Want to retire now but with concerns

[Mark2024]

Hi, We have been thinking and planning about retirement for a while. We are in our early 60s.

Financially, we are in decent shape. We both have small pensions and qualify for SS. Last analysis says we have a near perfect chance to spend about $10K a month after tax if I walked out today.

Our concerns are mostly in two areas. The #1 is the cost of health care. If we do Roth conversion before we start taking SS, the taxable income is likely pushing us out of ACA.

The #2 is what to retire to? Travel the world is our desire. But it is not practical to be on the road more than a couple months a year. What do you do with all these free time? I have heard several cases that people went back to work due to "I am bored".

Glad to find this community. I don't think our situation is that unique. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences. Any tips and comments will be greatly appreciated.

 

[MBAustin]

Welcome! If you haven't found them already, we have a helpful list of things to think about as you consider retirement:

Some Important Questions to Answer

Your concerns are not unique. Regarding healthcare, you could do ACA until 65, then Medicare and Roth conversions and delay SS until later, assuming you have non-IRA/401K investments to draw on to go with your pensions. Using FIREcalc to model different scenarios would give you some ideas of options. And there is non-ACA health insurance available (although not cheap).

Regarding "what to do", you might check out Ernie Zelinski's books - The Joy of Not Working was very helpful for me and others here. I for one have had no trouble at all filling my time in the past 12+ years. I wish the same for you!

 

[Bigdawg]

Valid concerns. Need to retire TO something vice FROM something. Plenty of good resources out there to look at. "How to retire happy wild and free" Zelinski. Good book. Talks about the no financial aspects of retirement. Good luck.

 

[JBTX]

In terms of the travel, what are the barriers to traveling more than 2 months per year? If that is really what you want to do, the. Perhaps address those barriers. The older you are the less likely you will do world travel.

I can identify with your dilemma somewhat. About your age, not working and I don’t have ambitions for any great new activities. I would like to travel some but because of family obligations that would be limited.

If you read mainstream financial media, retiring and not feeling satisfied is a common issue. If you look at message boards like this, 95%+ say they are extremely satisfied with their decision to retire. I’m not sure what to make of it.

I’d guess I’d say if you can make time to travel, do that. Otherwise if you really like your job, don’t quit. Or see if there are part time or contract opportunities. Otherwise give some more thought as to what you want to do with yourself.

 

[OldShooter]

... The #2 is what to retire to? Travel the world is our desire. But it is not practical to be on the road more than a couple months a year. What do you do with all these free time? I have heard several cases that people went back to work due to "I am bored". ...

I think that more often you'll get: "I don't know how I ever had time to work!"

 

[HI Bill]

It's amazing how inefficient one can become once ER'd. If I accomplish one thing a day, I consider it good. I've lost my motivation to accomplish as much as I'd like. At early 60s, it isn't so much ER, as Retired. Given the old 'time > money' scenario, I'd suggest giving retirement a try. You can always to back to w$rk.

As far as ROTH conversions go, if you're looking at a monthly spend of $10K, and have some taxable accounts, you may (or may not) find that they're worth it. I think it mostly depends on what happens to the tax rates in 2026, when they're currently scheduled to rise. My bigger concern than getting pushed out of the ACA eligibility is the potential for an elimination of the ACA before one hits Medicare age, and the probable (?) 20-25% reduction in SS benefits (it may not affect folks in their 60s+ as much).

During COVID, my wife and I ER'd, but we couldn't travel for 2 years. Then she hurt her shoulder and can't dive, and we've lost the past 9 months. Retire now, travel while you can! Tomorrow isn't guaranteed!

 

[cyber888]

Just Do it.
$10,000/month - you should be fine.
Although I don't know what your expenses are, you are definitely able to retire comfortably on that.

Hi, We have been thinking and planning about retirement for a while. We are in our early 60s.

Financially, we are in decent shape. We both have small pensions and qualify for SS. Last analysis says we have a near perfect chance to spend about $10K a month after tax if I walked out today.

