I’m a 39-year-old single dad with $600,000 saved — I want to retire at 50 but don’t know how. What should I do?

I bash not person a existent status program with my occupation arsenic they bash not connection one. My eventual imagination is to beryllium capable to discontinue by property 50, but I astir apt volition not beryllium blessed sitting astatine location and volition privation to work. I americium looking for the champion enactment for maine to prevention much for status and request immoderate advice.

Thanks precise overmuch for your help

See: I’m retiring connected my 78th birthday, person much than $200,000 successful savings and stock expenses with my 80-year-old boyfriend. Will I beryllium OK?

Dear reader, 

I’m truthful gladsome that contempt your leader not offering a status program you are truthful determined to enactment wealth distant for the future. That’s great, and a fantastic illustration for your son. 

Although it is unfortunate that you bash not person entree to an employer-sponsored status plan, you’re far from alone. One enactment is to diversify the types of concern accounts you have. 

You notation having idiosyncratic status accounts, but you could look into opening a Roth IRA, which is funded with after-tax dollars. There are income restrictions depending connected your adjusted gross income and taxation filing status, truthful you’ll request to cheque that you’re eligible, but based connected your take-home pay, that shouldn’t beryllium a problem. “I would commencement there,” said Chris Hardy, a certified fiscal planner astatine Paramount Investment Advisors.  

Another enactment is simply a Health Savings Account, which typically is disposable with precocious deductible wellness plans. These accounts person triple the taxation advantages, due to the fact that the wealth contributed, invested and distributed is tax-free if utilized for qualified wellness expenses. The wealth request not beryllium utilized successful the twelvemonth it was contributed, which means you could fto the relationship equilibrium turn done the years and usage it for eligible expenses successful retirement. 

Check retired MarketWatch’s file “Retirement Hacks” for actionable pieces of proposal for your ain status savings journey 

A taxable brokerage relationship is different imaginable enactment for your investments. Many status accounts, including accepted IRAs, person a 10% punishment for funds withdrawn anterior to property 59 ½ (the rules are a bit different for Roth accounts — for example, the individual’s ain contributions are ever disposable to them — and determination are exceptions to this regularisation for accepted accounts and Roth accounts arsenic well). 

“As you privation to discontinue astir 10 years earlier that age, gathering up a taxable brokerage relationship would beryllium precise utile truthful you person assets overmuch easier to entree without afloat taxation and punishment being due,” said Brian Behl, a certified fiscal planner astatine Behl Wealth Management. With taxable brokerage accounts, investors wage taxation connected dividends and involvement received and past superior gains connected the merchantability of immoderate appreciated investments. 

So those are a fewer possibilities for the concern vehicles you could usage extracurricular of an employer-sponsored account. Now deliberation astir however overmuch wealth you’ll really request for retirement. 

“At the halfway of immoderate status strategy is determining currency travel needs,” Hardy said. “He volition request to find what is needed to screen fixed expenses and past what would beryllium needed for those discretionary items (i.e., travel, newer vehicles, ‘stuff’).” After assessing the estimates for these expenses, you tin cipher the sources of your income — your savings, immoderate pensions, Social Security benefits and truthful on. 

One regularisation of thumb is the 4% rule, which is withdrawing 4% of your nest ovum each twelvemonth successful status to screen your surviving expenses, Hardy said. For instance, idiosyncratic with $1 cardinal successful status savings would retreat $40,000 each year. Keep successful mind, rules of thumb are conscionable wide principles — they bash not enactment for everyone and determination are numerous, idiosyncratic factors that could change however businesslike they are successful someone’s status calculations. 

Having the owe paid disconnected would beryllium a immense payment to you, said Hank Fox, a certified fiscal planner. “That would destruct a ample indebtedness and besides summation his currency travel by the magnitude of his existent owe payment,” helium said. 

There’s besides the enactment to refinance to a owe with a little involvement rate, but you should bash a cost-benefit investigation of if that truly makes consciousness for your idiosyncratic concern if and erstwhile you see it. 

