on the ring design, the prongs that hold the stone can wear down and break causing the gem to fall out. If you have a ring you (or your SO) wear every day and it’s past 10 years get it checked. If your rings are platinum they should last a lot longer but still worth getting checked. Our jeweler showed us under the microscope and it was clear that 80% of the tip had worn away when we checked. We were lucky that we hadn’t lost the stone.
First off, I'd put 10k into ibonds if you can wait until next Jan (doesn't sound like you can?). Otherwise use an HYSA. Not many things will give you much return in 12 months with no risk.
Second, damn that's an expensive ring...
I think KPMG1 is suggesting putting the capital in an Ibond INSTEAD of the ring and present that as the engagement token 👏
Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts! For more info - $20K is roughly 3mo. TC for me and for insurance purposes she will see the appraisal.
Also, I know it’s on the high end and diamonds prices are manipulated/monopolized; however, I don’t imagine a near term upgrade (<10 years) and I do believe the financial sacrifice (as one component, not the only) speaks to the significance and value of what I place first (Aka, her)
I’d argue lab-grown diamonds would be more respected, given they don’t have the ethical baggage attached
My ring was 16k at a wholesaler essentially. You guys are so judgmental, just because you wouldn’t doesn’t mean others shouldn’t. People spend differently. There are tons of people who spend money on expensive bags while others don’t, others throw 100k weddings, or live in super expensive homes. If you’re not going into debt for it, have at it. For the people that are saying they only spent 1k 30 years ago, dude inflation. This is why boomers are hated so much, your generation took from every other generation and then basically kicked the ladder down so that the generations after you have a much harder times. But keep at it that 30 years ago things were cheaper and complain that coffee someone is buying is the reason someone can’t buy a home. It’s not the inflation, and PE funds buying up homes in cash, nope not that at all.
Expensive bags often go up in value.
Expensive rings. Like expensive cars depreciate. If you can afford it, enjoy.
Not a critique but something that might get overlooked. Would your partner feel comfortable with $20k on her finger?
That’s a lot of responsibility and it could make someone feel like a target if you’re wearing it every day (commuting, in stores, etc.)
I told my now husband the max amount I’d be comfortable with to still be able to wear it all the time. Just a thought!
If my ring has a really big stone (2+ carats) I might be afraid to wear it daily. Exactly like you said I would feel like a target. I also wouldn’t wear it when I’m traveling
Car Manufactures should come up with a similar spend 1x your salary on the car you deserve!
Noted. I am going to bring this up in the next exec meeting.
I wanted to give my wife a very very very fancy large ring and when we had a talk I told her my budget was around 40ish grand. She said get me a 2k ring and give me the 38k in cash. After a long fight/ back and forth I did that and then she used that money to plan our trips for the next 7 years and we ended up seeing 22 countries. Moral of the story: marry a woman who is eons smarter than you are!
DAMN
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Wait. How much did you guys spend on an engagement ring?
Nothing. It's a family heirloom :)
Chief
Yes, an ETF is too risky. If your money dips 20% (or more), then what? Your best bet is really just a high yield savings account for anything you need in less than a year.
And CONGRATULATIONS 🎊
Goodness so many judgey ass people. Only you know your gf and what kind of ring she’ll want. I personally know i’d prefer a showstopper of a ring and some $3k-$8k would just not be my taste nor would a fake ring. Could the money be spent on “better” investments? Yeah. Could you spend less and be fine? Probably. Discuss the expectations with her and as long as you two are on the same page, nobody’ms unsolicited opinions on the cost matter. Your question was about what to do for the next year and whether to invest. Don’t invest it if you want to use it in the next year. Just save and use a HYSA or possibly a bond with a 1 year horizon. Congratulations on this big step! You have plenty of time to plan for this big purchase which is great.
Go lab grown for your diamond. Spend half that much and likely get a nicer stone. There is no reason to choose a mined diamond over lab grown. The future is lab grown. Same quality at more down to earth price.
With lab grown you have a zero percent chance to get a blood Diamond and to perpetuate environmentally damaging mining practices. So I would consider that, some people want to see the world burn in small steps.
Congrats OP! I also recently finished this myself and used HYSA to park the cash (bit more than what you're looking to put away)
Just out of curiosity, have you talked with your SO on what they want and what their priorities are for a ring?
Additionally, how many different jewelers have you seen? You'll be surprised at the price differences between various jewelers depending on their business model (my guy ended up being ~10k cheaper than a traditional jeweler due to lower overhead and other factors, feel free to dm if you'd like me to share)
My savings were mostly pre-covid and I locked it all in a high yield cd at 1.85% just as the fed cut rates to 0
Edit: I just saw your other comment that 20K would only be 3 months for you. Nevermind, OP! You got this, congratulations lol 🥰
Please... As someone who just got engaged with a GORGEOUS ring under $1K... PLEASE do not spend $20K on a freaking ring. That's absolutely insane, especially if you have to save up for the rest of the year to get it. They should love you without you paying a fortune for a ring
If you can't afford to lose the money and it's time sensitive, don't go etf. Short term CDs (Goldman sachs Marcus is a good one) are the safest way to go, though extremely low interest. Don't be deterred by the ocean of negative comments about the amount you're spending. No one knows your situation except you. Congratulations on the engagement brother!
If you’re thinking a dividend ETF is too risky for $20K and that’s a significant amount of money that would put you in a tough spot if it dips, then maybe that’s more than you can afford/should be spending on a ring…
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/385376/
🐑
Just so that I am clear, you will invest in something that will lose 20% value as soon as you walk out the store but are worried about inflation shaving off 7% of your cash?