So, here’s my situation in a nutshell.
M52 – been working for 26 years straight, without any gaps in pay check. In traditional engineering company for past 15 years, not big tech or anything fancy rocket ship, only get paid salary no stock. Keep getting 3% annual raises, no promotions. But job is interesting and flexible, and company is reasonably stable. Spouse also works with similar type employer.
Net worth is $6.1M:
Portfolio is $4M, of which $2.7M is in retirement accounts, $350k cash, $950k post tax brokerage.
Home value is $3.2M (modest 60 year old home in VHCOL). Still owe $1.1M at fixed 2.6% rate.
If we sell and GTFO from VHCOL in any HCOL or MCOL, we could have a fully paid off home and $5M in portfolio.
Or we could stay in VHCOL, keep working 8-10 years and pay it off and retire in VHCOL.
What would you do???
Posted by Ok_Rent_2937
9 Comments
I’d sell and retire.
Depends entirely on where you want to live. Figure that out and you have your answer.
Depends on how much I liked my job. If working 10 more years is fine and you think you will get bored otherwise, just do it.
If you have other goals in life and you want to travel etc, then I think you are set and should move to a warmer LCOL state with ideally no income/capital gains tax.
Its upto you, but using the 4% withdraw I think you could retire right now on a approximate 150k a year income for infinity.
Personally? I would go LCOL and leave my job, but thats me.
You described literally zero family or connections to this VHCOL area… so sell and GTFO to retire.
What’s your yearly spend? Where do you want to live?
I think you already know.
What and where would you be retiring to? If you don’t have a solid answer to these questions, then just keep working. Way too often people here can’t answer these questions and their RE ends up listless.
Edit: If it was me, I would have been out $1m ago to focus on health, increasing my volunteering, and traveling more with the family.
I don’t see the words “spend” or “expenses” anywhere. What are your expenses now? If you leave VHCOL, what would your expenses be?
You probably honestly have enough to retire, with a good upper-middle-class lifestyle in-place, even in a VHCOL area. What do you want to do in retirement? How do you envision your life or what are you trying to do that wouldn’t be possible while employed? Other than work, what is the appeal of the VHCOL to your family?
Why even bother keep working? Half of why I wanted to retire was to travel, so I sold my house in VHCOL and bought one that I never go to in Texas.
Just the savings on state income tax pays for my travel year-round.