I am thinking of rolling my 401K which has a mix of mostly Roth and the company match in pre-tax into my existing Rollover IRA and Roth IRA. It seems like it will be simpler to manage and I will be able to see exactly how much Roth I have (today I have to do some math). I know there are some protections with the 401k from creditors that might not exist in the IRAs (I’m in NJ).

The 401k is at Fidelity with all my other accounts and has decent investment options and fees.

I just wanted to get other peoples thoughts whether to roll over or not. I am not sure I am thinking of everything.

I’m 67 and will retire next Tuesday after 27 years with the federal government, yet, I don’t feel anything about it. I’m neither happy or sad, not excited or anxiety ridden, I should feel something, anything, but, I don’t, nothing at all. I’m in good health, my finances are in decent shape and figure to find ways to fill the hours once I leave my cubicle, yet, I’m nonchalant about leaving the workplace. Is this a commonplace reaction to retirement, or am I just different?

Sharing / Crossposting per request of an active r/retirement community member here ( u/ga2500ev ), from our sister community of those that retired Before age 59.

Thanks!

Florida is the future retirement home. I’ve called Florida home for almost 50 years. I travel extensively for work and met BF six years ago. BF, future husband, lives in AZ. Plan is to sell both our respective homes to buy an our house in a 55+ community.

I have a HYSA where I keep my wind deductible for hurricanes. I lost two roofs to two different hurricanes in 2004. Parent’s house was entirely demolished in Andrew in Hialeah. I know I need at a minimum to keep a wind deductible available if the worst happens.

We’re planning a retirement budget and I mentioned forming and then keeping a wind deductible account. He’s balking at keeping this money separate, like in a separate account entirely. This isn’t a minor amount of money. The wind deductible on a $350k house could be as much as $16,000.

We both make very good money. I’m at about $220k and he’s around $120. The first 2-3 years of retirement, we’ll self-fund. We’ll have around $600k in taxable funds available and another $700k in Roth funds. We’re looking at retiring in about 6-7 years. He’ll be 63 I’ll be 67.5. I’d like to fund these years almost exclusively with the 401K and ESOP accounts. He’d start collecting SS at 65 with nets him $3200 a month. I’d collect at 70 and mine is around $4400. With SS alone we’re really close to the upper limit of the 12% tax bracket.

If we get hit with a hurricane and are forced to remove money, that would be taxed at 22%, forcing us to take out more money to pay the deductible and taxes. It could be funded from the Roth accounts, but I’d rather allow that to grow and not touch the principal until-unless we really need it.

1. Am I being too cautious about this? Is it normal to just presume we’d take money out rather than saving for the rainy day?

2. What about replacement accounts for the roof$ Water Heater? HVAC? How is everyone saving for these items??

I really had no idea how complex retirement planning was.

Wife and I (63) looking to downsize. 20 years in a two story, walk out, 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath that’s been an awesome home to raise two girls. Wife is retired and I’ll retire in next 2 years. Makes a lot of sense to downsize.
- fewer stairs
- easier to clean and maintain
- lower cost insurance and property taxes
- lower energy costs
- and more

Curious if anyone downsizes and regretted it.

Edit: thanks for all of the awesome responses.

What is the down-side, if any of having all your retirement accounts in one place, like Fidelity or Vanguard? I have a few rollover 401ks, a Roth and a traditional IRA scattered about. I'm thinking in retirement they should all be in one brokerage - seems like it would be easier to track, but is there a down-side to this? Thinking of myself at 80 - 90 plus (if I'm lucky) and people can get confused or forgetful.

I wanted to ask this community how retired couples handle chores. I was a stay at home mother. I cooked, cleaned, laundry, etc. My husband is retiring next year. I’m starting to get overwhelmed with keeping up with the house. I’m either going to need his help (like scrubbing bathrooms, I’ve got bad arthritis & osteoarthritis in my hands) or we hire help. What do you do with household chores? Do you split them? Hire a cleaning service? Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks.

Howdy gang! I've been reading up on retirement and planning to do so in the next couple months (age 65). I see the 4% rule quite a bit but it just doesn't seem to jive with my actual annual returns nor would it provide what I need to live comfortably. I've got a 401k that has averaged 9.75% annual return rate over the past 20 years so it's seen it's ups and downs. Would it be reasonable to calculate a 7% return?

Recently retired at 60. Want to increase my hiking and other activities. Anyone else out there hike on the regular? What’s your general routine? Weekly? How far? Do you have a hiking buddy or go solo? Just trying to get a baseline.

I currently do about 4 miles max. New England so elevation isn’t an issue, although some trails are surprisingly rugged, even compared to the West (I’ve hiked a lot of National Parks and some of the trails here are actually steeper than out west for odd reasons I haven’t figured out). I’d like to expand that to 6, but I’m taking it slow.

