Husband wants to retire early and buy a Corvette. Am I being unreasonable about the finances?
I’m looking for some outside perspective because my husband and I are having a disagreement about retirement, cars, and debt, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m looking at this incorrectly.
My husband is in his early 50s and makes around $120k/year. I am 31, so there is a significant age difference between us. He has approximately $1.4 million between his pension and 401(k), has excellent credit, and his main debt is a HELOC of roughly $112k. He is considering retiring within the next few months. We live in his paid off home and I pay all the bills and child care so he can pay down the HELOC.
We also have a prenup. We have kept our finances largely separate, and I have my own savings and retirement accounts. I am not trying to hide money from him or avoid contributing to the household. I just want to maintain some financial autonomy, especially because I am much younger and will potentially have decades more working years and retirement planning ahead of me.
He wants to buy a Corvette. I don’t necessarily have a problem with him having one. What I’m struggling with is the timing and what happens with the other vehicle we would need.
I currently have a paid-off vehicle with low mileage. We could simply keep it as the practical/family vehicle, but he wants to sell it and use the proceeds toward the Corvette.
His plan would essentially involve getting the Corvette and also having a second/family vehicle. There has been discussion about financing the family vehicle, and he has expected me to take responsibility for that loan.
I have told him clearly that I am willing to make payments on the family car, but I do not want to take the loan out in my name or be a co-borrower. I am not trying to avoid contributing to the household. I just don’t want to take on legal responsibility for a car loan.
I have also suggested that instead of retiring now, he could work approximately three more years. My thinking is:
He could buy the Corvette now while he is still earning ~$120k.
His salary would cover the Corvette payment while he is working.
We would have three additional years of employment income.
We could continue paying down the HELOC.
We would have three years to save for the second/family vehicle.
By the time he retires, we could potentially have enough saved to buy the second vehicle outright or put a very large down payment on it.
He would also have had three more years of income before transitioning completely to retirement.
We could potentially avoid putting a new car loan in my name.
His response is that if he works three more years, his pension will apparently be around $90k lower than if he retires now. His argument is essentially that he would be giving up pension value, so the extra salary isn’t as beneficial as it looks.
I understand his point. I’m not saying that working three more years automatically makes him financially better off. But I’m looking at the overall household picture and thinking that three more years of salary could make the transition into retirement much easier and allow us to buy the things he wants without taking on as much debt.
What makes this especially frustrating to me is that I have already offered options that I feel are compromises. I have a paid-off, low-mileage vehicle that could serve as the family vehicle. Instead, he wants to sell it and put the proceeds toward the Corvette, which then creates the need for another vehicle and potentially another loan.
He gets extremely upset when I suggest delaying the Corvette or working longer. He feels like I’m trying to prevent him from getting the car he wants.
That’s not how I see it. I’m trying to figure out how we can have the Corvette and the family vehicle and retirement without putting additional debt in my name.
For context, I make around $84k/year myself. I have my own retirement savings and a HYSA that I intend to keep separate. I am willing to contribute to household expenses and have already contributed significant money toward the HELOC and other household/baby expenses. I have also previously contributed money toward his financial goals, including proceeds from selling a vehicle and other bonuses.
I’m not asking him to fund my personal savings, and I’m not saying he can’t retire or buy a Corvette. I’m saying that if he chooses to retire early and wants both vehicles, I don’t want the solution to be me taking out a car loan.
So, Reddit, am I looking at this incorrectly?
Is working three additional years a reasonable strategy given the circumstances, or does the ~$90k reduction in pension make retiring now financially preferable?
And separately, is it unreasonable for me to say***, “I’m willing to make the family-car payments, but I don’t want the loan in my name”?***
And finally, would you sell a paid-off, low-mileage vehicle to put the proceeds toward a Corvette right before retirement, knowing that doing so creates the need to acquire another practical vehicle?
I’m genuinely looking for an outside perspective, including if I’m missing something obvious financially.
TL;DR: Husband wants to retire in a few months and buy a Corvette. I’m 31, he’s in his early 50s, and we have a prenup/separate finances. I have a paid-off, low-mileage car he wants to sell to help fund the Corvette, which would leave us needing another family car. I’m willing to pay the family-car payment but refuse to take the loan in my name. I suggested he work 3 more years, buy the Corvette now while earning $120k, save/pay down debt, and retire with less financial strain, but he says working 3 more years would cost him ~$90k in pension.