Retirement?

[tennisplyr]

I have far less than you have and been happily retired for 6+ years. Just do it, you have lots of options. Life is way too short! Worrying is a waste of time and energy. A more major challenge is enjoyably using all the time you will suddenly have available. Good luck!

 

[2017ish]

I chose to wait to the end of the year because of ACA. If I retire now, I don't qualify for the rest of the year. And I don't really mind a couple of more months

If that is your only reason.... Loss of job is a "Qualifying Life Event" for purposes of ACA special enrollment period:

Loss of employer coverage due to voluntary or involuntary termination of employment for reasons other than misconduct, reduction in hours or coverage no longer offered to individual’s employment class

https://www.cigna.com/assets/docs/i...on/878860-Qualifying-Life-Events-Flyer-v3.pdf

EDITED TO ADD: I forgot from earlier that you are/were self employed. That may throw a wrench in the analysis.... Not sure.

 

[Nightcap]

I'd say you're at greater risk of running out of time than running out of money. Go for it, and enjoy!

 

[Standard Staples]

I'd say you're at greater risk of running out of time than running out of money. Go for it, and enjoy!

+1. Go for it, TripleT. You can easily get insurance through one source or another to cover you for the remaining 6 months of the year. Unless you *really* love your job (and you probably wouldn't retire early if you loved it that much), I'd hang up the spikes immediately.

 

[pb4uski]

....My current monthly expenses run around $2400 per month. I don't see them changing except as prices rise due to inflation.
My income after retirement would be $2800 per month. It will go up when I turn 70 (in 7 years) and take my own social security (it will increase approximately $1500 per month)
I will be buying my health insurance from the ACA exchange.If it goes by the wayside at some point, I'm two years away from Medicare.
....
So two questions:

First, do things look good for retiring?

Second, I will shortly be inheriting somewhere between $300,00 to $400,000 in addition to the above. Any idea on what to do with it?

The OP was a bit of silly question... my retirement income is $2,800/month and may expenses are $2,400/month....am I good to go?

On the health insurance front, if you are self employed, why can't you just put your business on a low simmer (ie; continue to do something, but as little as possible) but keep the health insurance in place? I had an LLC that sponsored health insurance for DW and I the first couple years after we retired... the policy was that the employee paid the full amount of the premium... the LLC never had a dime of income or expense... we personally paid the insurance as a matter of convenience (rather than us paying the monthly premium to the LLC and the LLC paying the insurer). When I first set up the LLC I thought that I might do some consulting for Megafirm but they never chased me and I was fine with that but having the LLC available for the health insurance saved us money over an individual plan.

On the inheritance... I would go with domestic and foreign equity funds in a taxable account for tax efficiency... if your income stays in the 15% tax bracket then qualified dividends and long-term capital gains are tax-free and you can use the foreign tax credit against any ordinary tax that you have. Shift assets as needed in your tax deferred accounts to maintain your desired AA.

You might also see if you have any headroom within the 15% tax bracket for Roth conversions.

 

[SheitlQueen]

The OP was a bit of silly question... my retirement income is $2,800/month and may expenses are $2,400/month....am I good to go?

As they say, the only silly question is the unasked one. I wanted to make sure I wasn't over looking anything. I'm sorry you thought it was silly.

I can't put my business on slow simmer. I either have to be there running it, or give it up. Don't want to get into details, but that is the way it is.

On the inheritance... I would go with domestic and foreign equity funds in a taxable account for tax efficiency... if your income stays in the 15% tax bracket then qualified dividends and long-term capital gains are tax-free and you can use the foreign tax credit against any ordinary tax that you have. Shift assets as needed in your tax deferred accounts to maintain your desired AA.

You might also see if you have any headroom within the 15% tax bracket for Roth conversions.

Thank you for your advice on this.

 

[Dash man]

What is the deductible on your insurance policy? Would you be able to handle paying the deductible and out of pocket maximum for a couple of years in a row, possibly for both of you?

 

[SheitlQueen]

What is the deductible on your insurance policy? Would you be able to handle paying the deductible and out of pocket maximum for a couple of years in a row, possibly for both of you?

Deductible would be around $6000. Not sure about out of pocket maximum. I have set a large amount of cash aside (100K) for medical expenses, unforeseen expenses, emergencies, etc. I will pare that amount down in the future as I get more comfortable with things.