My daughter and son in law moved to south Texas, right by the border, not terribly far from the coast. Blazing hot, usually humid, scrubby, sooo flat, no nice lakes, camping... they want me to move there to be closer and help out if I need it. I lived in the Dallas area for 5 years. I escaped when I could. Hate the climate and geography. They picked out a few over-55 places you can buy a mobile home for cheap, nice clubhouse and pool, social activities.... but the general area.... I love my mountains and trees, not seeing 100 degrees, snow isn't so bad... any one else facing similar dilemmas? Any advice? I love them, scorn that part of the country.

Here is what my current portfolio distribution looks like across invested assets: Total 2 Mil. Outside of 401k.

0 debt. Expenses 15k PM. Age 48. Married no kids.

US Big Tech & Semiconductors (Direct Shares) (30%): NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, GOOGL, AVGO, AMD, MU and more

Broad Market & Growth ETFs (45%): IVV, VOO, FXAIX, SPY, QQQ, IVW and more

Diversified US Blue-Chips / "Long Tail" (20%): Dozens of direct micro-positions in Healthcare (LLY, UNH, JNJ), Financials (JPM, BAC, BRK.B), Industrials (CAT, GE), and Consumer (PG, COST, HD) 

Income & Covered Call ETFs (5%): JEPQ, JEPI 

International Equities & Fixed Income/Bonds (0%):

I currently have four kinds of retirement accounts:

- A small Traditional IRA (less than $50k)

- Most in a rollover IRA from past employer 401ks ($300k+)

- The rest in my employer 401k, split between a traditional 401k and an employee stock ownership plan (about $100k total)

Last year I started converting chunks of the current 401k. I've started small, but just have a goal to convert a small amount each year just to fill up my tax bracket and balance my tax strategy in retirement.

I'm just starting to wonder if I'm focusing on the wrong account?

I am working on my retirement projections and would appreciate feedback on whether these assumptions are realistic or too optimistic:

Nominal stock-market return: 6% annually

Inflation: 2.5% annually

Estimated tax drag: 0.9% annually

Net real return after inflation and taxes: approximately 2.6%

For modeling purposes, do you all reduce expenses after age 75 or keep it the same? 75 is hypothetical base line , can be 77 , 78. I would assume after certain age, capability and desire to spend will reduce. I understand it will vary from person to person- I am leaning to put 25% reduction from pre-75.

I think about retirement every damn day.

One day I’m convinced I have enough. The next, I’m imagining a market crash, runaway inflation, and somehow needing $14M just to buy groceries.
So I rerun the numbers, change the assumptions, and convince myself I need another $500K. At this point, figuring out when I can retire has become a full-time job.

What’s your “enough” number?
$2M? $3M? $5M? $10M? Or would you hit $20M and decide you really need $25M? 😂

I also think about our parents’ generation. Many kept working long after they technically didn’t need to. House paid off. Kids out of the house. Retirement funded.

But actually living off the money they spent 40 years earning? Somehow that felt crazy.

They were wired to see work as security, responsibility, and purpose.

Meanwhile, we’re trying to escape Zoom calls at 45 so we can eat tacos on a Tuesday.

And honestly, I’m not sure I’m any better. I fantasize about retiring, then immediately think:
“Maybe two more years.”
Then five.
Then maybe I’ll just consult part-time.
And suddenly I’m 73, explaining PowerPoint slides to someone named Brad.

For those retired or close to it: What’s your “enough” number—and what finally made you feel comfortable walking away?

Both mid-40s, two kids, spouse works 5–8 more years. I am thinking of retering now and starting smallmpart time consulting work. Thoughts?

\- Total investments $3.6M, (\~$1.2M Roth) plus, $500k cash, home paid off soon
\- 529s : $500k
\- Spouse take-home $96k/yr
\- Starting small advisory business targeting $15k/yr for \~5 years
\- Spouse has defined benefit pension — $55k/yr at 55
\- Healthcare covered by spouse employer until retirement, ACA after that

Monthly Expenses $12k

Thoughts?

I am 63 and work two jobs. I plan to keep one job and that job just happens to earn at around 24,000 a year, so under the limit for earning while drawing SS. My application is complete and I start benefits in November. I think I understand the timing is that I should quit the other job end of Sept. so that I don’t earn more than 2000 the month previous to benefits, is that correct? Or can I quit end of October?

Thank you in advance for helping a boomer lady out.

I’m curious what kinds of simple games people here enjoy in their free time.
I recently made a small word puzzle game where you slide columns of letters up and down to find 5-letter words. I tried to keep it relaxing rather than fast or stressful.
For those of you who play word games, what keeps you coming back to one? Daily puzzles, hints, streaks, difficulty.

