any chance to retire?

[jdinmn]

hi new member here,have been reading alot and had to join the mix.
a little background, i am 55yo divorced guy and really scared i wont be able to save enough
to retire. i have been watchung people i know wind down their careers and retire and it's been a real reality check!

i am a blue collar worker(welder)making 21.00/hr and really tired of the grind and would like to find a different line of work(getting lots of aches and pains).

the stats
roth ira 21,000
trad ira 91,000
work 401 22,000

house m/value 135-145,000 67,000bal.@6.25%
heloc 14,000
m/card 5,500


house 886.00
heloc 200.00
m/card 200.00
internet 48.00
cel 45.00

i do have a lot of tools and things that i could sell,maybe 10,000 worth but they also could be
used for small bussiness,just a little burned out right now! i would like to get down to part time work either self employed or regular p/t job by the time i am 60(5 yrs) doable or pipe dream

any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated thanks jeff

[Petunia 100]

I can see it working at age 65, because that gives you 10 years to pay off all of your debts, time for your retirement savings to double one time (rule of 72) and at age 65 you will be eligible for Medicare.

I would work backwards. How much income will you need at minimum to live? If you plan now to have your house and other debts paid in full in the next 10 years, you shouldn't need a whole lot of income. So do some calculations and come up with your minimum annual income. Then subtract your SS benefits from that. What remains must come from your savings and/or part-time work.

Most respected financial advisors recommend you withdraw no more than 4% per year from your nest egg, while keeping it invested in a conservative mix of stocks and bonds. So if your nest egg is 200k, you can safely withdraw 8k per year. That's not a huge amount, but combined with a paid for home, no debts, and SS benefits it may be enough.

Right now your traditional IRA and 401k are worth 113k. You have a good chance of that doubling in the next 10 years, although there is no guarantee. How is it invested? You want to keep your investing costs low and have a reasonable mix of stocks and bonds so that your money will grow as much as possible.

Personally, I plan to use my Roth as a source of funds for home maintenance and vehicle replacement, not as a source of regular income. I suggest you consider doing the same. If your Roth doubles in the next 10 years, that will give you 42k you can dip into as needed without taking on debt.

Keep saving in your Roth and 401k in the meantime, and you may end up with more than 200k and 42k, which will improve your situation.

At age 60, you will not be eligible for Medicare or SS benefits. Will your debts be paid in full by then? It doesn't look as though they will to me, but there may be some more information you have not shared. So if you want to work part-time at age 60, where will the rest of your money come from? Would you draw down your retirement savings aggressively until you begin drawing SS benefits and become eligible for Medicare? That would likely wipe out your savings and leave you with nothing but SS benefits and a paid for house by the time you hit age 65. Some people manage that way, but I would not want to do it myself.

Another option you have is to sell your house and pay your debts in full now, then move into an inexpensive apartment or even rent a room from someone. Reducing your monthly living expenses makes your savings stretch further.

And yet another option to consider and explore is a reverse mortgage. You are not eligible until age 62. But at age 62, you could take a reverse mortgage. You would no longer have any monthly house payments and would likely receive a small chunk of cash to pad your bank account. At the time you die or leave your home for a period of 1 year, the home is sold to pay the reverse mortgage. Any money above the amount needed to pay the debt belongs to you or your estate.

[bennyhoff]

I would be cautious selling the tools until you are sure you won't try to run your own business. It wouldn't hurt to go through what you have and if there are some you are sure you wouldn't use, then sure, sell those.

Of course there is the obvious one - pay off that CC first! If you're single, and are willing to sacrifice for a few months, you should be able to knock that out in 6 months, maybe less.

Another less obvious item might be to search online about ways to help the pain go down. Maybe yoga or some other stretching exercise might help with the pain and make life more enjoyable for the immediate future until you can retire / setup you own business. And if you're overweight you should work on losing the weight - that could help tremendously with pain issues.

[cschin4]

You will never have enough to retire. There will never be enough money according to most charts. But, you can change your lifestyle when you really find what is the most important to you. What is it you really value? Do you want a more carefree, laid back lifestyle? Do you seek to work less? If so, then you have to put everything on the table. Are you willing to sell your home and rent a studio apt to make that happen? Really look at the direction you want to go.

[jdinmn]

thanks for the responses,greatly appreciated!
I think all I really want to do is to be able to slow down and enjoy a simple life
and have a little fun.The pain problems arecarpel tunnel,tendonites and I think my rotator
is shot.I really never planned on a total retirement I just thought I could slow down when I got
tired and work less.

Well I am tired of the ratrace but never put enough away to be able to slow down! I would really like to be able to figure out how to invest or have my money work for me rather than keep doing what I am doing.

As far as moving,right now I cant,for a few different reasons but yes it's something I am looking at.Everything seems so impossible when you read about people my age or younger that
have retirement accounts in the hundred's of thousands or millions and I am nowhere close.

Then you realise that you are just going to have to keep busting hump for as long as you're
able.So I have been trying to figure out an easier way to do it I guess

Thanks so much for the tips and help and please keep'em coming!!

[cschin4]

You could try cutting back your hours, going part time, and seeing how that works out. That might be all you need. You may need to pay for your own health insurance and factor that in. And, you also may not be able to save much but as long as you can get by, that might be what you are looking for and in the long run might actually extend your career.