Life changes so fast - early unexpected retirement

[Anonymous]

DH and I both work. He provides the benes and I am an independent contractor. He has always been very hardworking, successful, a good provider. My work is quite steady i work about 0 to 10 months a year. I can get benefits if I need to. It will be more expensive. We've saved a lot over the years but are not rich, but definitely comfortable. DH is 56, I am 53. 6 months ago he had a routine operation that nearly killed him. He had a 3 month recovery to get mostly back but he will never be 100%. After his 3 month medical leave je went back to work but his zest for work is gone. Prior to this health crisis he was planning on retiring at 60. We were always prepared and ready for that. I'd continue working til medicare kicks in. Now as soon as he turns 57 he wants to retire. It's 3 years early. So we are facing retirement in 8 months. We are already downsizing our house to be mortgage free. We don't have revolving debt or car loans. I'm having a little anxiety. Not sure what I'm writing this post for other than to see if anyone else has had similar journey. My DH told me his brush with death just really shook things up. We also have a med mal case that we are actively engaged in. I primarily manage this, but this case will take a couple years. Has anyone ever had a change of life like this where something happens that causes you to reevaluate everything? Any suggestions or tips?

[Anonymous]

OP here meant to say I work 9 to 10 months out of year, pretty steady full time work

[Anonymous]

OP I am sorry, both for DH health issues and the financial panic. My DH had similar post surgery experience, nearly died, and it changed him, too. Fortunately he was 66. He never was the same. It may be for the better, he has a more serene perspective on his life and goals but it gave me extreme stress. As a result, he keeps chiding me for being stresses, angry, etc. So he eventually came thru better, I haven't come thru and am worse.

[Anonymous]

You should switch to your healthcare plan and work as long as you need to or want to. Sometimes health requires changes to your original plan.

[Anonymous]

I think you should see an accountant, and get their help in planning out your money. It will show you what exactly you['ll be living on and ease your anxiety.

[Anonymous]

This didn’t happen to us and we retired in our early 60’s but we had both gotten to the point where we were wondering whether it was worth continuing to work - killing ourselves at 58 so that we would potentially be more comfortable in our very elderly years was hard to justify at times. But we kept slogging on until we hit the magic retirement date we had planned. Did those last few years mean all that much in the grand scheme of things? Yes and no. This happens a lot to those 55+. We’ve seen how short life can be and how limited our active years are. I am so glad we had retired and sometimes wish we had done it sooner, tbh.

[Anonymous]

So sorry you’re going through this situation. There is more to life than work so I understand your DH’s pov and decision.
Similar thing happened to my mom but she was 70 at the time, had a degenerative illness, and should have retired much sooner. But she was essentially forced to retire and that loss of identity (her career) was hard for her.

Like others suggested I’d meet with a financial planner and/or accountant as well as with an estate lawyer (just for peace of mind). Is your husband going to be a retired Fed and get health insurance covered in retirement? For you I would probably try to ramp up your work to increase your salary for a few years. Downsizing makes sense too and see where you can make further cuts.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on what you mean by comfortable but not rich. On DCUM that could mean you have 7 million in assets in which case, yes, you’ll be fine, or it could mean you have 500k which is obviously riskier. Consulting a planner for a retirement analysis would be a good idea - if you invest with Schwab or fidelity etc you should be able to meet with someone. Seeing the cold hard numbers and running different scenarios can be very reassuring or at least illuminating

Is there any chance if things seems a little too tight DH could do something PT and lower stress for a few years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should see an accountant, and get their help in planning out your money. It will show you what exactly you['ll be living on and ease your anxiety.

Excellent advice. It sounds like you can't afford to retire OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should see an accountant, and get their help in planning out your money. It will show you what exactly you['ll be living on and ease your anxiety.

I am close to DH in age and I think about this all the time. I have non-trivial medical issues. For life insurance, my health means I am basically un-insurable. In my case, I will try to keep working at least until age 65 because of all the financial risks of retiring earlier — and the financial penalties of tapping retirement accounts early.


Do see a CPA in your state, not merely an accountant, see an actual CPA. Also ask them how to budget and how to structure your assets to minimize tax exposure. Ask how to plan retirement funds withdrawals to avoid penalties and minimize taxes. A CPA is not an investment advisor, so go to BogleHeads.com and ask financial questions there. The mainstream answers at BogleHeads usually are solid advice.

There generally are penalties for withdrawing from any IRA or 401(k) or 403(b) if below a certain age, which I think might be 62.

***Are you both really comfortable living entirely on your income - with no retirement funds - until he is 62? What if you get sick and can’t work? What if he has expensive medical issues in future?

