So much anxiety about retirement

[Anonymous]

I need to get myself off of this site. I feel so depressed that I am very behind financially after years of hard work. We are in deep trouble it looks like. The reason I stay on is because I feel like I do get good feedback sometimes. Anyhow worried about our retirement and not on course. Small business owners

Savings - 400k
Real estate including house - 1.2M (owe 500k)
College accounts - 125k

And we still have kids that are going to college and we still haven’t updated our home. I don’t know how people are doing it - maybe inheritance- we are not getting any - even though both sets of parents were honest , hardworking and wonderful.

What should we do? Our mortgage is low so downsizing is not an option and another job isn’t the answer - we have been working 6-7 days for the last 30 years - I think luck and timing is everything too

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am happy to help. Can you tell me your ages, your kids ages, your total household income, and whether you are Social Security eligible? That would be a good start.

[Anonymous]

Thank you we have 4 kids 19, 15, 12, 9 - I will not get a lot from SS because I have my own business and sometimes took lower pay to build it. Household income 150k

[Anonymous]

The recession, the pandemic and inflation really hurt our business. And I feel like our extended family is booming financially. We never took extravagant trips or updated our home and they have done both. I am clearly failing but I have to say my kids are fantastic and that is my success

[Anonymous]

$500 a month into the market the last 25 years gave me the 2 million I need for retirement.
I preferred condo over a house even with children.
I also didn't contribute much into 529 because that money grew so much faster in etfs/stocks I picked.
Being consistent, taking more risks in the market that most people rather than luck and timing. There were so many stocks that doubles this year. I'm have two and both doubled. It was obvious that they would as they went down so much.
I do pay play the market, I pay attention though.
Your $125k would have been $500k somewhere else and in something else easily if not million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$500 a month into the market the last 25 years gave me the 2 million I need for retirement.
I preferred condo over a house even with children.
I also didn't contribute much into 529 because that money grew so much faster in etfs/stocks I picked.
Being consistent, taking more risks in the market that most people rather than luck and timing. There were so many stocks that doubles this year. I'm have two and both doubled. It was obvious that they would as they went down so much.
I do pay play the market, I pay attention though.
Your $125k would have been $500k somewhere else and in something else easily if not million.

Thanks for making me feel like crap now

[Anonymous]

Dude. You'll be fine. Just keep saving and make sure your house is paid off by retirement. If you have enough money from SS and savings when you retire, great. If not, sell your house, and live on proceeds plus savings and move somewhere a little cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Op. I’m about the same as you but with one kid.

Overall you are in the top 20% of American households. Your $400k of savings if invested can double every 7 to 10 years.

Now the reality:

You will likely have to sell the house and move to a lower cost of income area at retirement and partially live off the money made from the sale.

College for all four kids is manageable if they stick to state schools ideally with some community college first.

[Anonymous]

Don’t worry too much about missing doubled sticks. It’s very hard to know when to buy AND when to sell and most people do not get it right. Dude who bought Meta and nvda or whatever still is holding and May someday be sorry he didn’t sell now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. I’m about the same as you but with one kid.

Overall you are in the top 20% of American households. Your $400k of savings if invested can double every 7 to 10 years.

Now the reality:

You will likely have to sell the house and move to a lower cost of income area at retirement and partially live off the money made from the sale.

College for all four kids is manageable if they stick to state schools ideally with some community college first.

OP here what should I invest in so it doubles in 7 years? My assets have not been doubling - I have had that money for 20 years and it didn’t double

[Anonymous]

All these "you are fine, don't worry about it" posts are not helpful. How old are you and your spouse OP and when do you plan to retire? Based on very limited info you provided, kids ages/college cost, and remaining mortgage amount jump out the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. I’m about the same as you but with one kid.

Overall you are in the top 20% of American households. Your $400k of savings if invested can double every 7 to 10 years.

Now the reality:

You will likely have to sell the house and move to a lower cost of income area at retirement and partially live off the money made from the sale.

College for all four kids is manageable if they stick to state schools ideally with some community college first.

Same boat here but two kids. It worries me, and I tend not to chime in when everyone is talking about their millions in savings and six figure pensions and fully funded college accounts. I do think/hope it will work out if we keep saving and I can convince my husband to downsize at retirement.

[Anonymous]

We need to know your ages so we can figure out how far out you are from retirement. Can you explain why you wont received social security. Have you not put money into the system? Would one of you consider getting a salaried position somewhere? Do the 19 year old and 15 year old have summer jobs? If not, get on that right away and make them put 1/2 away for college.

[Anonymous]

I am 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 50

When do you and your wife plan to retire?