LuminousLupine wrote: Wed Oct 15, 2025 4:56 pm
Long-time reader, second time poster. I’m 41 and targeting work-optional status by 45 so I can spend more time with my young kids while they still want to hang out with me. My wife and I plan to leave our stressful jobs and pick up part time work, still requiring us to buy healthcare on the ACA markets. My job is in senior management and I’ve grown to dread the daily commute, 24/7 workload, constant fire fighting, etc. My job also requires that I live in Denver, a city that my wife and I don’t particularly enjoy.Lately, I’ve fallen into analysis paralysis — I’ve spoken with a few financial advisors and received totally conflicting advice:
• “Stay 100% equities and maximize dividends, sell the rental properties.”
• “Pay off your rental mortgage immediately, lock in that 6.85% you are paying in interest.”
• “Don’t pay off your rental mortgage, you get a deduction for that!”
• “Convert everything to bonds by 45.”
I’m looking for perspective from those who’ve been in my shoes: What would you do if you were me, with my goals and setup?
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Snapshot of My Situation:
• Age 41, married filing jointly
• Annual income combined: ~$587,800 (35% fed rate, 4.4% state rate)
• Investing: ~$100,000 per year across HSA, 401K
• Savings rate is around $300K per year (This is the first year or wife and I at these new higher compensation levels and we plan to keep standard of living the same)
• Emergency fund: $80,000 (technically $300,000 right now as I haven’t deployed this cash)
• Primary residence: $850K value, owe $230K @ 2.75% (considering renting it out upon move to NV, would gross ~$3,500 in rents but would net $0 until paid off)
• Rental 4-plex: $950K value, owe $550K @ 6.85%, cash-flow positive: net $1,200 per month after mortgage payment and bills (Gross rents ~6,250 per month). I know the ROI on this property is not good – include that in your analysis please. This was a “path of progress” play in Denver that hasn’t panned out due to inventory increases in the area, landlord hostile laws, and significant cost increases in services due to inflation.
• Moving from Colorado to Nevada before retirement for tax efficiency
• Total Portfolio: $1.9 mm ($1.2mm in tax advantaged, $700k in cash/Roth/HSA using a low cost 3 fund portfolio, roughly 95/5 stocks and bonds with 15% international stocks) FXNAX, FZILX, FZROX in tax advantaged and ITOT in taxable accounts.
• Goals: $90k per year retirement income, achieve work-optional life by 45, maintain diversity (ie. Real Estate Income) in income stream for market downturns, figure out a good strategy for my cash positions.[/list]
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Questions I’m thinking through:
1. Would you prioritize paying down the 6.85% rental loan as a guaranteed return, or deploy that $300K cash into the markets?
2. When, if ever, should I begin derisking (e.g., move from 90/10 to 80/20)?
3. Would you sell or rent out the primary Colorado home (City of Denver) with the 2.75% mortgage?
4. What are the questions I am not asking???
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I’d love to hear your perspective — not fund-by-fund suggestions, but the kind of “if I were you, I would immediately do the following to meet your goal…” or “here’s what I wish I would have done when I was in a similar position” wisdom that this community is known for.
Thanks in advance for your time and insights.
I would highly, highly, highly recommend getting Claude’s (Anthropic’s AI Agent) to take a look at this and write up a plan to give you a best case and worst case scenario. I had it literally write me a 80 page retirement guide (step-by-step) for helping my mom move from Wells Fargo to Fidelity since the sudden passing of my father. I also wouldn’t discount the information on this forum from some of the great minds that have lived through what you’re about to go through.