Our concerns are mostly in two areas. The #1 is the cost of health care. If we do Roth conversion before we start taking SS, the taxable income is likely pushing us out of ACA.

The #2 is what to retire to? Travel the world is our desire. But it is not practical to be on the road more than a couple months a year. What do you do with all these free time? I have heard several cases that people went back to work due to "I am bored".

Glad to find this community. I don't think our situation is that unique. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences. Any tips and comments will be greatly appreciated.

 

[2017ish]

***
The #2 is what to retire to? Travel the world is our desire. But it is not practical to be on the road more than a couple months a year. What do you do with all these free time? I have heard several cases that people went back to work due to "I am bored".

....

Can't speak to the ACA subsidies vs. Roth conversions, but agree fully with JBTX--why would you be limited to 2 months a year of traveling each year if that is your desired focus in retirement? (assuming you can make the budget work)

We retired 6 years ago at 57/56 and continue to travel at least 6 months of the year, normally with at least one, sometimes two, trip(s) of 2-3 months. Even during 2020-2022, we managed to keep that pace up (granted only 5 months in 2020, but we've made up for that...). Granted, we have no pets and no commitments at home, so probably 90% of our life is travel and planning for same--particularly if we include the running and weightlifting to keep in shape for travel..

Come on in, the water is fine!

 

[street]

With 10K a month if using the 4% rule I'm guessing you have a nest egg ~3M. I would think you should be easily ready to stop.

Good luck on how you choose your choices and option for retiring.

 

[bigcmagor]

DW asked me today if I was bored. I said pleasantly so and I've earned every minute of it.

 

[RetiredHappy]

We end up traveling 3 months spread out through the yeara, and golfing 4 days a week after retirement. Develop a hobby if you don't have one. I only picked up golf after we retired.

 

[Alex The Great]

My bigger concern than getting pushed out of the ACA eligibility is the potential for an elimination of the ACA before one hits Medicare age,

This is very unlikely, since after >10 years ACA is a part of health care system used by so many people. At least, I did not hear anything like that going on Capital Hill right now. But ACA subsidy cliff temporarily lifted definitely will be back by 2026.

and the probable (?) 20-25% reduction in SS benefits

I do not see this to happen either. There are plenty of options to solve this problem, including raising tax or retirement age. Most likely Congress will act on it at the last moment and these potential measures would not affect anyone in their 60s.

 

[DrRoy]

I do a lot of photography when I travel, and it takes me much longer to edit the photos than it did to take a trip. When I am not editing or planning the next trip, I have time to read.

 

[marko]

I think that more often you'll get: "I don't know how I ever had time to work!"

+100 Just as busy but on different (more important) things, like boating, lunching, napping, traveling, swimming, gardening, cooking, walking, reading, investing.............a better, gentler, healthier way of life.

 

[Midpack]

Valid concerns. Need to retire TO something vice FROM something. Plenty of good resources out there to look at. "How to retire happy wild and free" Zelinski. Good book. Talks about the no financial aspects of retirement. Good luck.

Or at least do the Get-A-Life Tree exercise. I wasn’t comfortable pulling the trigger until I did it myself. https://livingafi.com/2015/03/09/building-a-vision-of-life-without-work/

I think that more often you'll get: "I don't know how I ever had time to work!"

While that’s indeed the case for some, some people get bored or even depressed in retirement, or something in between. We each need to figure out what our work-life balance is before retirement. Some people are emotionally better off working longer. The exercise above can be very helpful.

 

[Mark2024]

OP here. Thanks for all the posts. So much experiences and wisdom. Looking forward to being part of the community.

 

[target2019]

Hi, We have been thinking and planning about retirement for a while. We are in our early 60s.

Financially, we are in decent shape. We both have small pensions and qualify for SS. Last analysis says we have a near perfect chance to spend about $10K a month after tax if I walked out today.

Our concerns are mostly in two areas. The #1 is the cost of health care. If we do Roth conversion before we start taking SS, the taxable income is likely pushing us out of ACA.

The #2 is what to retire to? Travel the world is our desire. But it is not practical to be on the road more than a couple months a year. What do you do with all these free time? I have heard several cases that people went back to work due to "I am bored".

