Life changes, and your priorities change with it. While we all want to create memories with our kids and extended family and friends, life changes.
When you get s few years from retirement, you will start looking at your wealth, or lack there of, and try to put together the finances in your remaining years of work, what would have been simpler during your working years.
For us, shrinking, downsizing, and paycuts, finally gave way to restoration of benefits and pay. Getting the kids out of college and off the tit so to speak, will help you redirect your funds to actually fund your own support, where you were just playing with the idea before.
I retire in 3 years and 6 days. The house will be paid for in 2 year 2 months, and the motorhome will he paid for in 1 year 11 months. We will have no outstanding debt going into our last year of work before we retire, and will stockpile all we were paying on the house and motorhome. Now, let me scare you...we paid double on our house the last 5 years and will continue the next two years. And that was after a 15 year refi at 2.75%. So our double payments will have paid it off in half...7 years. We have been maxing out the 401K and playing catch up since I was 55. So that is 24K a year. Add up the house (x2), the motorhome, and the 401K, and that paid will reduce my monthly expenditures by $6600/month. Also, no more paying life insurance, another $300/mo. And we saved $2k into normal savings each month to pay for cars/boats/etc. so that’s another $2k we don’t have to pay.
The point is, when you retire, the income stream stops, so the debt has to stop. Or you better be able to afford your debt with your “fixed” retirement income. How much per month will your retirement provide you? I say that tongue and cheek following a 10% reduction in the market.
Gents/ladies, I’m not half done enjoying my life. I may have to get another boat pretty soon, may not be what you or I expected, but we need to feel alive. Be sure while your enjoying your life today, you provide enough for tomorrow, those are the most important years you will have on this earth. It is those years you can be self sufficient...or a burden to your children.