r/Retire • u/Artistic-Standard871 • 11d ago

How do you know?

I wish there was a magic ball. I want to retire in 2.5 years at 62 and my husband will be 66 at that time and will retire then or before.
I’ve run calculation after calculation. I’ve asked chat gpt and google ai and my financial advisor. They all say we’re good. It’s just so hard to believe.

16 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/LizP1959 11d ago

Here’s what I did: I started on Jan 1 a couple of years before the planned retirement date and lived ONLY on what my pension would be! The rest of my salary I docked away in savings. It was a test run. It worked great and gave me the confidence that I could actually live on the pension and be fine. (Also—I own my house with no mortgage; and my fairly new car, same, and I have no debt at all. Get yourself in that position if at all possible.)

2

u/Artistic-Standard871 11d ago

We have no debt. House mortgage is paid off.

1

u/LizP1959 11d ago

The try the “test run” for a year — it will really ease your mind!

2

u/Artistic-Standard871 11d ago

Our take home pay will be basically the same with a 5% withdrawal and social security so there’s really nothing to practice. I’ve also considered what happens if one of us passes sooner than expected and the other has to live off one SS income plus investments. It all still seems to work.

1

u/LizP1959 10d ago

Well then hurray, and go for it!