Anonymous wrote:You clearly don’t live frugally if you only have $100k saved. I think your retirement is the inheritance. Stay in the condo until you retire. If you haven’t received the inheritance yet, get a job at target or something. Sell the condo and move some here cheaper when you inherit the money. NC isn’t that cheap anymore. Sorry.

I always wonder what the purpose of posts like yours is. Make the OP feel bad? General pessimism/negativity? Elevate yourself and mitigate feelings of inadequacy? Some apps have given valuable advice while all you can do is put others down. Good job…

You clearly don’t live frugally if you only have $100k saved. I think your retirement is the inheritance. Stay in the condo until you retire. If you haven’t received the inheritance yet, get a job at target or something. Sell the condo and move some here cheaper when you inherit the money. NC isn’t that cheap anymore. Sorry.

Give yourself a 10 year timeline and explore the following questions:

How will you cover expenses between retirement at 58 and social security at 62//67/70....what about health insurance before medicare? What are your general expenses outsode of those? What about longer term care, in your 80s? Figure that out and go backward.

If you can save 20-30k/year over the next 10 years, you will be in much better shape than you are now, even if the inheritance does not pan out. after 50 you can contribute 'catch up contributions.' DH and I really started to focus on retirement in our mid/late 40s, and are trying to max out each year now--we still have college and a big mortgage, but we are finally able to save for retirement in a meaningful way rather than just the 2% match from work.

I also encourage you to explore your lifestyle and bigger picture options, as a PP suggested--about what kind of life you want. You could retire to a LCOL area, abroad, a retirement community, etc. At baseline you have a paid off property that will be worth more than 450k in 10 years.

Social security of 2K or more a month will likely cover real estate taxes and food and utilities. Make sure you have a paid off car and you should be fine. You have 100K now, it will be 200K by the time you need it. You can use it for emergencies if cautious, fun if you have a YOLO outlook, and you could draw another $500 a month for extra spending money. You are fine as long as you don't need the money for another 10+ years. You will be very comfortable if you inherit as planned.

Reverse mortgage is last resort. Please avoid if at all possible. I'll echo others, start saving more in your retirement account. $100k should be plenty with no mortgage and kids etc. - not poor at all. If you have a 401k at work, put in $22,500 for 2023, $23,000 for 2024. Will hurt a bit, but worth it for long term security. It's possible. I did it in DC.