This post was originally published on this site.
© New Africa / Shutterstock.com
When you’ve saved a lot of money, early retirement becomes a possibility. That’s the situation this Reddit poster is in.
The poster has a net worth of $8.1 million at 48 years old and is ready to stop working. They set their son up with enough money for college and grad school, as well as a $250,000 stock account.
The poster feels guilty about leaving the workforce during their prime earning years, though. The logic is that if they continue working, they’ll be able to leave their son a larger inheritance.
So what should they do? There’s no right or wrong answer, but talking things through with a professional could help.
Balancing parental guilt with your own needs
When I read the post above, I found it relatable as a parent myself. While I’m not in the same position as the poster — I’m nowhere close to being able to retire — I’m self-employed and commonly take on extra work for the purpose of being able to sock money away for my kids.
I have a baseline amount of income I need to earn to cover my household expenses and fund my retirement savings. Money I earn beyond that point usually goes toward my kids’ college fund.
I call it a college fund, but in reality, my kids can use that money however they want. If they decide not to go to college, they can use the money I’m saving to start a business or do something else that’s reasonably responsible. (Since I control those accounts, they will not be allowed to use the money for shopping sprees or other such nonsense.)
There are weeks when I find myself too exhausted to take on extra projects, yet I often push myself to do so for the purpose of being able to save more for my kids’ benefit. So I can totally see where the poster above is coming from. At the same time, I’ve started to do a better job of balancing my personal needs with my desire to better my kids’ lives financially.
Specifically, I’ve started setting boundaries. I’m willing to work up to a certain numbers of hours per week. Once I’ve reached that limit, I stop. It’s what I need to do for my mental and physical health, even if it means putting a few hundred dollars less into my kids’ college fund each month.
In the case of the poster above, they’ve clearly done a lot for their child. They’ve set them up with enough money to graduate from school debt-free. Plus, there’s money left over — $250,000 worth, which is far from shabby.
Chances are, if the poster retires now and manages their money wisely, their son will still be left with a nice inheritance. For these reasons, the poster shouldn’t feel guilty about retiring when they’ve worked for it.
Talking things through
The poster has a lot of faith in their son’s ability to work hard and do well. That, plus the financial head start he’s been giving, puts him in a great position.
One thing the poster doesn’t mention is whether they’ve talked to their son about the situation at hand. For all they know, the son would want them to retire on schedule and not work longer for their benefit only.
So the first thing the poster needs to do is have an honest conversation with their child and see how that goes. From there, they may want to talk to a financial advisor and a therapist.
The role of the financial advisor would be to show the poster how they can stretch their current savings in a manner that could lend to a nice inheritance. An advisor may also be able to help the poster see that they have enough money to retire and not only cover their own expenses, but continue to support their son in some way should that become necessary.
A therapist might also be helpful to the poster so they can set some boundaries and work through their feelings of guilt. If my kids’ college fund reaches the point where I could cover a four-year degree, grad school, and still have an extra $250,000 left over, I don’t think I’d feel too bad about things.
But I can’t judge how the poster feels. No one can. That’s why talking to a professional might be helpful in getting the poster to a place where they can enjoy the early retirement they’ve earned without guilt getting in the way.