Age difference between spouses

[Waive]

Hello,

This is my first post and I am very happy to have found this place! It is full of great information and very inspirational.

As I start to consider the best strategy for ER for myself, one thing that I am stuck on has to do with the fairly significant age difference between me and my spouse. He is 13 years older than me with about 12 years to normal retirement age. Unfortunately, he started pretty late investing, so the earliest he can retire is probably 62. We would like to retire within 3 years of eachother, so I am concerned that I have a balance between retirement accounts and other accounts that are accessible well before age 59.5.

I would like to hear from anyone who may be in this kind of situation, and how you are structuring your portfolio to deal with this kind of issue. Of course, even if you aren't in this situation all advice is welcome!

Thanks in advance!

 

[TromboneAl]

Welcome Waive. Google "72t".

 

[Waive]

Thanks Al,

I have been seeing references to the 72t and will do more investigation.

 

[Martha]

Here is a good explanation of how the 72t distributions work: http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/wdraw59.html

 

[Waive]

Wow Martha, that's a great link! It sounds like it could definitely be a possibility.

That rule also makes me wonder what do to with the 401K I am starting. I currently am maxing out my Roth IRA and could probably (with some pain) max out the 401K as well.

Before reading about 72t I was thinking that instead of maxing the 401K, I could possibly split it up (perhaps 50/50) and open a taxable account and invest in very tax efficient index funds. That way I would have easy access to the money at ER.

Now I'm not so sure...lots to think about!

 

[Martha]

After you retire you do have the option of rolling the 401k into an IRA and then doing 72t distributions.