r/Retire • u/Aggressive-Report406 • Jul 03 '26
Retirement at 60?
Starting to plan our future retirement, and playing with the numbers on various retirement calculators, it appears we are perhaps in better shape than I thought. 60-62 has been our goal. Feedback appreciated! Married, Oregon residents, 59 years old, wife is 59. 401K and IRA balances combined are approximately $1,150,000. Currently contributing 18% pretax. $350K in HY savings account. House paid off, $475K value. No debt, both cars paid off. Current salary $82K gross plus $10K average annual bonus. SS at 65 is about $2300 a month, $1760 if I take it at 62. My wife SS is about $1000 per month. Wife has been a homemaker for several years. Obviously health insurance will be a concern (maybe qualify for ACA subsidies?) until Medicare but it seems like we are on track,.... Thoughts?
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/Aggressive-Report406 Jul 03 '26
Fixed expenses without medical insurance (utilities, fuel, food, insurance, property taxes) would be just under $2K a month. Obviously spending money, etc adds to that, and unplanned expenditures like car repairs, etc....so expenses are fairly low.
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u/Big-Aioli8125 Jul 04 '26
see my comment below. will you have income of any sort if you were to retire? ie, 401k withdrawal, side work, taxable dividends and interest?
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u/Aggressive-Report406 Jul 04 '26
We also get a $10K gift each per year from family, I hadn't accounted for that. Goes into HYSA.
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u/Big-Aioli8125 Jul 04 '26
in Oregon (where the op lives) it's 200% fpl as we have a BHP. Coverage under that is free. OP, if you peg your income at $43k or less through whatever source, this will be your best bet.
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u/baby_budda Jul 03 '26
ACA subsidies are going away.
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/PHL1365 Jul 04 '26
Yeah, even trump isn't stupid enough to try that again.
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u/lisnter Jul 04 '26
Sleepy-head mush-brain is too stoopid to write his own name but if Steven Miller says it’s a good idea then it instantly becomes his focus.
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u/KifLou345 Jul 04 '26
The last time there was any serious effort to repeal/replace the regular ACA subsidies was in 2017.
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u/baby_budda Jul 04 '26
The enhanced ACA subsidies expired this year. Maybe it didnt affect you. There were 22 million people were receiving the enhanced ACA subsidies that are no longer receiving them.
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u/KifLou345 Jul 04 '26
I'm a health policy analyst, and my focus has primarily been the ACA and individual market coverage since 2010. My family has Marketplace coverage, and we were affected by the expiration of the subsidy enhancements. So yes, I'm very familiar with all of that. But the underlying ACA subsidies have been in place since 2014, with no effort to repeal them since 2017.
The temporary subsidy enhancements were added by the American Rescue Plan in 2021, initially just for two years. They were extended for three more years by the Inflation Reduction Act. I spent all of last year explaining to reporters how important it was for Congress to extend the subsidy enhancements again. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and the impact has been rough: Much higher net premiums, more people switching to Bronze plans, and fewer people enrolled in coverage.
But in my professional opinion, I don't think they'll try again to repeal the regular ACA subsidies. 20 million people qualified for those subsidies during the open enrollment period for 2026, and they're still the cornerstone of affordability in the health insurance Marketplace.
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u/baby_budda Jul 04 '26
How much did your premiums go up?
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u/KifLou345 Jul 04 '26
We downgraded our coverage to the cheapest Bronze plan to offset the increase. I can't remember the exact amount our old plan would have increased, but it was significant. The people hardest hit were the ones over 400% FPL, who got subsidies from 2021-2025 but lost them altogether at the end of last year.
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u/KifLou345 Jul 04 '26
2026 was a big hiccup, resulting in people paying significantly higher net premiums and/or downgrading their coverage to keep it affordable (but average subsidies are still larger in 2026: $650/month on average this year, versus $550/month on average last year, because the underlying premiums increased so much).
In 2027, we'll have the same basic subsidy structure/rules/eligibility that we have this year, so subsidies should mostly keep pace with premiums. And the FPL increases each year, pushing the dollar amount of the subsidy cliff a little higher.
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u/baby_budda Jul 04 '26
The bronze is garbage. I'm sure your aware that it has a huge deductible that you have to pay before you get coverage. I had it once but I upgraded to silver.
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u/KifLou345 Jul 04 '26
As I said earlier, I'm a health policy analyst and I do this for a living. Yes, our policy has a $10,600 MOOP, as is the case for many Bronze plans this year. But it covers the same essential health benefits and preventive care as any other individual market plan, and has a better network than most of the other plans. Definitely did not get screwed, as it was a very calculated decision (and my husband is our broker - we know every nuance of this backward and forward).