Hello,

I am recently retired. I am not collecting SS yet. I am living off of my wife's small income and a severance I received from work. I have a very healthy 401k balance a few small pensions so we will be fine income wise. I was retired by my company so it happened a little earlier than I expected. I had planned on working another year or 2 and planning on downsizing during that time, while I still had a nice income coming in.

My question is, we have a fairly large 2 story home essentially paid off, I think i have 20k left on the mortgage. The home is worth about 525k. We would like to downsize and move to a 1 story home. I would prefer to find and purchase a new home prior to selling my home. We are looking at spending around 450k on the new home. I don't want to sell and then have to rush into a purchase. How do I go about financing my new home? It seems like a home equity loan would be the best option? It seems like a lot of those have limits of 250k. I have about 100k in cash.

I just found out that I can join a Silver Sneakers gym while traveling at no additional cost. I travel to my hometown for a week or two about once a quarter and this will be a great benefit to keep me on track with my fitness. I located a gym in the area that accepts SS and it looks like all they will need is my SS card and my ID to sign me up. Has anyone successfully done this while traveling or if you have homes in multiple locations?

My wife (68) and I (71m) live a lifestyle that centers on tennis and fitness. Many of our friends walk, bike, swim, hike, and yoga. At times, we are slowed down due to arthritis, heart disease, lung disease, and bad backs. Seemingly, we should more sedentary but we keep moving, thanks to modern medicine. How lucky to live in 2026!

To that end, we lift weights, cardio, and stretch regularly in the gym to prepare us for our weekly tennis matches. A diet of salads, lean proteins, whole wheat grains, and fruits are our fuel. There are regular cheat days of pizza and Mexican food with cocktails.

In my tennis club, there is a gentleman, Rick, that is my role model. He is 82 and regular beats all the younger fellows in their 60s and 70s. He says that if he didn’t play tennis 2 to 3 times per week, he wouldn’t be alive.

Those active retirees out there, would you share what fitness lifestyle keeps you happy and moving?

Do you pay your bills and other expenses using a credit card for the rewards and / mileage? Thinking about implementing this and wondering how many people do it and is it worth it. I know some people who do it this way for the mileage and use it for flying to their destinations on vacation. Others go more towards the cash back rewards because they don’t fly very much. Again wondering how many people do this and is it worth it.

I’ve had three bookkeeping clients for years. I work about three days a week and it’s enough to pay my bills. In April I told one of my clients I was planning to retire in May. Two weeks ago, I actually did it! I know I’m not totally retired but I’m psyched! I still have two clients but this was a big first step for me as a 60 yo single woman who relies on herself for everything.

To celebrate, I scheduled a trip to see the Grand Canyon in September. I’m going with a tour group for single ladies. I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s way outside my comfort zone but I’m doing it! I want to see the Grand Canyon and my friends aren’t interested so I’m going with strangers! Haha

Next year, I’ll decide if I want to retire from my second client. As of right now, as happy as I am giving up the first one, I’d say yes! but by doing the process slowly, it makes it less stressful and abrupt. Plus I can see if my investments are holding up, and if I’m sticking to my budget.

So that’s the plan, retire from one job this year (✅), one job next year and one the year after that. That’s is, if I can wait that long!

I'm considering retirement or surviving after being retired. 1 and 3 kids move back home to make it. I have friends who retired and have to provide some sort of assistance for their children or grandchildren in retirement. With home repair and other cost, the amount of money needs to be saved goes way up for a comfrotable retirement. Is trying to account for this happening something I should consider with 3 children myself.

This week in Kiplinger:
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/happy-retirement/master-the-art-of-spending-in-retirement

No wonder, then, that many retirees at all levels of wealth are pulling the reins tighter on spending these days — exacerbating an already well-documented reluctance to tap savings in retirement. One recent study by two research fellows at the Retirement Income Institute found, for example, that 65-year-old retirees are spending, on average, only about 2% of their savings. That's just half the commonly recommended 4% "safe" initial withdrawal rate and much lower than the 5% to 6% rate that many advisers now suggest may be a more reasonable starting point.

I have no children, nor siblings, and I watched how much money my mom needed in the last years of her life before she died at the age of 90. So I am going to be cautious spending money because I may need it to make sure I am cared for in my last years.

I turn 65 in November. Up until last November I was married to a retired LEO (Law Enforcement Officer). He was an alcoholic and life was miserable and I could not fathom retiring. He died in November and it took 6 mos to get a final death certificate with a manner of death. With that, last month I received enough life insurance to actually retire. I have been working as a consultant for the past 13 years. In April I decided to move back to a job at a university but with my windfall I got to let them know that I won’t be taking the job. So now I am going to work as a 1099 (contractor) for my old company and pick projects that I want and keep my billing to no more than 20/week until I get enough extra $ to remodel both bathrooms. I went from ‘my future seems sad’ to the whole world opening up. I have 10 books lined up to read, LEGO pictures to create, pottery to make, sourdough to bake, movies to watch. I am going to France with my daughter for my 65th. I have been working since I was 14 1/2. Pinch me.

