Not sure if this is wise… My husband was laid off in August (well, May, but was paid through August), and has been enjoying puttering around. He says he's "resigned" to look for a job in the new year, but I know he really doesn't want to. Question is, can we live well on what we have.
We're 53 and 52
Assets:
$50k cash
$145k invested outside of retirement (mostly company stock and options from previous employers)
$735k in retirement funds (lion's share in VTSAX, the rest in other index, int'l, and bond funds)
House is paid for, as are the two cars.
Income:
About $100/month in dividends and interest. Woohoo.
Monthly Expenses:
Auto (fuel, ins, tax, upkeep): $300
Dining: $200
Groceries (incl supplies): $400
Housing (tax, ins, HOA): $300
Utilities (gas, elec, water, VoIPo phone, internet, Airvoice cell) $350
Pets: $200
Personal (entertainment, haircuts, clothing, donations, misc) $240
LTC and disability ins: $60
Medical: $1200
Basically $40k a year (taxes? travel? new windows?), and medical is a wild card. Our Cobra plan went from $950/month to $1150/month, so we're looking into the ACA plans, which start at $850/month, but large deductibles (and I take a $400/month Rx that's free with the Cobra plan, but not so much with the ACA plan). Other than that, we really don't have much in the way of medical costs. You know, unless something goes terribly wrong. Wild card.
Pets is a bit high too, but since we spent $1300 over Thanksgiving on a very sick cat, it might not be out of line, at least for this year.
If he does really retire, we could ditch his car and buy windows with the proceeds, and cut our car costs by about $100/month. I know our food costs are a bit high, and I'm working on that. His cell plan is $10 every three months and mine, in a few days, will be $10/month (yay, Airvoice!) We can also cancel his disability insurance (probably should anyway, but it's only $20/month).
Once he hits retirement age, SS and medicare should help.
I just don't know if I should encourage him to stay retired or let him head back off into the workforce, assuming he can find anything he actually wants to do.