[USER]

Looking for a review of our plan. Do you think we are on track to retire by 50? My wife and I haven’t been married long, but hit the ground running and on the same page with finances.
I have a 9-5 with benefits.

My wife is freelance, and doesn’t have a lot of income right now due to recently moving (reducing ability for her to fund a 401k)

30 years old
$135k salary – LCOL area
~$30k side hustle
Max my 401k, 7% company match

Max both Roths
Max both HSA
$335k in 401k/HSA. $23k in HSA
No debt other than house

House has 12 years left on 15 year mortgage. Payment is ~$1,300 a month and is worth ~$220k now. Won’t pay it off early because it has a 1.99% rate.

We do have lots of paid off toys (newer Mustang and pickup truck, camper, and SxS)

Where should we put money after we max 401k, Roth, and HSA? Does it look like we are on track to retire at 50?

[Sarah]

This is my own curiosity- what area do you live in? And to answer your question, put extra money into a taxable brokerage account.

Can your wife pick up a side hustle while she’s waiting on income from freelancing?

[Heather]

Yes, maxing everything for 20 more years puts you on track for early retirement. A taxable brokerage account will be essential for easier access to money in the early years.

Wife has no 401k but could be adding to brokerage acct all extra should go there too.

You should be golden, congrats on your efforts!

[Erin]

You need a taxable brokerage account to bridge the years between retiring and when you can access your retirement funds.

[Sandy]

Agree with opening a brokerage account for the bridge years. Also, if your current 401k in mostly pre-tax, probably makes sense to direct new 401k contributions to Roth 401k.

Reevaluate as your income increases

[Robert]

Get ready for some tough love; but that is my job around here. While your net worth is impressive for your age; and you’ve also made a brilliant decision by marrying someone who’s on the same page as you financially; I would seriously rethink retiring at the age of 50.

And I’ll tell you why- as a male, your life expectancy is 76 years of age; with a good chance you’ll live into your 80s.

Your wife’s life expectancy is 88 years of age with a good chance she’ll live into her 90s.

Although the S&P 500 has had a great 10 year run; there’s no way to predict what it’s gonna do over the next 10 or 20 years.

Additionally, based upon your age, your full retirement age for Social Security is not until age 67 or 68.

Accordingly; based on what you’ve told us so far; I would not be thinking about retirement until my early to mid 60s.

But that is just me. I’m a huge proponent of dying with much more money than you need; as opposed to underestimating how much money you’ll need during the last years of your retirement; and living a threadbare retirement wherein you are hoping you don’t run out of money before you run out of month.

That’s where numerous baby boomers and Gen Xers are gonna be finding themselves over the next several decades. But that is just me.

[Author]

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