Building the Foundation for Retirement
ThirdAger: Expert Advice From Money Insider Jeff Fleming
Dennis Noon has spent 32 good years as a maintenance specialist with United Airlines, helping see that others make it down from the air safely. Now, it's his own landing that Dennis is thinking about.
The 53-year-old from Half Moon Bay, Calif., wants to play golf -- and lots of it. He has been thinking of selling his house, which, thanks to the nation's insatiable hunger for seaside real estate, has skyrocketed in value from $225,000 to $800,000 in just 15 years. Dennis knows he's sitting on a fortune, but he doesn't want to move for at least another three years. That's when his wife, a hospital employee, becomes eligible to get her retirement health benefits.
Dennis's own 401(k) is quite substantial. He's been socking away the maximum 15 percent of his salary since the early 1980s and has kept it in conservative mutual funds. He expects to keep his nest eggs parked in the same place and managed by the same administrators after he retires.
The plan for the Noons is to move to Wheat Ridge, Colo. -- Dennis's hometown -- and build another house near his relatives. Renting or buying a smaller dwelling isn't in the cards. "Once you've built a home, you decorate it with a lot of stuff that you like and it's hard to give it up," says Dennis. Once the Colorado house gets built, copious golf and travel will soon follow, which shouldn't cost too much: Dennis, like all retired United employees, will get a voucher allowing him to travel free on any available domestic flight.
Expert Advice for Dennis
The Planning Process
Selling Your Home
Optimizing Savings
Preparing for the Home Stretch, from our sponsor, Merrill Lynch
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