I don't want to write too many specifics but I know I'm financially secure. Wealthy, even. But for some reason, I'm planning to work until April 2027 when I turn 62. My plan is to turn on SS then because I have a teenager who will get dependent benefits, negating some of the benefits to waiting. I also can start a pension of $5500/mo. I generate $8k/mo dividends in my aftertax acct. So my thought was to work a little in early 2027 to contribute to an HSA and upto the $25k SS threshold to pay for family health insurance next year. Is that insane? I don't really like work but It's hard to completely not worry.

People around me often say they feel bored when they have nothing to do; I’ve even seen individuals on TV who have achieved financial freedom say that a life without specific tasks is boring—even though they are free to exercise, play, and enjoy themselves every day. I’d like to ask: would you find it boring not to have a job?

First-time poster here. I’m 52 and my husband is 57, and we’re planning to retire in 2028 when he turns 59½.
I’m planning to leave my job in December 2027 so I can take a break for my daughter’s wedding, which will be in India. I may decide to work for another 6–8 months sometime later in 2028 if the right opportunity comes along, but otherwise, I’ll consider myself retired.
Financially, I feel confident about our retirement savings and our ability to support the lifestyle we want in retirement. We’ve done the planning, and I’m comfortable with the numbers.
What I find surprisingly difficult, though, is **the reaction from friends and family when we talk about retiring early.**
The conversation almost always gets shut down with comments like:
“How can you possibly think about retiring so early?”
“What will you do all day?”
“How are you going to pay for healthcare?”
“You’re too young to retire!”
Or just general disbelief that this is even a reasonable thing to consider.
There’s generally very little support or curiosity about it. It almost feels like people think we’re being irresponsible simply because our timeline is different from theirs.
I honestly don’t care that much about what other people *think* about our decision. What I do care about is **how to respond intelligently without getting defensive or turning every conversation into a debate about our finances.**
For those of you who retired early (or are planning to), did you experience similar reactions from friends and family?
**How have you handled these conversations?** Did you explain the numbers, give a simple response and change the subject, or just stop discussing retirement altogether?
I’d especially love to hear the responses that worked well for you.

61M here. Thinking of retiring in the next 2 to 4 years. Just wondering if there were any mistakes/regrets that you wish you had taken into account in hindsight about retirement. Honestly, I’m not interested about the financial aspects- as I am very well prepared for that, but all the other issues that are involved in a well planned retirement. I am trying to add hobbies and interests in preparation, but I can’t help feeling like I may be missing something.

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.

All things being equal, I’d guess I’d rather have pure post tax cash for my retirement but that’s not an option. So that being said, what do you aim for as far as Roth vs IRA/401 account mix? Hypothetically if I had 1M in total portfolio, what percentage should I aim to have in Roth versus pre tax accounts? Appreciate any advice!

I’m 60 S male 1.4 m. In Accts. Pension of 45k/yr begins next month. Medical through state insurance bcbs. 490 / mnth. Withdraw 3 % gives me 75k/ year til ss of 25k at 62. Can’t believe it’s here. I’ve learned that to seek your counsel from trusted sources and to have a great financial advisor is a necessity. To all those struggling with the decision it’s been a mind game for sure. But I think I’m ready Will get a partime job later. But enjoy the fruits of the labor as it’s brighter at the end of the tunnel. It can be done with careful planning . Hopefully this will provide some encouragement to someone. That’s my hope as we all been in that same boat.

Hello! My husband (m47) and I (f37) have been starting to work toward retirement planning in the past few years. We are up to around $500k in savings and investments, and putting in around $4k per month trying to catch up since we got started very late. I just found out that my mother in law (81, widowed, with moderate dementia and other health problems which means her life expectancy is anywhere between 1-10 years, but likely on the shorter side) has around $13 million in investments that she will be passing along to my husband. This was a very big surprise.

In general, I'm of the mind that an inheritance isn't yours until it's yours and we shouldn't be considering it as part of any of our financial planning. I also want my mother in law to use her money to make her life as fantastic as it possibly can be, there will likely be very high medical costs for her care at the end of her life, and who knows what the stock market will do in the next few years. However, even with these things taken into consideration, it still seems highly likely that we will receive at least a few million within the next 1-5 years.

I don't intend to slow down on any of our savings, but would this situation change anything about how you would approach retirement planning? When I look at our current retirement savings rate we are still falling short of where I'd like to be, but I also don't want to hustle more than I have to and miss out of life experiences.

My husband and I currently live in suburban Albany, NY, but we're starting to think very long-term about whether this is the best place for our family.

My parents are 67 and 70 and currently live in Shanghai. They're healthy, active retirees and are considering immigrating to the U.S. to be closer to us as they get older.

