Sanity Check: Laid Off at 53, Zero Debt, ~$3.5M Net Worth, Kinda Chubby. Can I Do It?
The age-old question, but I'm looking for validation (or words of caution) - Can I retire with my current setup?
Expert (or just knowlegable) opinions would be most appreciated because I'm a bit lost.
Current situation:
- Me: 53. Laid off after decades at the same company (not excited about what I'm hearing from middle-aged friends looking for work in the tech space).
- Spouse: 53. Earning about $30k a year at two part-time jobs she enjoys. Plans to work until age 60.
- Net Worth: ~$3.5M (not including home/property)
- Cash: ~$887K (this is unusual, I know)
- Investments: ~$2.6M
- - ($1.7M are in CMA accounts so I should be able to access those without tax penalty).
- - ($155K is in ROTH contributions, not earnings).
Costs:
- We live in our forever home. No mortgage. (Housing and land assets not factored into Net Worth for this discussion).
- Two cars paid off. No debt.
- 20-year-old kid is in college but expenses are fully covered by 529 (not factored into the numbers above).
Spend: [THIS HAS BEEN EDITED WITH LESS STUPID INFORMATION]
Current non-benefits spending is chubby [edit: less chubby than I thought], even without having a mortgage:
- Around ~$13,300/mo ($160k/yr) if we keep in a home improvement budget intact for emergencies and projects. ~$10,000/mo ($120,000/yr) if we remove the home improvement budget.
- I have the option to keep paying for my own health benefits (which are good and we like them) but likely $2,500/mo (on top of the $13.3K monthly spend above).
- Monthly spend including fancy benefits is more like $15,800 ($190K/yr). Can reduce to ~$12,500/mo ($150k/yr) if we keep fancy benefits but lose the additional home improvement budget.
Around $16K/MO (some of this is medical, some is upkeep on an historic farmhouse and barn, some vacations and splurges).I have the option to keep paying for my own health benefits (which are good and we like them) but likely $2,500/mo (on top of the $16K monthly spend above).Actual monthly spend (including benefits) is closer to $18,500 ($222K/yr)
The Future!
- Planning on Medicare (12 years from now).
- Plan to hold off on Social Security until we're 70 years old. Estimated to receive about $6,500/mo.
- Plan on spending from our fat cash pile for the next four years, then pulling from CMAs until I'm age 59½.
All of my calculations (at 7% return on investments/2.5% increase in cost of living) have us covered at this rate until we're 85.
That's a tough roll of the dice. [edit: This actually makes more sense with my less insane and duplicative costs]
If you were us, would you:
- Reduce spending where possible?
- Ditch the good benefits and go for ACA Silver?
- Get a full-time job for the next decade?
- Plan to CoastFIRE?
- Get familiar with Roth convcersions for "the bridge" years?
- Invest some of the cash surplus to goose gains until I'm 59½?
This forum has been super-helpful and blissfully non-toxic. Thanks in advance for any advice.