What to Buy/Repair/Upgrade BEFORE retiring?

[CO-guy]

Stove and Frig about 5 years.
HVAC replace probably 12 years ago
Roof shingles replaced probably 10 years ago.
Looked into replacing the windows but that was going to be $30k.
I see houses older than mind with the standard plain windows so figure going to let those slide.

Sounds like you're all set! Just be sure to have cash on hand to pay for any unexpected repairs and add 2% or so of your home's value to your annual budget for ongoing maintenance.

 

[DrRoy]

We had set funds aside for a major remodel of the family room early in RE. Still did others later on though.

 

[Midpack]

If we were staying in the same house we might have.

Since we relocated shortly after retiring, there was no reason to buy/repair/upgrade anything - so we just maintained as always. OTOH, we did make sure we checked and had every known health/medical issue addressed before DW pulled the plug, to make maximum use of Corp HC while we had it...

Along these lines, all the appliances/systems in our new house are now 10 years old. When I was young and stupid I only replaced items like that when they failed. I am seriously thinking about replacing one per year starting soon, to spread out the expense. At least our AC, fridge and hot water heater, really don't want to let those fail - e.g. dishwasher, washer, dryer, disposal, range failure not the end of the world. So happens we are replacing our wall oven next week because DW is an accomplished baker and never liked the existing (builder grade) wall oven. So I should have probably suggested it sooner.

 

[OK EE]

Repairs and expenses that are part of normal life I wouldn't prioritize while working, as a matter of fact I'd think you'd want to do the opposite so you can supervise the work. We have a daily driver with 160K miles on it. It might die tomorrow, but I'm not spending 40K right now to replace it. We'll wait until it dies and hope that's a couple years down the road. Whether the money comes out of paychecks now or retirement funds later doesn't really matter.

Setting up access to large amounts of cash though, and I'm thinking specifically HELOC and mortgage, is a LOT easier when you can demonstrate income.

For example, we're planning to build a second home for snowbirding. Approximate cost is going to be in that $500K range. We already have a HELOC for 100K, will have somewhere in the neighborhood of 100K cash we can use, but that still leaves 300K we need to cover somehow. Our primary residence is paid off, and we should be able to pull 300K and stay under 80% LTV as a mortgage.

Why would we do that? Can't you pay cash? Yes, absolutely, we have the money to pay cash for the build. BUT:

• You cannot replace what is already spent. The first 5 years of retirement is the most dangerous when it comes to SORR, and not spending 1/3-1/2 of our brokerage account for "what if the market dumps" seems like the safe choice.
• Taking 300K in one year out of brokerage would incur significant taxes.

We can always take extra out of our retirement accounts if the markets do well and pay the mortgage off early. Realistically we'll probably only have it those first 5 years and just pay off large chunks.

 

[Koolau]

We found nothing to buy/repair/upgrade before retiring.

 

[TheQuestionGuy]

Will definitely look into the HELOC.
If no cost will definitely open one up.

Based on the preliminary numbers, we will be hovering right around the mark where taxes jump from 12% to 23% tax so if something comes up, and we are getting close, taking money out of the HELOC could help.