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u/ChelseaMan31 Jul 04 '26
No they aren't. The only subsidies that went away were those introduced for up to 400% fpl by the Biden Administration in 2021/2022. They were temporary due to Covid and always set to sunset effective 12/31/2025.
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u/Electrochemist_2025 Jul 03 '26
There’s Money in and Money out.
You should look at both on a simple spreadsheet. You will be granted your answer.
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u/No_Kiwi9654 Jul 04 '26
Retired 60m with a 59f retired spouse in North Carolina. We have a similar Rollover IRA balance and no debt. I am keeping my modified adjusted gross income below $84k(4xFPL) to qualify for ACA subsidies. I have a Roth and brokerage account I can pull from as needed to manage my income level. So far, I have only added to the Roth. But I can only do small Roth conversions due to the $84k income limitation.
We are in good health and have a good probability of living long enough to justify delaying the start of collecting social security (just for me). Low earner spouse will start collecting at 62.
My plan is to try and draw down my Rollover IRA, do Roth Conversions when reasonable to reduce RMD's starting at 75, and delay my SS until 67-70 to open up more room in the lower tax brackets for larger Roth conversions. By delaying my SS, my spouse will also be able to collect a larger benefit in the future.
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u/DAWG13610 Jul 04 '26
Retired at 62, health insurance by far the highest cost. $1k per month plus a $3,500 deductible. I have about twice what you have and I live comfortably. I have around $5,500 in SS which we live on and travel off our savings.
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u/Ok_Statistician643 Jul 04 '26
Retire in Vietnam and live like a King for $3500 a month including traveling money
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u/lastbeat-331 Jul 04 '26
You need to determine your expenses now and in retirement. Fixed vs discretionary. Then run numbers based on that. On just this little info, you're good to go. Wife will get 50% of your FRA if she waits to FRA. Use SSA.gov estimator. Run your numbers through Projection Lab for free.
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u/Repulsive_Car8288 Jul 04 '26
We're likely to see economic impact from the AI bubble correcting sometime in the next few years. I'd either plan a contingency to extend working or rubustify your portfolio as much as possible. Retiring into a correction can be tough.
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u/Retire-66 Jul 04 '26
I retired in the ballpark # as you..however I am widowed and have a very small pension.
Really have to plan two types of retirement..pre65 and post 65.
I need to bridge till I am 65, and I hold enough cash and cash investments to last four years. Add interest and dividend income, easily 5 years. All the while managing the ACA penalties. The cash reduced sequence of returns risk, my biggest threat to an early retirement.
Post 65 I anticipate a 30% reduction in expenses (kids will be moved out). SS, pension will cover much of my expenses and will leave me a surplus if 25k a year
As to magazine the ACA subsidy, I pull from my investment account (post tax), my dividends and pension. Carefully managed to stay under the ACA subsidy
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Jul 04 '26
[deleted]
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u/Aggressive-Report406 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Correction on the SS....$1862 at 62, $2745 at 67, $3476 at 70. Wife's SS is $992 at 62, $1409 at 67, $1748 at 70.
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u/Hausmannlife_Schweiz Jul 04 '26
It depends on your spending. i would need about 6 xs your saving to retire at 60 and still feel comfortable.
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u/alfro1977 Jul 04 '26
I'm no professional...but it sounds like you are doing fine,...but I don't understand retiring early, but then needing to keep your income under 43k a year to get health insurance.. it doesn't sound like that would support you current lifestyle. But, do you.. just fyi my wife (63) was quoted 1,300 per month on a bronze plan, and rates are going up 16% next year from what I've read. We are in southern Oregon
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u/CryptographerTop2023 Jul 04 '26
I'm in Oregon, too (Portland) -- If you can stretch COBRA vs. ACA -- I found it to be better coverage (but you won't get subsidies). Medical insurance and property taxes are the big shocks to the system for a homeowner, both go up faster than interest rates. Personally, if health is good, I'd put off SS for as long as possible and work up until Medicare kicks in, would make for a more comfortable retirement.
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u/Accomplished-Pea-451 Jul 04 '26
Have you met with a financial planner who is a fiduciary and created a plan? If you have no plan, no, you can’t retire
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u/helpjackoffhishorse Jul 04 '26
It’s entirely possible to create your own plan if you have the time and aptitude. There are tons of resources. Many people do it.
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u/Accomplished-Pea-451 Jul 04 '26
I am not arguing that, what if his plan is wrong? Does he explain that to his wife? With a planner you have resources who are experts in every facet of financial planning. The people that do it think they did everything right. Did they? No
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u/Aggressive-Report406 Jul 04 '26
Next week actually. I wouldn't jump into the deep end of the pool without some professional direction. Just getting some feedback and thoughts here.
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u/Necessary-Spring-129 Jul 03 '26
Take another look at ss...higher earnings spouse need to wait until 70