You volition besides beryllium successful a somewhat antithetic concern if you were to discontinue astatine property 50, due to the fact that you’d person much than a decennary to spell until you tin assertion your Social Security benefits and 15 years distant from Medicare coverage. Before you discontinue astatine immoderate aboriginal age, deliberation cautiously astir however you’ll wage for your aesculapian expenses and what health security coverage you’ll person during that gap, specified arsenic thing offered connected a authorities security exchange. 

“Health security is 1 of the biggest concerns (and expenses) for each of my clients looking to discontinue anterior to property 65 erstwhile they are eligible for Medicare,” Behl said. Having wealth acceptable speech successful taxable brokerage accounts could assistance successful this arena excessively — those distributions don’t number arsenic mean income, which keeps your income comparatively debased and frankincense perchance allows you to suffice for subsidies connected security exchanges that would little your premium costs.

Also see: I’m a 55-year-old azygous ma adopting a teenager. I person $550,000 successful my status account, marque $295,000 a twelvemonth but would similar to discontinue early. Can I?

Because you’re a azygous dad, I consciousness compelled to notation estate planning needs. This is ne'er a amusive facet of planning, but it is truthful important to guarantee the information and information of your kid successful the lawsuit of an emergency. 

“Something other to see is wherever his lad fits into the plan,” Fox said. Think astir who would enactment arsenic caretaker if an unfortunate lawsuit were to hap earlier helium becomes an adult, and however your assets are acceptable up truthful that they walk connected to him if that’s what you want. Review your beneficiary designations, make a will, person a powerfulness of lawyer and healthcare proxy written up connected your behalf and marque definite everything is precisely arsenic you privation it. 

The information that you are the superior attraction supplier for your lad is besides a crushed to guarantee immoderate medical, disablement and beingness security sum is appropriate, arsenic that would assistance successful providing mislaid income for childcare expenses successful the lawsuit of an emergency, Fox said. 

I volition permission you with this. Retiring astatine an aboriginal property sounds similar a imagination for galore people, but you’ve already touched connected a precise realistic result — being bored with nary job. Since you’ve already travel to presumption with the information that you mightiness not beryllium blessed leaving the workforce, adjacent if you’re financially susceptible of retiring, commencement reasoning astir what this adjacent section could look similar for you. The conception of status has changed dramatically successful caller years, and galore Americans are present pursuing thing called “financial independence,” which means they person the economical means to permission the workforce, but they instrumentality it arsenic an accidental to prosecute a passionateness oregon a hobby oregon a imagination instead. 

A portion clip job, oregon adjacent a lower-paid 1 successful a tract you’re truly funny in, could perchance springiness you wellness security too. 

“Many folks attack status arsenic the decorativeness enactment to a productive life,” Hardy said. “We telephone that ‘retiring from’ thing alternatively of ‘retiring to’ something. Most radical successful the erstwhile radical extremity up greatly disappointed with what they thought status would look like, and immoderate adjacent acquisition a level of depression.” 

Take the clip to measurement your options — would you privation to bash consulting enactment successful your field? Go backmost to schoolhouse to larn a caller trade? Take up a hobby? Try volunteering for a origin adjacent to your heart? Pick up and question the world? Or juggle a fewer broadside gigs that bring you joy? What you determine volition besides play a relation successful however overmuch wealth you request saved earlier you’re acceptable to retire, and perchance adjacent bring successful much income successful your retirement, but marque a program for your aboriginal status earlier going done with it. 

“Some clients besides bask moving much aft they scope fiscal independency knowing they could ‘retire tomorrow’ if they wanted,” Behl said. “It makes their enactment an optional prime alternatively than a necessity.” 

Readers: Do you person suggestions for this reader? Add them successful the comments below.

Have a question astir your ain status savings? Email america astatine HelpMeRetire@marketwatch.com