60 Years Old & 16 Months from Retirement

[doug2149]

Hi, All,

My first post--no questions at the moment, but there'll doubtless be some down the road. By way of introduction:

I'll be retiring with 34+ years of service & defined-benefits pension that will largely replace current salary [yeah, I know I’m incredibly fortunate there]. Not “early retirement” as such, but earlier by at least a year relative to what I’d been projecting.

Once retired, I’ll be eligible to work 6 months/yr at my current monthly salary for up to 5 years, & am planning to do so. I won't get any additional service credits from these “half-years,” so no additional “bump up” in the pension, but I will be getting the full pension during this period.

Live in the SF Bay Area [Alameda County, to be more precise]. Still have substantial mortgage and outstanding HEOLC balance on our house—planning to retire the latter & reduce the former as much as possible during the upcoming 5 years. No plans to more or sell.

Wife [who’s a couple of years older than me] has already retired with a small pension, but hasn't started Social Security yet.

Goals/ “To-Do” List

Consolidate hodgepodge of smallish 403b/457 pots of money into accounts with 1 or 2 vendors [Vanguard for sure, and Fidelity, most likely], & try to get my wife to do the same—and then figure out what kind of a revenue stream we can/want to try to realize from them, while still preserving as much principle as possible to pass along to our heirs.

Knuckle down & do some serious estate planning.

Contribute as much as possible to 529 accounts for grandchildren [2 here now, a third on the way, and a fourth at least hoped for].

Decide when we want to start taking Social Security. I'll certainly wait until I finish with the half-time employment [which will take me to 67], but not sure if I'll wait any longer after that. And my wife has settled on when she'll start.

Tha's it for now!

[Walt34]

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you're well on the path to retirement.

[heeyy_joe]

Well done. Add increase core body strength and increase body flexibility to your list.

[38Chevy454]

Sounds like you have good idea and have the financial needs covered with your pensions and savings. Good to consolidate those and also get that estate planning done!

Nice for you to contribute for the grandkids 529 plans. Pay down your house mortgage and HELOC, as you plan is a good idea. You will feel better about retirement once that gives some peace of mind. Live off the pension you get and use the 1/2 time work to pay down the house. It will not even affect your basic std of living since the pension is close to current salary income.

With your 1/2 time working, for sure do not take the SS as your income will offset the payment amount. I am not an expert at it, but you may be able to file and suspend while allowing your spouse to get benefits. Then take yours at 67, and spouse take hers at that time, which maximizes your monthly income at that time, along with some extra for the next 5 years. Check with someone much better knowledge as there are many strategies to maximize the benefit. I am just getting into it and trying to understand the options. It is confusing at best!