Update from a former Newbie who asked for advice

[PointBreeze]

Hello all,

I'm 58 and still working. We paid off our mortgage last month (after just 9 years) and we have total savings of $1.5M. My partner in crime (PiC) is 73 and has been retired for 3 years. PiC has had two cancers and has heart disease and is in good shape right now, but I'm eager to retire so we can spend more quality time together in case the good health doesn't hold out.

PiC's SocSec and pension come to ~$27K/year.

I'm very cautious and want to keep at least $150K in cash to weather the inevitable stock market correction.

We can have a very good standard of living for $67K/year (after tax, and budgeting $14K/year for my health care until I'm 65, just in case). So it seems to me, if I retired today and withdrew about 3.33% from the $1.35M that's not in cash, then together with PiC's income we're good to go: $27K + $45K = $72K. Since I'm just 58 and have some longevity in my genes and good health now, I don't want to withdraw more than 3-3.5%.

Once I start taking SocSec (which at full retirement age in 9 years will be at least $31K), we'll need to withdraw only 1-2%. But then once PiC passes away (remember, 73 and bad health history), I'll have to fully support myself (and will lose about $400K of our savings to inheritances for PiC's kids from a previous marriage to boot).

So, I have a complicated situation and would love any advice.

I'm very glad to be joining this community!

PointBreeze

UPDATE: I did semi-retire 3 months after the short discussion on this post. I have been consulting part-time ever since (18-24 hrs/week), working from home and spending quality time with my PiC. Not a day goes by that I don't stand in the kitchen, look out the window, and feel a huge wave of gratitude pour over me. I'll probably stop consulting this summer, or at least ratchet down the hours to no more than 10/week, if I can convince my client to go along with that. Now that I've been semi-retired for 16 months, I have a very good idea how I want to spend my time, and I have a lot more confidence that my retirement budget was realistic.



Thank you to everyone who posted and encouraged me!

 

[umograd83]

Congratulations! I am glad it has worked out for you.

 

[pacergal]

Congratulations and thanks for the update. Always good to hear things are going as hoped/planned!

 

[PointBreeze]

Another thing that has helped me feel a bit more secure: my parents, who are still living, received a completely unexpected inheritance last year from an uncle-by-marriage. I'm one of five kids and never thought I'd inherit anything. Now I'll probably inherit a few hundred $K.

And something that has really captured my attention: two of my younger brothers were diagnosed with cancer a few months ago; they were diagnosed within weeks of each other. One has about six months to live (stage IV pancreatic), the other will probably be okay. My father has had two cancers, all but one of my aunts and uncles on both sides have died of cancer, and a first cousin died at 58 from pancreatic cancer last year.

So, I'm thinking longevity may not be as likely as I thought AND it's clear that carpe diem should be one of my mantras. Gratitude is definitely another.

I'm so grateful that I'm semi-retired and had the time to take my parents to visit my brothers and to visit my uncle before he died, and that I'll be able to visit my terminally ill brother at least a couple more times (he lives 2000 miles away). I'm grateful to have the time to hike, to make art and to do woodworking, to help my parents age in place as long as they can, and to spend lots of quality time with my PiC.

 

[MBAustin]

Thanks for the update, PB. Very sorry to hear of your family's health issues, but thanks for sharing as it is stories like this that sometimes help out folks fighting OMY syndrome.

 

[PointBreeze]

One last thing, and I don't want to start a political discussion, but I am deeply grateful for the ACA. I have a very good health insurance plan that costs me, after subsidies, $316/month. Piece of mind is invaluable.

 

[rodi]

So glad you carpe diemed. (I know that's not correct latin - but you get the drift!)

Like you, I have a lot of cancer in my family... and like you I'm very grateful to have the time/freedom to spend my time seizing the day. Time is worth >>>>>> money.

 

[Koolau]

Yep. If you get the health care piece of the ER puzzle under control, the rest is pretty much straight forward. Congrats on your good decision(s). Hope you have a long and happy life with PIC!

 

[walkinwood]

Congrats! Time is so under appreciated.


Have you analyzed what happens in your PiC (I like that term) passes away before you get SS? What happens to your annual expenses, what will you be able to withdraw from a lower portfolio while you wait for your own SS?


Fortunately, there are a lot of long term cancer survivors around, so this may just be an exercise in prudence.