Not very young, can I do it?

[JayNak]

Trying to answer the question; can I retire now?

Age: 52
Status: Married, spouse retired, is 60 and gets about $900/mth pension (sp) from her ER at 55. I am on her medical which knocks her pension down to about $700/mth clear. Apparently, I can be on her medical until I am 65. No dental or vision on this medical.
House: Free and clear and worth about $175,000. Its a house we really like and want to keep.
Savings: About $103,000 cash
IRAs: About $20,000
CDs: About $28,000
401K: Mine at $480,000 my wife's about $40,000
Cars: 3, all paid off, 2 are over 80,000 miles and 1 is over 200,000
Other Assets: Land worth at least $40,000, boat: $2,500, cycle: $1,000, ATV: $2,500

I do have a frozon pension that should pay me $2,300/mth when I retire which I believe could be as soon as age 55 to collect this pension.

Property taxes currently less than $4,000/yr
Utilities; electric, gas, cable, internet, etc. estimated at $500/mth worse case.
Food: Call it another $500/mth.

Currently working at a high stress job (I.T.) that I hate that is a one-way commute of 61 miles.

Questions:
1. Based on my assets and expenses, do you think I could do ER right now at age 52?
2. Any part-time home-based businesses that people would recommend? I live in central Wisconsin, so it might be best to be Internet based.
3. Obviously, home care and an occassional vehicle would be needed, what other major non-medical expense should I worry about?

 

[REWahoo]

JayNak, welcome to the forum.

A couple of comments on your information - using terms like "Apparently, I can be on her medical until..." and "which I believe could be as soon as age 55 to collect this pension" make me cringe a little. I'm sure you understand that before you seriously consider retiring you need hard facts on these two very critical items. Get confirmation in writing and do not rely on what you believe to be true.

Secondly, have you run your numbers through FIRECalc? I suggest you spend a good deal of time understanding how that calculator works and what it is telling you.

 

[Midpack]

As suggested, plug your info into FIRECALC, and study the results. Without knowing your complete projected expenses, no one can give a meaningful answer. Here's a rough cocktail napkin calc without Soc Sec among other big issues - worth what it cost you...

		Month	Year
Assets	House (not ER$)		$ -
	Savings		$ 103,000
	IRAs		$ 20,000
	CDs		$ 28,000
	His 401k		$ 480,000
	Her 401k		$ 40,000
	Cars-RE-boat-etc. (not ER$)		$ -
			$ 671,000
Income	His Pension (COLAd?)	$ 2,300	$ 27,600
	Her Pension (COLAd?)	$ 900	$ 10,800
	Withdrawals @ 3%		$ 20,130
	Soc Sec
			$ 58,530
Expenses	Prop Taxes		$ 4,000
	Util	$ 500	$ 6,000
	Food	$ 500	$ 6,000
	Other	$ 3,544	$ 42,530
		$ 4,878	$ 58,530

 

[ziggy29]

A couple of comments on your information - using terms like "Apparently, I can be on her medical until..." and "which I believe could be as soon as age 55 to collect this pension" make me cringe a little. I'm sure you understand that before you seriously consider retiring you need hard facts on these two very critical items. Get confirmation in writing and do not rely on what you believe to be true.

+1

If you confirm you *can* stay on her retiree health insurance until you are 65 (even after she turns 65 and goes on Medicare), and if you do confirm what you'll get from your pension at various ages, this is a good situation to be in, particularly if you don't have a lavish lifestyle. But please confirm those; it would be a nightmare to get a slap in the face with reality when you are ready to retire with what turned out to be false assumptions.

My former Megacorp (where I have the frozen pension waiting for me) has nifty online calculators to run almost any retirement scenario based on my length of service and earnings history. With 100% survivor benefits, I can collect about $280 a month at age 55 (starting November 2020), $670 a month at age 65 or $910 a month at age 70. Beats a sharp stick in the eye, I guess, but man, if they didn't freeze it and I stayed there, it could have been a lot better, like the one my dad got there. But it's a new world for most of us today...

 

[2retireearly]

I am a long term employee and also 'can retire at 55',but what this means is I will get 1/2 of my Pension if I do,vs waiting until normal retirement age of 60. so read your Retirement Package! Most can not 'retire at 55' at my company,it is only for those of us who have been there 25+ years. It gives us retirement health benefits...noone would take it to cut their Pension by 1/2.