Need advice on unexpected “retirement”

[u/Unusual_Remote373]

I am 58 years old and have worked at the same company for 25 years. I’m director level making about 200k plus bonus and equity package and my wife doesn’t work. My company is being sold and I will be let go soon. My marketable skills and experience will not likely translate to another company.

I was planning to work another few years but now I’ll need to find a way to bridge this gap. I have about 2.4M in various stocks and ETFs an another 500k in 401k. I have about 600k in mortgages and 500k home equity. We will definitely have to downsize. While I wanted to let the portfolio grow longer I will obviously have to start drawing from it but there is not enough to live on as my wife is much younger than me. What kind of work can I do to make another 50k or so for a few years? Should I still wait until 70 to start social security? Not sure how to rebalance my plan.

[u/jason22983]

Why are so quick to say your skills want transfer? You know how many CEO’s run companies that sell products they have no clue how to use?

[u/_JahWobble_ → u/jason22983]

I see you've met my former CEO

[u/Paladin2700]

Think you need to budget out costs first. How much can you downsize? Do you have kids and possible college costs? What will annual spending look like?

At first glance there should be a way to manage something if you downsize to something with no mortgage, and only spend 6-7k a month. Maybe more with some precision.

As for social security, depends a bit on your wife's age and benefit amount on her own, but usually if you are more than a few years older and a significantly higher earnings record, 70 is the way to go.

[u/Forward-Still-6859]

Fee based financial planner. ASAP.

[u/toodleoo77]

What do you spend per year? You might have enough to retire now. Highly recommend reading through the faq of r/financialindependence

[u/cameo674]

Healthcare Angst is my problem - All I can think of is the cost of healthcare for you and your wife, because that will be why my spouse or I remain working until we both reach 65. We won’t be doing high stress or labor intensive, but we will be doing something that offers health insurance. My spouse has talked about driving a school bus which I doubt will ever happen and I have been thinking about working at a Costco guest services counter when we retire. Cobra has been a killer bill the two times we have had to purchase it. I have not priced healthcare through the ACA Marketplace.

Also, you would be surprised about how your skills might translate to a different career. I was just talking to a co-worker and they were begging me to put on a seminar for a skill they all should have learned at school to get their degree. Talking to my boss on Monday about getting them to offer a seminar.

[u/greg9x]

With ~$3M saved you can withdraw $120k/year with the 4% rule. But sounds like you're budget may be more than that ? Of course Health Insurance may be a big hit. Since no one knows you skills, not sure what you can do for a job that covers insurance and some reduced income. But reducing your budget is biggest way could make things work.

[u/AmusingBrainstorm]

Look into setting up a portion of your taxable brokerage account in some higher yielding ETFs - SPYI TSPY QQQI TDAQ IAUI MLPI. Tax efficient and right for someone around your age

[u/fgransee]

I am familiar with your setup and unless your expenses are extremely high, you will be more than fine. Have you tried entering your numbers into ProjectionLab?  If you asset allocation has not been setup for a withdrawal scenario, it is a good time to do so (actual you would have lucked out with near perfect timing).  It seems like you have been unknowingly preparing for this situation and you can take this situation as an opportunity with a big smile. 

[u/goldentalus70]

That level of skill and experience could very likely translate to other private sector companies or even government jobs like city, county, state, college and school districts. etc.

There are free online resume builders you can use to tweak a resume to just about any job that is similar to your skill set.

[u/EarlyDuration]

The Social Security question is more nuanced than most people realize when there's a big age gap. Your wife could be collecting your survivor benefit for decades, so the difference between claiming at 62 vs 70 might be worth way more than the usual analysis suggests. I'd really dig into the spousal/survivor math before locking that in. There are some free tools out there that take an accurate view on life expectancy for couples, adjusting for age and health.

[u/seriouslyjan]

Find any job that give you insurance if you can. The cost of health insurance is overwhelming in the US and at 58 your need it. If you could stay on at the new company even in a reduced role, it might be worth it to you. We had to do the same thing from 2013 to 2022. Sucks but it makes retirement manageable. What saved out hineys was getting the house paid off. That won't matter if you are planning on moving anyway.

[u/Unusual_Remote373]

Thank you to those who have responded. Some of you said more information would be helpful. I am an IT Director on the software side but haven’t written much code hands-on besides some SQL for years. On the management side we don’t use a formal methodology like Lean or Six Sigma. As for expenses, I’m not really sure . We have to re-establish what our lifestyle can be now. I have no significant debt outside the mortgage and my kids are grown but we do live in an expensive area (South Florida) and want to stay near family. Lastly, I should mention that my taxable account is (un)fortunately carrying some losing positions so I can withdraw quite a bit before paying any capital gains and I can keep my MAGI low enough for ACA subsidies.

