Dear MarketWatch, I’m 59 years old, and my wife is older (retired early). I will be retiring next year after 40 years of Naval service and government contracting.
After the recent market crash in 2022, we still have at least over $1.5 million in 401(k), Thrift Savings Plan and other investments that we think we may never have to use and want to pass that on to our adult kids. I have a monthly retirement pay and VA disability benefit of over $12,000. Our monthly cash flow covers our monthly expenses and more. No major credit card debts, just the one we use monthly and pay it off monthly. The mortgage for our retirement home is $1,987 a month including tax and insurance. We have no other debts except for our monthly life and property insurance, along with other necessities of life. We put money aside for vacation and we have over 12 months of emergency funds in our savings/checking accounts. Medical benefits are also covered with TRICARE and VA. We are in the process of selling our primary residence and moving to our retirement home, which we still owe $182,000 toward the mortgage but don’t want to pay off since it will become our tax shelter as I ca …