Retirement pondering

[scfr]

I guess I worry more because she says her husband manages everything.

You are absolutely right to be concerned about this, but only if she is not aware of their financial situation and/or has not studied their options and has not agreed that their current approach is the best one for them. If she feels she is being kept in the dark, or does not agree with the decisions her husband is making, if I were her friend I would gently suggest that she empower herself to get more involved in the household finances. I may even give her specific suggestions of where she could start. For example, does she just sign off on their tax return? If so, then I'd suggest that she take the time to look it over, and ask questions if there is anything that she does not understand, and do not sign until she understands it 100%. Does she know what the household net worth is? If not, then suggest that she ask her husband to go over all of their assets and debts (preferably in writing, with a copy that she can keep). Does she know where their money is spent? If not, then suggest she ask her husband if she can start managing a certain portion of the household expenditures, for example groceries, and any money she manages to save from what is currently being spent she can invest where she sees best. Etc. It sounds like she has not been at all hands-on, so don't expect her to get to your level overnight ... baby steps.

If she is aware of what is going on and agrees with the plan to pay off the mortgage first, then I think you need to "let it go." If they really are paying off the mortgage aggressively, at least it is better than if they were not saving for retirement AND racking up more debt. Everyone approaches personal finance differently, and if they have a plan and are working the plan, even if the plan isn't perfect, it's still better than no plan.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

She said her husband has $2k in retirement IRA invested in stocks and they are doing well. She said they want to save but can't. The plan is to pay house and in another 15 years start to save because the mortgage payment will be available. The biggest problem I see is being used to living on 100% of your salary.

Never getting used to making a sacrifice. You'll need to replace all your income because you are used to spending it all and it'll probably be harder even after the mortgage is paid off.