‘We both have a 401(k), his totalling $20,000 and mine just over $56,000’ Dear Quentin, My husband and I are a 30-year-old, double-income-no-kids-yet couple, and make $120,000 a year between the two of us. We have $30,000 in debt in the form of a car loan. Our credit cards rarely carry a balance, and our rent, including utilities, never exceeds $1,500 a month. We both try to put $500 into savings per month.

I do have a chronic illness/disability that I manage. This does mean that we are paying for doctor appointments, medications, treatments, etc. Our insurance is through my husband’s employer and, luckily, keeps our out-of-pocket costs for these medical expenses on the lower side. However, nothing in life is guaranteed, and losing our insurance is always a possibility. 

One of our most expensive treatments is for my disease-modifying therapy, which is $100,000 per treatment without insurance. I receive this infusion of medication twice per year. The drug manufacturer offers financial assistance, but having no insurance could increase our costs associated with this.

The nest egg These last few years have felt impossible, and it’s been hard to not feel discouraged. My husband’s job offers amazing benefits, including an employee stock-purchase plan. His investment portfolio has $60,000, but it can be tricky to liquidate given the way restricted stock units are taxed. We both have a 401(k), his totalling $20,000 and mine just over $56,000. 

We also hold a high-yield savings account with a balance of about $43,000 and a 5.1% interest rate, as well as a CD with about $10,500 and a 4.5% interest rate. We have never owned a home, and clearly make too much money for any sort of down-payment assistance. We currently live in the Denver metro area (one of the most expensive metro areas to be in). 

We would like to start investing in equities, but I don’t want to liquidate our savings and become house poor. We are willing to move outside of the Denver metro area, but we both want my husband to keep his job with his amazing health insurance. We’d love to start our little family, but without a home, it feels bleak.

Do you think we’ll ever own a home? 

Looking for Hope in Colorado

Related: ‘They think I’m rich because I have a very nice house’: My friends order drinks and pricey dishes when eating out. Is it rude to ask for a separate check?

Dear Looking for Hope, Yes, 1,000 times, yes. You have to believe you can do it in order to do it, and you already earn more than the median wage in the U.S. (which hovers at nearly $46,000 a year). You are also a double-income household, which helps enormously. There are millions of Generation Z and millennial Americans out there trying to get a foothold on the property ladder solo.