Hi. I have visited this site a few times over the past year and decided to officially register today.
About me:
I'm 52, wife is 57. We have lived in the same house in the Colorado mountains for the last 17 years. My wife retired from a 33 year DoD career with a great pension when she turned 55. I've been blessed with a good paying job for most of my working career. I'm tired of working and want to retire at the end of June when I complete a project at work, but it is so hard to walk away from the monthly pay check. Looking for some validation that it will all be ok ;-)
Our status:
We spend about $50K per year most years, but I'd assume $60K average considering the occasional car purchase every 7 or 8 years.
$0 debt, just over $1M in after tax savings and $975k in pretax (401K IRA, etc.) House is paid for and worth about $750K
Wife's pension pays $75K per year with COLA and health insurance at current employee rate and survivor benefit of 50%. We have long term care insurance as well.
I will not have any type of pension or income beyond investments in retirement.
My wife and I are in good health and have no children.
I assume we'll actually spend more per year in retirement as we'll travel and vacation more frequently, and I'm starting to think about buying a home in Florida and splitting our time between the mountains of Colorado and the Florida gulf coast, but that would set us back around $400K initially plus additional expenses annually - and may be a reason to keep working.
So the decision is to continue working a few more years or get on with our lives in retirement? I think I'm ready to make the leap but wonder if it's really feasible to buy a second home if I punch out this summer.
About me:
I'm 52, wife is 57. We have lived in the same house in the Colorado mountains for the last 17 years. My wife retired from a 33 year DoD career with a great pension when she turned 55. I've been blessed with a good paying job for most of my working career. I'm tired of working and want to retire at the end of June when I complete a project at work, but it is so hard to walk away from the monthly pay check. Looking for some validation that it will all be ok ;-)
Our status:
We spend about $50K per year most years, but I'd assume $60K average considering the occasional car purchase every 7 or 8 years.
$0 debt, just over $1M in after tax savings and $975k in pretax (401K IRA, etc.) House is paid for and worth about $750K
Wife's pension pays $75K per year with COLA and health insurance at current employee rate and survivor benefit of 50%. We have long term care insurance as well.
I will not have any type of pension or income beyond investments in retirement.
My wife and I are in good health and have no children.
I assume we'll actually spend more per year in retirement as we'll travel and vacation more frequently, and I'm starting to think about buying a home in Florida and splitting our time between the mountains of Colorado and the Florida gulf coast, but that would set us back around $400K initially plus additional expenses annually - and may be a reason to keep working.
So the decision is to continue working a few more years or get on with our lives in retirement? I think I'm ready to make the leap but wonder if it's really feasible to buy a second home if I punch out this summer.
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