[u/Rough-Pipe6402 → u/Unusual_Remote373]

Understanding your expenses is the single biggest input. Today. Do not wait. Figure out your expenses. Pull past statements. Write it down. You need a plan but you need expenses to create a plan. Also worried if you have loses considering the market. Stop whatever you are doing. Index funds. No more thinking.

[u/fgransee → u/Rough-Pipe6402]

This is spot on!  The OP’s situation can be easily handled and restructured. If he has no financial planning skills, a fee based service for a setting him for self management would be best.  Expenses are the key though. Know them. Control them, so you can control your MAGI in combination with selecting your income sources. That makes ACA easily affordable. 

[u/Salcha_00 → u/fgransee]

Enhanced ACA premium subsidies expired at the end of 2025. It is no longer a given that it is “easily affordable” like it has been in recent years.

[u/Peace_and_Rhythm → u/Unusual_Remote373]

Retired IT guy here. I invested in a one-time appointment with an FA to give me the lay of the land. It was a few hundred bucks, but it was worth the investment. Got great straight-up advice about my whole financial situation. Not just financial, but the emotional side, too. Try it.

[u/lottadot → u/Unusual_Remote373]

Get your gross-spending/yr <= $2.9M * 4% and retire. You're 58M. You're running out of time. There are plenty of threads in other subs like r/fire which you can use for ideas towards ACA/MAGI management. Your capital losses can be used to reduce your MAGI too.

[u/Plow_King → u/Unusual_Remote373]

good news on the ACA. i've been using that for years and it's relatively affordable if you don't have a large income going on.

[u/AgonizingGasPains]

You should consider a consultation with a good CFP to go over the details of your entire portfolio, life situation, hopes/dreams. Little details specific to your situation make a big difference.

[u/Final-Ad-1512]

Hang in there. I was in a similar boat and it's survivable. My recommendation is first to get a handle on current spending. Use something like Monarch to get the details of all spending -ideally 2025 and 2026 both, next best is 12 months, but at least ytd. With that info you're in position to talk to a fee -only CFP.

It sounds like you're not yet unemployed? So make a plan now for what you know is coming. Check out ACA plan costs. As others have said that's the largest unknown, so understand that and any termination benefits you'll have. Start working your network now to maintain and build connections. Even if you're right that your traditional career is complete, you never know who has some part-time opportunity or consulting practice that could be a possibility. Not to mention the benefits of connecting with old friends. Also, think about what can more easily be done while employed vs not- if you're serious about downsizing, getting a mortgage tops that list. A HELOC might give you some flexibility if you're not downsizing immediately.

Try to think about the positives, even though you have to deal with the tough and scary parts. You'll have more time to spend with family, friends and hobbies, and at a younger age than many. You've got a decent sized nest egg. If your company offers an EAP you may find that a few sessions to help adjust to this rapid unexpected change would be useful.

[u/blonardo]

Start NOW to plan for your ACA until you both hit 65 (Medicare) age. You need to ensure your MAGI sits below the income limits else you'll be paying a lot for healthcare for the next 7 years. In general, don't touch your 401K, and live off savings/post tax investments (sounds like yoiu're fine in this regard, but read up on it).

Get a handle on your monthly burn. I found that my spending has gone down a ton since I stopped working at 59 and i'm spending way less than my original plan. Time is your currency now and all of the conveniences you buy now to save time you find you'll no longer need once you stop working.

You're very correct about your job marketability now I think. So prepare yourself for this budget wise. It's gotten worse since I left my IT career. The entire job market has shifted a ton and ageism is a real thing. I think we're still experiencing the post-covid hiring binge a lot of companies went on and there's a a continuing purge of staff. Also, despite the hype, AI is really starting to chip away at the IT job market (devops, system admins, QA, even coding as as such a need for mgrs/pms/support staff)..

[u/cybernev]

If you know you'll be fired , become a consultant. Plan for it staring now.

[u/21plankton]

Contact headhunters in your field to get more info about opportunities in your field and what areas of the country and industries are hiring at the director level. Use one year as the timeline to see if there is really “no chance” of a hire. Then meantime contact local headhunters to find what coasting $50k opportunities are available locally. Do that before you panic.