Also, one can’t get Medicare health insurance until age 65, yet older people are more likely to have health issues. So onecreally wants workplace medical insurance until then. (As a contractor, I cannot buy any group medical insurance. Obamacare insurance costs too much. So we rely on spouse’s workplace medical insurance for now.)

Last, Social Security income is not as high as some people think, and there are big financial penalties/greatly reduced monthly payments if tapping that before around age 68 or 70 (not sure of age details, ask the CPA).

Above all, don't buy an annuity. The fees and structure of an annuity mean they are almost always a bad investment for normal people. Maybe billionaires are an exception…

[Anonymous]

He needs a psychologist not a retirement.

[Anonymous]

My husband had cancer and then got DOGE'd at the same time. He hasn't gone back to work yet and not sure if he will. But I make enough to cover us. It is kind of unsettling. But I think the future of work is also more like what you are doing- consulting, part time, layering jobs etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should see an accountant, and get their help in planning out your money. It will show you what exactly you['ll be living on and ease your anxiety.

I am close to DH in age and I think about this all the time. I have non-trivial medical issues. For life insurance, my health means I am basically un-insurable. In my case, I will try to keep working at least until age 65 because of all the financial risks of retiring earlier — and the financial penalties of tapping retirement accounts early.


Do see a CPA in your state, not merely an accountant, see an actual CPA. Also ask them how to budget and how to structure your assets to minimize tax exposure. Ask how to plan retirement funds withdrawals to avoid penalties and minimize taxes. A CPA is not an investment advisor, so go to BogleHeads.com and ask financial questions there. The mainstream answers at BogleHeads usually are solid advice.

There generally are penalties for withdrawing from any IRA or 401(k) or 403(b) if below a certain age, which I think might be 62.

***Are you both really comfortable living entirely on your income - with no retirement funds - until he is 62? What if you get sick and can’t work? What if he has expensive medical issues in future?

Also, one can’t get Medicare health insurance until age 65, yet older people are more likely to have health issues. So onecreally wants workplace medical insurance until then. (As a contractor, I cannot buy any group medical insurance. Obamacare insurance costs too much. So we rely on spouse’s workplace medical insurance for now.)

Last, Social Security income is not as high as some people think, and there are big financial penalties/greatly reduced monthly payments if tapping that before around age 68 or 70 (not sure of age details, ask the CPA).

Above all, don't buy an annuity. The fees and structure of an annuity mean they are almost always a bad investment for normal people. Maybe billionaires are an exception…

You can withdraw penalty free at 59 1/2 from the last job 401k, same with iras

[Anonymous]

yes, happened to my family. truthfully i expected to be the one to reduce my work hours in our 50s as dh had a very good job, but dh was laid off (tech and replaced by h1b- thanks politicians!) and unable to find something even remotely comparable, and coupled with ongoing health issues, he decided to call it quits officially at age 57. it's been challenging but doable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should see an accountant, and get their help in planning out your money. It will show you what exactly you['ll be living on and ease your anxiety.

I am close to DH in age and I think about this all the time. I have non-trivial medical issues. For life insurance, my health means I am basically un-insurable. In my case, I will try to keep working at least until age 65 because of all the financial risks of retiring earlier — and the financial penalties of tapping retirement accounts early.


Do see a CPA in your state, not merely an accountant, see an actual CPA. Also ask them how to budget and how to structure your assets to minimize tax exposure. Ask how to plan retirement funds withdrawals to avoid penalties and minimize taxes. A CPA is not an investment advisor, so go to BogleHeads.com and ask financial questions there. The mainstream answers at BogleHeads usually are solid advice.

There generally are penalties for withdrawing from any IRA or 401(k) or 403(b) if below a certain age, which I think might be 62.

***Are you both really comfortable living entirely on your income - with no retirement funds - until he is 62? What if you get sick and can’t work? What if he has expensive medical issues in future?

Also, one can’t get Medicare health insurance until age 65, yet older people are more likely to have health issues. So onecreally wants workplace medical insurance until then. (As a contractor, I cannot buy any group medical insurance. Obamacare insurance costs too much. So we rely on spouse’s workplace medical insurance for now.)

Last, Social Security income is not as high as some people think, and there are big financial penalties/greatly reduced monthly payments if tapping that before around age 68 or 70 (not sure of age details, ask the CPA).

Above all, don't buy an annuity. The fees and structure of an annuity mean they are almost always a bad investment for normal people. Maybe billionaires are an exception…

You can withdraw penalty free at 59 1/2 from the last job 401k, same with iras

You can also withdraw penalty free starting the year you turn 55 from your current company’s 401k once you separate.