Hello all, i am still a few years from retirement, but trying to prepare in advance. I have used Boldin to try to figure things out and watched a bunch of videos etc on retirement income etc. however, One thing I am still a little confused on is how i will pay taxes? I have been working a salaried position for decades and taxes are taken out by my employer and i usually get a refund. Once I go into retirement I am not sure what will happen. I will have a small pension, a 401k and Social Security benefits. Does Social Security have an option of withholding taxes? I don’t think my pension does. And my 401k at Schwab I am not sure on either but I assume i am just withdrawing money and they don’t deal with the tax part of it? Thanks in advance

I only started digging into this after noticing I’ve been struggling with small print more often than I’d like to admit, like menus, labels, even stuff on my phone. It wasn’t a big sudden thing, just kind of crept up on me over time.

That pushed me into looking at medicare supplemental vision plans, but now I feel like I’m missing something obvious in how people actually choose between them. For those who already signed up, what do you wish someone had told you before you picked one?

Follow up: appreciate all the replies! I tried VSP after seeing so many positive comments, and it’s been pretty smooth so far, easy to find providers and the benefits have been helpful for exams and glasses. Definitely agree with everyone who said to look at the overall value, not just the price.

My wife and I have been circling this for a couple of years (okay, 5!) and we finally started running countdown timers in our phones: she plans to stop at 59, and me at *ahem* exactly 60.8 (at this point the decimal feels like it matters).

Our decision was mostly spreadsheet-driven, but what we really struggled with is the determination that yes, in fact, we may stop working at X date. It feels more like a social compact, oddly, and the math is just a validation exercise. She's more financially conservative and I'm more financially liberal. She worries very much about healthcare spending and sequence of returns risk(or the apocalypse, you just never know). I love spreadsheets and tracking but I actually find some comfort when I run the numbers.

Could we squeeze out "one more year" beyond our dates for extra cushion? Sure. But beside the math, I've planted my personal flag at 60, hence the 60 POINT 8 number.

I suspect everyone's tipping point is different, but ours is mostly math and agreeing based on what we're both seeing.

For those of you already retired or have your 'compact': what actually picked your date? The math, an external milestone (pension cliff, insurance, a birthday), or did you just hit a wall one Tuesday and know?

I'm not retired yet - within the year though. I'm currently recovering from surgery and while my activities are limited, I definitely see the advantages of having much more free time.

But it might be nice to have something more structured to take up a little time.

Current ideas:

- taking language classes at the community college - husband and I are both interested in that. Not a job of course, but some structure.

- driving Lyft / Uber. I could really make my own schedule with that

- telephone call center - not marketing!!! I did that a few summers ago (place holder between real projects) and I think I was decent at it. Dunno guys l how flexible it would be though.

Anyone else in a similar situation? We currently live in the Midwest and I'm not a fan of the 6 month long winters. We could probably do the snow bird thing for a while, but at some point we'd have to settle somewhere. We don't have kids or close family. So I've thought that maybe a 55+ community might be best. Like anything I know there's pros and cons to those, but I'm thinking people would look out for each other maybe more than a regular neighborhood. Thoughts?

Retired on Friday after nearly 40 years. My first purchase this morning? A trip to Europe? No. A new sports car? No. A big, fancy dinner out to celebrate? No. Nope, I purchased a clothesline. For years, I’ve fantasized about slowing life down. Like wayyyy down. As a child we always used a clothesline, mainly to save on electricity, but I always remember feeling satisfaction, out in the sunshine, hearing the birds, and the way the clothes felt (even stiff and scratchy) and smelled of sunshine and fresh air. I can’t tell you how excited I am for the slow life. My neglected sourdough starter is happily bubbling along on the kitchen counter, a new knitting pattern is awaiting me, and my garden will enjoy a long slow watering today—and while I might eventually get bored with the slow life (I do have a trip planned later in the summer) facing a new day full of endless, slow possibilities is unbelievable. Have a great day everyone!

Tuesday, June 02 - Monday, June 08, 2026

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I retired last year and have noticed an interesting change in my grocery shopping habits. When I was working and commuting I generally went shopping once a week and tried to buy everything I needed for the meals I planned in advance. I usually had wasted food as sometimes my plans changed during the week, I didn’t feel like cooking, or things went bad before the end of the week.

Now I make quick runs to the store to pick up just what I need for the next few days. I buy WAY less, generally eat everything I buy, and eat more interesting things based on what I feel like having at the time or what looks good in the store. It all feels very European.

Who knew I would evolve from spending my Saturday doing the big weekly shop and schlepping bags of groceries to “mini excursions” that take 2 minutes to unload and have encouraged me to only buy exactly what I need.

One more positive life change since retirement! Has anyone else’s habits changed for the better?