OP here -- thank you for all the advice, especially 21:52!

I will seek out a financial planner, and I am guessing a tax person, too. (We have always used TurboTax.)

I appreciate all of your knowledge and wisdom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm confused. Are you OP? Is this all a sock puppet? Given OP's young age (61) and retirement resources, OP should examine why he/she is not able to cover monthly expenses and how moving would improve that. Can expenses be cut? Can OP get a roommate? Also, OP does not seem to be factoring in moving expenses and expenses associated with the new place to live. Rarely do furniture, window treatments, rugs work perfectly and that costs money.

I am the OP. My husband died and he was the majority breadwinner.

PP of this comment. My condolences. I'm sorry for your loss. My suggestion is that if this is relatively recent, can you take 6-12 months by modestly drawing down your savings or finding a renter to make ends meet to give you time to adjust. Also, if you were the PP to the 30 year comment, that is a long way in the future.

I am the same person with the health issue that is a long-term thing but major cannot-do-stairs issues are likely decades away.

My original question centered on should I sell the house as-is or should I do renovations now.

I failed to mention that there is the exclusion of $500,000 in home sale profits to consider -- this expires after 2 years.

https://www.kiplinger.com/article/taxes/t010-c001-s003-paying-taxes-on-a-home-sold-after-a-spouse-s-death.html

In the meantime, I have been using savings to cover the difference between my monthly income and monthly expenses.

What I am hearing is I should reach out to a real estate agent to get some feedback. (However, I should be cautious as they may want me to spend $ on renovations to increase their profit margin over an as-is listing.)

What you need to do first is have your house assessed for approximately when your spouse died. (i am so sorry for your loss.) You receive a stepped-up basis for his half of the house as of his passing, so you don't need to worry so much about the $500,000 exclusion for profits. Also, anything over $250,000 is taxed at capital gains rate, not straight income.

Next you want to evaluate what might need to be done to make the house more liveable in the event your mobility becomes impacted sooner than 15-20 years from now. can a chair lift be put in? would it be possible to renovate the basement for single-level living? is it possible to have an outdoor ramp between floors?

At some point in the future when you don't have three dogs, you can always consider continuing care/independent living facilities, but for now it sounds like your home is fine for you now- you are near your friends and your doctors, and your yard is good for your dogs. (and your dogs are likely very good for you.)

talk to a financial planner, who can help you sort out your running expenses and your asset allocation and help you plan for the futire. That should also include social security analysis- depending on whether you or your spouse was the higher earner, then you should be able to take a full survivors benefit when you reach full retirement age (the month you turn 67), or earlier if you stop working for some reason. it also sounds like you are currently dipping into savings to finish launching your kids, and a bunch of those expenses will go down soon, and then you can focus on any needed health and safety issues at the house. it's all manageable. I think you should stay put and work on finding your feet again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am not fully understanding what the exact issue is here. Are you saying that the house is no longer livable for you as is without renovation? Or is this more of a convenience, QOL issue? Or are you trying to prepare for the situation where you no longer can climb stairs? If this is the latter then how many more years do you think you have? All this matters. Can you afford any renovations now or do you need to wait till you save more?

I am trying to prepare for the no-more-stairs time in my life. As to how many years that I think I have -- I have no idea. My doc says I will be at my current health/activity level for 30 years. But how does anyone know if it is 30 years vs. 29 years, 6 months, etc? KWIM?

My intent is to continue working as long as I can. My job is stress free, commute free, and lets me interact with work colleagues and friends. I'm currently covering the cost of my kids' car insurance ($$) and mobile phones, which I will be able to drop eventually.

(I could pay the mortgage off now with my savings, but with the low interest rate, I thought I would be better off keeping my savings in HYSA/CDs/MM with interest rates at 5% and higher.)

Don’t forget you get a tax deduction for part of your mortgage (interest). Paying a home off is not always the best move. It also ties up a lot of your assets where it’s not easy to access cash.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'd benefit from retirement planning, probably with assistance from a fiduciary like Vanguard or Fidelity, e.g., https://investor.vanguard.com/advice/personal-financial-advisor

As part of the planning process, you need to refine your vision for the long-term, i.e., will you still have 3 dogs, what kind of housing do you want to live in when you're more frail or begin to experience physical or cognition issues, can no longer drive, etc? Aging in place requires more than the installation of a stairlift or elevator and replacing door knobs with lever mechanisms. Do you want to move to a CCRC and, if so, how will your financial resources match up with those costs?

With respect to your house, continued deterioration will probably result in it being eventually purchased so that it can be torn down and replaced with a more modern design, so it may not make sense to put a lot of money into it except to the extent necessary for your health and safety. This is especially true if you have seen such in-fill activity in your neighborhood already, where older homes are replaced by larger and more modern designs.

Start with retirement planning, since your future financial resources will define your future options. And, as previously noted, holding such a large percentage of your portfolio in cash for the long-term is unwise. You'll be much better served, and more likely to stay ahead of inflation, with a balanced portfolio of low-cost diversified bond and stock ETFs in an asset allocation appropriate to your goals and timelines.

+1 for a financial planner and not a real estate agent.

+2 - a real estate agent will just want you to sell your house. What you need is a plan for your future.