Just discovered this website

[rmerm1]

Hi, I just sold my business. I'm 58 and it doesn't look good out there in the job market. It would be nice to take early retirement but most of my wife's and my savings are in 401k and Roth so can't touch those yet nor are we eligible yet for SSI. I don't suppose using a heloc to generate dividend income is a good idea.

Rob

 

[REWahoo]

Did you receive any income from the sale of the business? All you need is enough cash to bridge the gap to age 59.5...

 

[rmerm1]

It was a wash.

 

[REWahoo]

You can always do a 72t.

 

[Sittingduck]

Hi, I just sold my business. I'm 58 and it doesn't look good out there in the job market. It would be nice to take early retirement but most of my wife's and my savings are in 401k and Roth so can't touch those yet nor are we eligible yet for SSI. I don't suppose using a heloc to generate dividend income is a good idea.

Rob

Hey Rob,
Welcome to the site. I am 58 also and am new here myself. I have learned a heck of a lot from the members in a short time about a lot of different topics for positioning yourself for a succesful retirement.

I am not an expert on financial matters, but I would take a really long hard look at all my options before I put my home in jepordy by taking out a loan and investing the proceeds. The potential for disaster is huge. The one concrete law of markets is that they are totaly unpredictable in the short term.

Only you know your situation, but you might be better off taking some bucks and a ride to Vegas. At worst you wouldn't get another round of negative "appreciation" on one of your main assets.

 

[samclem]

You can always do a 72t.

+1. Look into the 72t option. Also, any of your contributions to the Roth can be withdrawn at any time without a penalty.
Other option (if you've got enough saved to retire and you just need to get to 59 1/2):
-- Any equity in the house? Refi now before rates go up farther. This would have been better done while you still had a business, but you've still got your tax records showing your earnings from the biz, maybe you can start up a similar biz (even if you don't earn a dime) while the loan is being processed.

Welcome

 

[Arifriekinel]

You can always withdraw the contributions you've made into a ROTH with no penalty. Only the gains have a penalty on withdrawal, so the deposits could help bridge the gap between now and 59.5. I don't know if I'd recommend it though, just not knowing the full financial picture.

Edit: Woops, didn't mean to be redundant, looks like samclem beat me to it

 

[rmerm1]

Thanks for all the feedback. The Roth sounds like an idea. I was just hesitant to start pulling from nest egg so soon. My better half doesn't want to refi with only 41/2 years left on mortgage. She makes a small income from her home based business, maybe 10,000 grand annually and we have about 450,000 in retirement accounts.

 

[samclem]

Thanks for all the feedback. The Roth sounds like an idea. I was just hesitant to start pulling from nest egg so soon. My better half doesn't want to refi with only 41/2 years left on mortgage. She makes a small income from her home based business, maybe 10,000 grand annually and we have about 450,000 in retirement accounts.

Well, if you're retiring, you'll be pulling money out of the nest egg. If you haven't done it yet, play around with FIRECalc a bit to see how much income your investments would have historically produced. The "safe withdrawal rate" is a major topic of discussion around here, most people seem to have settled on a rate of about 3% to 4.5%. So, your $450,000 would yield an annual "take" of somewhere between $13,500 and $20,000 by most accounts. Plus, you'd have SS and any other income sources.