Glad to find this community. I don't think our situation is that unique. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences. Any tips and comments will be greatly appreciated.

Each has a set of concerns such as yours.

#1 is a yes-no decision. Skip the Roth conversions or stay with ACA? That did not apply to us, so I can't help much with discussion.

#2 is driven by who you are. In our house are two very different persons. I enjoy sleeping to whenever, and drinking coffee as I sweep the internet. I venture out into the yard to clean up small areas, one at a time. I have time to explore genealogy, measure our finances, and similar things.

When she retired, it wasn't for long. Back to a part-time job, helping a friend set up a new practice. When she's home on a day off, it is constant movement throughout the house and yard. Buy a fruit salad and take that to a family party? Hell, no! Shop at the food store for fruit, then spend time cutting up into pieces and mixing it all in a bowl. Then we struggle trying to make an old lid fit the bowl. Lol.

Because of health and age (mine) we travel once or twice a year, instead of 6 or 7 trips that she would prefer.

So, you find the right level of independence for self, and then accomodate the needs of spouse.

 

[pacergal]

I second reading Zelinksi book and doing his "get a life" tree exercise.

There is no problem going back to work if you get bored. But I doubt you will.
Most often the question is when did I have time to work?
You will find your retirement groove, you just have to make the leap first!

 

[Aerides]

Our concerns are mostly in two areas. The #1 is the cost of health care. If we do Roth conversion before we start taking SS, the taxable income is likely pushing us out of ACA.

You'd still be in the ACA, just might not get much in the way of subsidies. Have a poke around on Healthsherpa and you can find out vs guessing.

If you're in your early 60's however, this is a short term problem, till 65/Medicare. If that 10k per month is comfortably above your budget, and you end up paying full freight for premiums, you can find out just how much that is for your area and then know more than you do now.

 

[pb4uski]

Your best play is to determine the total income that you can have to obtain an ACA subsidized health care cost that you are comfortable with and then reduce that by your other sources of income, including any tax-deferred withdrawals used for spending, and then do Roth conversions for that amount. The once you are past 65 and on Medicare, you can increase the Roth conversions because ACA will no longer be a constraint.

On the second part, don't worry about it, you'll find all sorts of ways to spend your time with just a little effort.

 

[Souschef]

Here is the link to what I posted after 10 years retired. Some of these things may not apply, but it may give you some ideas. Enjoy your retirement!
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/10-years-retired-95602.html

 

[brett]

We started retirement with a seven month international trip.

For the past 12 years of retirement we have been doing two 7-9 week international trips per year. All independent travel. One Sept/Oct trip and one snowbird trip.

In between we do shorted last minute trips. We have a trip planned in Sept/Oct. After that we have 10 days tentatively booked for Mexico in Nov/Dec. After that it will be a winter in Thailand or perhaps Tanzania.

We like to spend summers at home. We might drive through the mountains or spend two weeks visiting relatives on the west coast or in Toronto area.

Time seems to fly by. We spend a fair amount of time researching our trips...where to go, where to stay, etc.

Works for us.

 

[COcheesehead]

I had pages of lists of things I wanted to do in retirement. I thought about it a lot and then I retired. Things just fell into place. I don’t look at those lists at all now and we are happy as can be. You’ll be surprised what you will do when you free your mind and free your time.

 

[Dash man]

I retired ten years ago at 56 and DW three years later, and we’ll both turn 67 next month. My health is going downhill at this point. We have a big trip, a Mediterranean cruise, planned for next May, and I hope I can make it okay. I’m sure once I turn 70 I will stick to domestic travel.
Bottom line is you don’t know what your future holds, so don’t waste time if you think you can retire.
Can you afford ACA? Or are you just wanting a good deal? Medicare won’t be free either, and there are no subsidies like ACA has.

 

[Koolau]

Just as it's rarely a good idea to let taxes dictate your retirement spending, it's probably not good to let ACA dictate your retirement spending. If the issue of ACA is keeping you from retiring, you might want to rethink it.