Early retirement questions

Roger1014

Dryer sheet wannabe
Joined
Jan 5, 2024
Messages
20
Location
Loganville
I hope to retire in early 2027 or sooner. Im 55 my wife is 51. We have about 3m in investments with a spend of 77k/ year. She will have a non government 457 with about 200k to help bridge the gap till I turn 59.5. We are fairly high earners with a gross income of around 300k/year. We want to retire ASAP. Would it make more sense to retire in January and pull the 457 with little income for that year? Are is it ok to retire now? Just wondering about tax implications. THANKS
 
I retired at 55 in 2017 with a similar sized portfolio, which has since doubled. Our annual expenses were in the 120k range, but I’ve never tracked them closely.

Make sure you fully understand your income, as it will play a role in ACA insurance, if you go that route. Look at past tax returns and carve out your current employment income. If you can keep income below 400% of the federal poverty level ($84,600 for 2026), you’ll get a health subsidy to apply towards healthcare insurance premiums. Unsubsidized premiums for the cheapest high deductible Bronze plan can easily reach $35k/year, so it’s an important aspect of retiring prior to Medicare eligibility. Check your COBRA costs for the first 18 months - it may be cheaper if you don’t qualify for an ACA subsidy, or offer better coverage. If you can bank funds prior to ACA enrollment so that you can keep income lower, that can be helpful, recognizing that there may be tax implications if capital gains are involved.

Beyond navigating the health insurance quagmire, it’s a matter of budgeting and planning, I don’t use Firecalc, but that’s a good place to test your data to verify your situation. Others here can offer guidance. But your savings are substantial and I suspect that you are in good shape - congrats!
 
... a non government 457 with about 200k to help bridge the gap ... Would it make more sense to retire in January and pull the 457 with little income for that year? Are is it ok to retire now? Just wondering about tax implications. THANKS
I had to google "non government 457" and it seems to be a quirky thing with unusual rules. The key rule is "Even if plan assets haven't been distributed, they're includible in a participant's income in the taxable year they're made available to the participant." Assuming that they have to make the plan assets available to DW when she retires, then yes, it makes sense for her to choose a retirement date in a tax year in which you have as little other taxable income as possible.
 
Check into whether there will be a penalty assessed against the WDs from the non-governmental 457 in light of your DW's age.
 
If you decide to hang around the j*b through year end, I'd say you'd might as well include January so as to have earned income in 2027 to add to an IRA. That won't make or break your retirement since you already look to have enough. Good going!
 
What is your plan for health insurance from when you ER until Medicare at 65? Have you priced out ACA health insurance and possible ACA subsidies considering your post retirement income level?

Also, between the two of you do you have early withdrawal penalty free access to what you would need to live on until you are 59-1/2 (or 55 if you have 401k or 457k money that can be withdrawn using the rule of 55)?
 
I should have enough money in cds and cashing out 457 to get me to 60 or 61. I have played around with ACA subsidies.
 
Usally a 457 plan you can withdraw upon separation from your job with no penalty. But you will pay taxes on your withdraws as its a deferred comp plan. You can take as little of as much as you need a year. Just see if your fund has a fee for withdrawal. If it dose take it out in one shot for the year.
 
We have about 3.1 million, in which 700k is roth and about 207k is in 457 and about 200k in cds
One good thing is if you want to save on some taxes for whatever reason you can pull from the roth also. Or the 457 if you can afford to have the added income. Best of both worlds.
 
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