Hello, I am excited to partake in this adventure with fellow people who are passionate about living right with money. I currently only have debt in the form of a mortgage which is not a bad financial situation. We are at a crossroads with some choices and I am having trouble finding answers from people in the know. Here is our situation:
Income combined - $130,000
Currently 38 y.o, and spouse 33 y.o.
Debt - Home Mortgage Balance - 56k
Home value - 120k
My work retirement - Defined Benefit Pension 82% of top 3 years (government) at age 55 with 30 years of service, and 3% escalator if you don't leave before age 55. I am currently 15 years in with this agency.
457b governmental - 2% employer match, current balance of $12,000
Spouse retirement - Employee sponsored 403b, with a 7% match, current balance $13,000
Cash Savings - emergency fund - $10,000
Cash saved above emergency fund - $40,000
So our dilemma is this, we would like to retire with a legacy for our family and be able to travel some, but live comfortable. If I want to retire at age 52, I cannot access the pension until 55, but the 457b allows penalty free withdrawal upon termination of employment. We were saving up cash for a couple reasons, i.e, new home down payment and grad school for spouse. We want to make sure we are making sound choices here going forward. We would like to move in the next two years, and obviously the sale of our home will yield a nice chunk to plunk towards a new home around $60,000 or more. Where should we park this $40000 to put the money to work in a location that will give us access to it before age 59 1/2 for early retirement? Is this a scenario where we max out the 457b of mine and the 403b of my spouse to couple with my defined benefit pension? Or does the Roth IRA still make sense for us, or do we just utilize both? Also, I understand there is an opportunity cost to hold cash, but we don't like to borrow money, which is where the idea is coming from for paying for her grad school out of pocket. Just looking for some direction and advice and I am sure I left some info out, but this is a start. Thanks!