I’m 49, my wife is 34, we have 4 kids and $2.3 million saved. I earn $300K a year but ‘lose a lot of sleep worrying about tomorrow’ — when can I retire?

I person had a bully vocation successful exertion and marque astir $300,000 a year. We max retired each status vehicles and we person zero indebtedness speech from our superior residence. We besides person astir 8 rental income residential properties that nett america astir $6,000 per period aft each mortgages and expenses. Passive income, if you will. Our monthly people expenses are astir $10,000 to $12,000 connected the precocious end. 

Combined we person $1.7 million successful IRA and 401(k) assets and astir $500,000 successful currency and after-tax savings successful Fidelity and E*TRADE accounts. All are successful stock-heavy assertive portfolios and I aforesaid negociate my IRA averaging a 12% return. 

I started a caller occupation successful November 2020 aft being fto spell from my anterior presumption owed to COVID-19 and a request to chopped expenses. At 50, portion I americium employed, I americium fearful that my occupation could extremity again and going done different 7 month+ occupation hunt would beryllium incredibly hard connected my household and me. I suffer a batch of slumber worrying astir tomorrow.  

I privation to retire, and person my woman retire, apt successful Colorado, erstwhile I americium 58, if I americium not forced to discontinue sooner. I obsess connected status calculators and effort to spot if I tin execute this, but 1 tells maine we volition beryllium OK portion different says I americium going to beryllium abbreviated and tally retired of wealth successful 20 years. 

I besides person nary thought however to look astatine wellness security costs for my household erstwhile not employed and however to origin that into a program wherever my spouse volition outlive maine by 20+ years. I privation to marque definite she volition beryllium OK and ne'er tally retired of money. We are some successful bully shape, workout and person bully longevity connected some sides of our family. She has worked agelong capable to suffice for Social Security. 

I privation to discontinue due to the fact that I americium going to beryllium an older begetter and emotion my woman and children precise much, truthful if I tin maximize my clip with them not working, but not sacrificing excessively severely connected expenditures, I would similar to bash so. I conscionable cannot fig retired a plan. I americium not opposed to moving successful retirement, either consulting oregon possibly an hourly wage job, but neither of those options are guaranteed. 

Can you help? 

See: ‘Retirement? How?’ I’m 65, person thing saved and americium coming retired of bankruptcy

Dear reader, 

Even with $1.7 cardinal successful status accounts, an further $500,000 saved and aggregate income sources, I recognize wherefore you whitethorn beryllium disquieted astir the future. You person a household that relies connected you and the unexpected twists and turns of a pandemic surely don’t help. 

The bully news: Retirement astatine 58 whitethorn precise good beryllium wrong your reach, fiscal advisers said. And if you take to conscionable standard backmost from a full-time occupation but enactment successful immoderate capacity, specified arsenic with consulting enactment oregon freelancing, you person adjacent much flexibility, said Jen Grant, a fiscal advisor astatine Perryman Financial Advisory. “There are dozens of ways to scope his goal,” she said. “Now helium should determine connected the champion way, walk 8 years moving toward it and acceptable down the accent and interest truthful helium tin bask his young family.” 

One of the highest-priority tasks you volition look if you discontinue astatine 58 (or immoderate clip earlier Medicare is disposable astatine 65 years old) is wellness insurance. COBRA whitethorn beryllium disposable temporarily aft you person been separated from your aged occupation but you person to marque it to 65, astatine which constituent you tin use for Medicare.

There are a fewer options to beryllium covered, including redeeming present for immoderate outgo it volition beryllium successful the unfastened marketplace aboriginal on; taking connected a part-time occupation with wellness benefits truthful that you tin instrumentality vantage of the healthcare, gain a small other income but inactive person much state than a full-time occupation requires; oregon person your woman instrumentality connected a occupation that provides the household wellness security (if she isn’t already). Since you are healthy, you whitethorn besides privation to look into a Christian Health Sharing company, which is simply a faith-based health savings approach wherever members assistance screen the costs of others successful need, Grant said. [Note: This healthcare enactment is a faith-based, cost-sharing programme but is not accepted security oregon government-protected. Critics accidental Christian health-sharing plans whitethorn beryllium much affordable than accepted security policies, but not each indispensable wellness needs volition beryllium covered.]

To get an thought of what wellness plans outgo present successful the market, you tin cheque retired Healthcare.gov. Keep successful caput though that wellness expenses person been rising each year, with nary denotation of stopping. 