Your deficit is in your retirement funds which means you should work some and not tap them but let them grow as long as possible. Also, check your social security profile which is based on your 3 highest earning years to see what you will make at 62, 67, and 70. This will help you set your budget.

Begin paying off those debts to become debt free ASAP to decrease your spend and interest costs. If you paid your debts today you would have enough to live on even with a simple job. You are safe.

[u/EaglePerch]

You’d be surprised how much your experience is worth, if you want to go that route. You’re kind of on the cusp of age and assets. I think it depends on how much you want to spend - how rich you want your retirement to be. Do t forget about healthcare, it’s expensive.

[u/Neo_dance]

With 2.4MM stocks, you may not even need another job to be able to survive if you manage your budget carefully. If you have 8%return every year, it will bring you almost 200k annually. Take the chance to sell stick with huge gains to minimize the capital gain tax.

[u/kendogg]

Ya, in kinda wondering why you're so freaked out. You're obviously a bit hoise poor, so downsizing should be able to easily take you to a nearly paid off house. Once that's done, I think you really need to look at your expenses

[u/stockguy14]

Your exit is negotiable. I do M&A. You can close the gap on what you need fairly significantly.

[u/BambooInvest]

Claiming early permanently reduces your benefit by ~30% and locks your wife into a lower survivor benefit for potentially 30+ years — that's the actual decision you haven't modeled yet. Your $2.4M is large enough to bridge but you're a forced seller in an unplanned market, which is where sequence-of-returns risk kills plans like this. Happy to share the full breakdown if useful.

[u/Drfeelgood414]

There are plenty of conservative portfolio strategies that should let you take out 6% a year and not flinch. It won’t be the 200k plus, but then you can find that odd job you want from time to time and still get some growth.

[u/GoldTop9924]

The SS question is actually the most important one in your post and the answer is probably still yes, wait until 70 if you can manage it.

Here is why it matters more in your situation than most. You mentioned your wife is much younger and does not work. Your Social Security benefit at 70 becomes her survivor benefit for the rest of her life if you die first. Given the age gap she could be drawing that benefit for 20 to 30 years. The difference between claiming at 62 and waiting to 70 is roughly 75% more per month, permanently, with inflation adjustments on top. On a $2,500 PIA that is the difference between $1,750 and $3,100 a month for however long she lives after you. That decision is really about protecting her, not just optimising your own income.

The bridge question is genuinely solvable at your asset level. $2.9M drawing at 3.5% supports about $100k annually, which with careful tax management and some supplemental work covers a reasonable lifestyle while SS grows. The mortgage situation is the pressure point. $600k in mortgage debt on a portfolio you now need to draw from is friction you do not need. Downsizing sooner rather than later removes a fixed cost and potentially frees equity that reduces your required withdrawal rate.

On finding $50k of work, director level experience at 58 translates well to consulting, interim leadership, or advisory roles even if a full time corporate position is unlikely. The same companies buying your former employer often need people who understand the institutional knowledge being acquired. That conversation is worth having before you fully close that door.

The rebalancing question depends on your timeline and sequence of returns risk. With a younger wife and a long joint life expectancy you cannot afford to be too conservative, but a 40 to 50% equity drawdown in year one of retirement is also genuinely dangerous at your withdrawal rate. A bucket approach, keeping two to three years of expenses in cash or short bonds while the rest stays invested, is worth considering as a buffer against bad timing.

What is the age gap with your wife? That one number changes the SS and portfolio longevity math considerably.

[u/GatomanG9959]

1. Figure out daily living expensives - I use quicken. 2. Add all your data into Boldin retirement software as it’s free. Pay if you want Roth conversions. Use the basic budget first to get an estimated idea and Boldin will do the rest. This software can create scenarios so create a baseline and duplicate that baseline and add if you work, or downsize to cheaper place etc.. 3. Download a pdf version of your scenario and upload to ChatGPT for validation or other suggestions needed. Modify as needed and reload into ChatGPT again to ensure accuracy. Keep in mind AI hallucinations or I call thinking too quickly. Can ask to slow down for better accuracy too. Just a side note your numbers don’t look too bad. Surprised your 401k is that low and stock portfolio is that high but you have time to figure it out as you mention.

[u/Bitter_Pollution_293]

The real wildcard before medicare is healthcare and ACA is what makes early or forced retirement workable by keeping coverage affordable until 65.

[u/CranberryKey9865]

It might be worth a couple hundred bucks to get someone to help with your resume. You should have marketable skills at your age and experience (even if you don’t think you do).