54 yr old looking to shut it down

[Hotrod 140]

Hi everyone

I am a 54 yr old retired lawman who currently works full time in another field. I think i have lost my zest for getting up early in the cold and going to work. I tried to play with the firecal but to be honest, i just aint that smart and I cant figure it out. So here it goes. Am i in a good spot to shut it down?

Pension: 6500 monthly
457 plan: 250,000 right now in stable fund earning 2.5%
IRA: 348,000 in vanguard wellington, Wellesley, Growth fund
Taxable account 125,000 split between Phillip morris, JNJ, Starbucks
Approx 100,000 in Ally Savings account
2 rental condos in florida with no mortgage worth 130,000 total with a positive cash flow of about 700.00 monthly

DW 56 will still work and earns approx 55,000 yr
Currently she has 155,000 in her 401k in vanguard 2020 fund and will max out 23,000 every yr for 5 more yrs and then will stop working also

Our kids are grown and out and our only debt is 190,000 mortgage on our townhouse where we live on long island. We have no other debt. Any comments would be appreciated and I hope I gave enough info. I look forward to joining in on many topics. Thank you

 

[travelover]

Welcome HotRod. The first thing that you need to do is to really carefully determine what your spending needs are. Go over the past few years' records carefully and get a handle on your must-spend and would-be-nice-to-spend amounts. This is just as important as knowing how much savings / income you have.

 

[Hotrod 140]

Thanks for the helpful info. I forgot to mention. We nave fully paid health ins. Until we reach medicare age and If we decide to collect SS at 62 we will gross approx. 2800 monthly in total.

 

[MasterBlaster]

If I count correctly you have monthly free cash-flow of $6500 + 700 now plus another $2800 when SS kicks in. Thats $7200/mo now and $10k/mo at SS FRA. In addition, the various investment accounts totaling ~$1MM could throw off another $3300/mo ($40k/year or so at a 4%SWR). That would bring your monthly income to around $10500 now and $13300 when SS kicks in.

Unless you have one giant house or car payment you should be able to live really well on that.

Work some more if you want more stuff or have grand travel plans, otherwise your future looks pretty good. You are at the stage where you can do what you want.

 

[Hotrod 140]

Thanks, we are simple people who worked hard our whole lives and put 3 kids thru college. I just probably need some help on our asset allocation of our retirement funds maybe when we can we will consolidate all our assets in one Vanguard target retirement fund

 

[travelover]

To expound on what MasterBlaster said above, the average family in the US has an income of about $51,000. Out of that, they generally pay a mortgage and save for retirement. So, without knowing your actual expenses, you are probably more than fine.

You might want to start a new thread to ask asset allocation questions for Vanguard.

 

[Hotrod 140]

Thanks for the help, guys. my expenses which include my mortgage and property taxes total approx. 2700 monthly. so I figured we are in a good spot. I just like to hear if from others who look at things logically. like all of you its a little scarry to actually stop working after going full bore for almost 40 yrs. I will post more about asset allocation which will be my next project. i have to simplify things!!

 

[38Chevy454]

If I count correctly you have monthly free cash-flow of $6500 + 700 now plus another $2800 when SS kicks in. Thats $7200/mo now and $10k/mo at SS FRA. In addition, the various investment accounts totaling ~$1MM could throw off another $3300/mo ($40k/year or so at a 4%SWR). That would bring your monthly income to around $10500 now and $13300 when SS kicks in.

Unless you have one giant house or car payment you should be able to live really well on that.

Work some more if you want more stuff or have grand travel plans, otherwise your future looks pretty good. You are at the stage where you can do what you want.

X2, it seems you are more than sufficient income and potential income to stop working now and start retirement.

Since you do not have the mental attitude to want to keep working, now seems a good time to make the transition. If your wife is still working, chances are you will not even have to tap into any savings money. If you do need some money for extra expenses (travel, new vehicle, major remodel, etc), my recommendation is use your after tax money first to avoid paying higher tax rate on other pre-tax account withdrawls.