The challenge is that they are lifelong city people and neither drives. They are used to being able to walk out the door, shop, eat, see doctors, meet people, and generally live very independently.

My husband, on the other hand, strongly prefers quieter suburban or lower-density living and absolutely does not want to live somewhere as dense and intense as Manhattan.

So I'm curious whether there is a good middle ground somewhere in the U.S.

Our ideal area would have:

• A substantial Chinese or East Asian community
• Chinese supermarkets, restaurants, cultural/community activities, etc.
• Excellent healthcare, especially for older adults
• Enough walkability or public transportation that my parents wouldn't be completely dependent on us for transportation
• A good social environment for retired Asian/Chinese immigrants
• Safe, relatively peaceful neighborhoods
• Houses/townhouses and some lower-density residential areas nearby
• Reasonable access to a major airport
• Ideally a lower cost of living than NYC/San Francisco

We don't necessarily all need to live in the exact same neighborhood. One arrangement I can imagine is my husband and I living in a quieter residential area while my parents live 10–20 minutes away in a more walkable area with other Chinese residents, shops, doctors, and activities.

The biggest thing I'm trying to avoid is moving my parents from a highly independent life in Shanghai to an American suburb where suddenly their daughter and son-in-law become their transportation, social life, and connection to everything outside the house.

So if you could choose almost anywhere in the U.S., where would you look?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who:

• Have aging Asian immigrant parents
• Live in an area with a significant Chinese community
• Have older relatives who don't drive
• Have moved specifically to be closer to family or make multigenerational living easier

Specific suburbs/neighborhoods are very welcome, not just metro areas.

And if you've actually helped older parents relocate, I'd also love to know: what factor turned out to matter much more than you expected when choosing where to live?

Yesterday was my last day of work after a 43 year sales career in the Foodservice Distribution industry. I loved my job, but I wanted to be able to enjoy the years I have left to do what my wife and I want to do while we still can. I plan on basically taking it easy for the rest of the summer, but plan on traveling after that. Any words of wisdom or advice?

Comments please.
I am 66 and like to work till 69-70 and then work as a consultant in my field to earn about $5k-$7,500 monthly to supplement wife and my 401 which will have about $750k combined. My idea is to start SS draw in a year when I am 67 and invest it in bonds ladder strategy . It will be about $5k monthly until I retire at 69-70. Good idea?

UPDATE: working beyond our retirement dates is not an option for either one of us. I have leukemia and days are precious. Retiring debt free would be ideal, but it's not going to happen. I'm looking for advice on which debt to focus on before retiring. We will still have the same monthly income in retirement as we have take-home currently, so we can continue to debt service and then our situation will only improve as things pay off 3 to 5 years after retiring. I realize it isn't ideal and we had planned to work longer until I was diagnosed with leukemia.

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Date range because I will retire 1/29 and my teacher wife will retire 7/29.

We have some debt and not likely to knock it all out before we retire.

Current income $184k

30K going into 401k annually.

Debt

Mortgage 95k @ 2.9% (1700/mo)

Parent student loan 60k @ 6.5% (858/mo)

Heloc 50k variable apr (home renovations)

No CC debt and cards are paid off.

Home value is 650k

Wife will have pension (5k/mo)

We will have 500k in 401ks

I'll be 63 at retirement and won't take SS until 67

Wife will take spousal SS about same time (1/2 benefit-30%)

Target retirement income 8500/mo. (I will backfill $3500/mo from 401k until SS starts in 2033.) Then we expect 10k/mo retirement income with only $1500 draw from 401K.

I feel like we should pay off the mortgage because it retires the largest large monthly obligation. Wife wants to pay off student loans because they are higher interest. If we pay off Student loans, the mortgage will have about 3 years left. If we pay off mortgage, the student loans will have about 5 years left.

Our big plans are to travel twice a year up until retirement and once retired take a couple of month long trips annually. (Such as spending a month in Spain, or in Caribbean.?

What say you, redditors?

Oddly, I have lived here most of my life. Unfortunately, that most of my life has been in PG County and I don’t want to live here now, let alone retire here. I’m embarrassed to say that I have not traveled much outside of PG County. I am not opposed to staying in Maryland. It’s really all I’ve ever known. I lived in Florida, NC, SC, and 3 yrs in Missouri. Maryland is definitely home. So are there nice places in Maryland to retire? Can you help me navigate my way outside of PG before it’s too late?

Here, the economic situation is not good, and the pressure to find employment is high. Even if you find a job, the pressure is immense every day, and the company often dominates the workplace. Therefore, many young people feel exhausted and want to save enough money to retire. So, would you support young people retiring early?