Hello,
I am 51 years old and currently working full-time, but cutting back to a 30 hour schedule in January primarily for health reasons.
I've always been healthy until I was rear ended at a stop light hard and had several spinal fractures and other issues. I recovered reasonably well, but still have daily headaches and get fatigued more quickly as I've never slept the same since the accident. I'm in a position where I am not able to work as I once did but not really disabled either. So I am trying to limp to the finish line as best I can with this 30 hour schedule and hope my employer continues to be happy with my work which is not as good as it was before the accident when I was very healthy.
My wife is 49, and my best friend that I am lucky to have. She hasn't worked in 25 years and has some physical issues and is uncomfortable with the idea of working again.
With my reduced income I am still able to pay all expenses and save. In 9 years I start receiving my pension which is 6,037 per month and unless we have massive inflation is enough to live on. Aside from that we have 400k in IRA and 401k accounts. I have 130k in my pension account which isn't earning great interest, but I've kept it there. I can either convert that to an annuity for another 1,000 or so per month or roll it to an IRA. Even though I put the money in on a post tax basis, it's considered mostly pre-tax. We have 300k in CDs and savings earning between 1.2 and 1.55% which was our fund to pay off the house. We have a house worth 400k we owe 300k on with a payment of 1300/month (30 year 3.2% interest).
We have no other debt and alot of our big expenses are out of the way - roof, both cars, AC.
I want to work as long as I can but am not sure how I will hold up and feel my performance is not at it's best due to the constant headaches so I feel my job is at risk at some point even though at the moment they seem happy despite my limits. I am hoping when my hours drop from 52 to 30 my concentration and performance will get a boost to carry me to 60 and my pension, but I am skeptical.
A few things I am trying to figure out
- pay off the house or keep the cash. I would normally say pay off the house, but I feel I could be out of work at some point and maybe the cash is better.
- If I am not able to work I would use a combination of SEPP penalty free withdrawels and post-tax money to get me to 60, but that would drain alot of resources as my expenses are about 55k per year with the mortgage. It still seems SEPP would make sense since my tax rate would be low.
- What to do with the 300k cash if I don't pay off the house.
- part-time options if my 30 hour schedule doesn't work out.
So I am limping into retirement which is not what I was hoping for, but I still consider myself lucky and it seems it should work out ok.
I am not sure how to enter my pension into FIRE so I haven't been able to get a solid # there.
I am 51 years old and currently working full-time, but cutting back to a 30 hour schedule in January primarily for health reasons.
I've always been healthy until I was rear ended at a stop light hard and had several spinal fractures and other issues. I recovered reasonably well, but still have daily headaches and get fatigued more quickly as I've never slept the same since the accident. I'm in a position where I am not able to work as I once did but not really disabled either. So I am trying to limp to the finish line as best I can with this 30 hour schedule and hope my employer continues to be happy with my work which is not as good as it was before the accident when I was very healthy.
My wife is 49, and my best friend that I am lucky to have. She hasn't worked in 25 years and has some physical issues and is uncomfortable with the idea of working again.
With my reduced income I am still able to pay all expenses and save. In 9 years I start receiving my pension which is 6,037 per month and unless we have massive inflation is enough to live on. Aside from that we have 400k in IRA and 401k accounts. I have 130k in my pension account which isn't earning great interest, but I've kept it there. I can either convert that to an annuity for another 1,000 or so per month or roll it to an IRA. Even though I put the money in on a post tax basis, it's considered mostly pre-tax. We have 300k in CDs and savings earning between 1.2 and 1.55% which was our fund to pay off the house. We have a house worth 400k we owe 300k on with a payment of 1300/month (30 year 3.2% interest).
We have no other debt and alot of our big expenses are out of the way - roof, both cars, AC.
I want to work as long as I can but am not sure how I will hold up and feel my performance is not at it's best due to the constant headaches so I feel my job is at risk at some point even though at the moment they seem happy despite my limits. I am hoping when my hours drop from 52 to 30 my concentration and performance will get a boost to carry me to 60 and my pension, but I am skeptical.
A few things I am trying to figure out
- pay off the house or keep the cash. I would normally say pay off the house, but I feel I could be out of work at some point and maybe the cash is better.
- If I am not able to work I would use a combination of SEPP penalty free withdrawels and post-tax money to get me to 60, but that would drain alot of resources as my expenses are about 55k per year with the mortgage. It still seems SEPP would make sense since my tax rate would be low.
- What to do with the 300k cash if I don't pay off the house.
- part-time options if my 30 hour schedule doesn't work out.
So I am limping into retirement which is not what I was hoping for, but I still consider myself lucky and it seems it should work out ok.
I am not sure how to enter my pension into FIRE so I haven't been able to get a solid # there.
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