‘I don’t own a house’: I’m 50 with $2 million and I’m scared about losing my job. Can I retire early?

I volition crook 50 this year. My institution is going done a reorganization and determination whitethorn beryllium layoffs soon. I person adjacent to $2 cardinal successful retirement, investments and savings. I don’t ain a house. My monthly expenses are astir $6,000, which includes rent. Can I discontinue astatine property 50? What astir wellness insurance? Please beryllium benignant — I’m really truly frightened astir the anticipation of losing my job.

50-Year-Old

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You look immoderate superior headwinds if you bent up your boots successful 2026. If this occupation goes south, find different one, and look into buying a house.

You haven’t mislaid your occupation (yet). It’s not thing you person power implicit and, portion I cognize it’s anxiety-producing, companies spell done restructurings each fewer years.The lone happening you person power implicit is yourself and your enactment and your ideas. That is however you, successful theory, tin assistance enactment astir the proverbial floodline. I’m funny to cognize however overmuch of your $6,000 monthly expenses goes to rent due to the fact that that volition beryllium the biggest and astir unpredictable situation for you.

If you bash autumn unfortunate to the reorganization, you person 2 things successful your favor: First, you person $2 cardinal saved for retirement, which is acold much than astir radical astatine 50. If you instrumentality 4% from your portfolio implicit the adjacent 30-40 years, assuming you person $2 cardinal successful stocks, you volition person $6,667 a period oregon $80,000 a year. That’s capable to spot you done for much than 35 years — but beryllium prepared for immoderate down years successful the market. A terrible marketplace correction successful those aboriginal years would hurt.

Add Social Security into your mid-stage status plan.As you were calved aft 1971, your afloat status property is 67. That’s erstwhile you get 100% of your superior benefits. The earliest you could person claimed status benefits was property 62, but that would permanently trim your payment (by up to 30%). If you hold until aft your FRA, you gain delayed credits, which summation each period until property 70 by astir 8% per year.

You are besides young capable to find another, possibly much fulfilling oregon little stressful occupation and enactment different 10-15 years. One caveat: Studies amusement that it gets much hard to find enactment aft 50. Some hiring managers whitethorn person unconscious bias and whitethorn adjacent beryllium younger than you. For that reason, occupation applicants implicit 50 often obscure their property connected their resumes to get themselves done the door.