You notation your biggest interest close present is losing your job. This makes implicit sense, but effort to excavation a spot deeper into wherefore you person these fears. Is it that you deliberation you won’t beryllium capable to accommodate to a caller occupation successful the future? Or won’t person the skills to beryllium an charismatic hire? Is it that your existent expenses would beryllium acold excessively overmuch for you to grip if you were temporarily retired of work? Knowing that reply volition assistance you find retired what you request to bash next. 

For example, if you’re disquieted that you mightiness request to brushwood up connected skills (or make caller ones) to support the occupation hunt short, commencement now. You whitethorn not request to bash this for applications, but doing 1 happening each week to brushwood up connected aged skills oregon larn caller ones could support you arsenic a cardinal plus to your existent institution and marque you a drawback to a aboriginal hiring manager. Plus, you mightiness adjacent beryllium capable to leverage this continued acquisition (in the signifier of a people oregon a YouTube video) for a higher wage aboriginal on. 

If you’re acrophobic astir losing your occupation due to the fact that you deliberation your existent expenses would beryllium excessively overmuch to handle, adjacent temporarily and knowing you person that rental income, past look astatine your currency inflows and outflows close present and inquire yourself what it would look similar if you were to beryllium retired of enactment tomorrow. You evidently cognize however to save, truthful does it travel down to spending? 

“Are they spending successful areas that are not meaningful to them arsenic a family? If so, yes, trim expenses,” said Jeremy Finger, certified fiscal planner, laminitis and main enforcement serviceman of Riverbend Wealth Management. 

There are a fewer different things you tin bash present to alleviate immoderate of the stress. Because of the property quality betwixt you and your wife, Grant recommends beingness insurance. You’re a precocious earner and if thing were to hap to you, beingness security could assistance successful replacing your income. Along with beingness insurance, look into disablement security too, she said.

Keeping your investments successful an aggressively-allocated portfolio is fine, but marque definite you person astir 2 to 3 years’ worthy of surviving expenses successful a much blimpish portfolio, Grant said. “This volition support him if the marketplace goes haywire the twelvemonth helium plans to retire,” she said. “He won’t beryllium forced into selling stocks astatine a nonaccomplishment oregon liquidating existent estate.” A larger exigency money would besides supply you with immoderate comfortableness — the wealth could beryllium utilized successful an unexpected situation, oregon if thing happened betwixt present and your people status date, the wealth could mitigate the stresses erstwhile transitioning into retirement. 

Also, adjacent if you aren’t disquieted astir your investments, cheque them periodically to guarantee they’re decently allocated. A balanced — the cardinal connection present being “balanced” — 80% stock/20% enslaved portfolio, oregon adjacent a 90%/10% mix, could enactment with other currency connected hand, specified arsenic $200,000, but those portfolios indispensable beryllium balanced, Finger said.

Check retired MarketWatch’s file “Retirement Hacks” for actionable pieces of proposal for your ain status savings journey

Finger had a fewer different thoughts based connected your situation. He suggested consulting an lawyer astir placing your rental properties successful an LLC to support liability, and would besides see adding umbrella security to support yourself. If you’re netting $6,000 successful rental income, you’d lone request astir $4,000 to $6,000 a period from different income and investments (or $72,000 a year?), truthful helium recommends having astatine slightest that successful cash-like assets to play it safe. 

I accidental this successful astir each of my letters, but you mightiness privation to see moving with a financial planner who could make a fiscal program for you. A nonrecreational could counsel you connected your investments — for status and the kids’ assemblage backing — arsenic good arsenic supply clarity connected however to discontinue comfortably successful the future. “He tin outsource the worrying to idiosyncratic who does this for a surviving and past fto them show the program and set arsenic needed,” Grant said. 

If that’s not of involvement to you, bash the enactment yourself. Create a afloat fiscal program for yourself and representation retired what-if scenarios, and support this stored determination adjacent truthful that you tin look astatine it oregon marque adjustments if beingness changes occur. 

“You cannot wholly neutralize each imaginable happening that could happen, but you tin hole the champion you can,” Finger said. “Also beryllium flexible and prioritize your clip and expenses. If helium tin execute much clip with his family, immoderate small shortfall aboriginal successful beingness arsenic helium looks backmost connected it would beryllium an casual trade-off.” 

Readers: Do you person a proposition for this missive writer? Add them successful the comments below. 

Have a question astir your ain status savings? Email america astatine HelpMeRetire@marketwatch.com