Can I Retire in Two Years?

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Jill on Money – Can I Retire in Two Years?

Host: Jill Schlesinger
Guest: Mary from Northern California (Caller)
Date: December 15, 2025
Key Theme:
Jill advises Mary, a high-earning widow with teenage twins and several properties, on whether she can realistically retire in two to three years while funding her daughters’ college educations and maintaining her desired lifestyle.

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1. Overview of Episode Theme

In this listener call-in episode, Jill Schlesinger discusses the complexities of transitioning to retirement for someone with significant assets and expenses. Mary, the caller, wants to know if she’s financially positioned to retire in two or three years, balancing college costs for her twins, supporting elderly parents, and managing multiple properties. The conversation covers optimizing retirement drawdown strategies, handling investment risk, and making pivotal real estate decisions.

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2. Key Discussion Points and Insights

Jill’s Return and Personal Update

• Jill opens with stories from her recent trip to India, remarking on sensory overload, local quirks (“honk please” signs), intense air pollution, and vibrant culture.
  • Notable quote: “It’s an assault of the senses... It’s so noisy, the trucks have huge block letters: ‘honk please.’ There’s so much honking I cannot even tell you.” (03:13)

Mary’s Situation & Goals

• 61-year-old widow, wants to retire at 63–64 (~2028).
• Twin daughters turning 18; both entering college soon.
• Recently started listening to Jill’s podcast.
• Wants to focus on herself after years of caregiving (“I want to start living for me.” 07:57).

College Funding Plans

• $200k saved for daughters’ college; expects to spend ~$80k/year total.
• State universities likely, but open to private; doesn’t qualify for financial aid due to high income ($400k+ in sales).
• Preference is to pay 100% of undergrad costs to keep daughters debt-free:
  • “With AI and the world changing, I don’t know how long it will be before they find a way [to support themselves financially].” (10:14)

Financial Snapshot

• Brokerage account: $740k (to be reduced to $600k after college expenses)
• Retirement accounts: $2.35M in 401(k), all traditional (pre-tax)
• Savings/Emergency funds: $130k cash
• Pension: ~$800/month at 65
• Social Security estimate at 70: ~$4,856/month

Real Estate Portfolio

• Primary residence: $1M value; $740k mortgage at 4.5%.
• Rental #1 (Condo): $365k value; $154k mortgage at 3.8%; cash flows at break-even, high HOA.
• Rental #2 (House): $875k value; $490k mortgage at 2.8%; also just covers costs, high HOA.
• Both rentals contribute little to cash flow due to costs/fees.

Retirement Expenses

• Current monthly spend: ~$13k (includes support for parents).
• $4,800 of this is the primary home mortgage.

Key Concerns Raised

• Should Mary keep or sell her rentals in light of weak cash flow but low mortgage rates?
• What’s the best strategy for handling investment risk so close to retirement (currently 100% equities)?
• Is her current savings and property structure aligned with her retirement goals?

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3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mary on starting a new phase:

  • “I want to start living for me.” (07:57)

• Jill’s perspective on real estate:

  • “Forget about the low mortgage interest rate... these are not properties that are really kicking tush. The best days may be behind you.” (19:40)
  • “It works a lot better if you sell both of these properties earlier in your retirement.” (20:35)

• Mary’s portfolio risk:

  • Mary: “Most of my assets are in very aggressive stocks.”
  • Jill: “Stop taking so much risk... Bulls and bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered!” (23:29)
  • “If you’re really aggressive, it would behoove you to make some changes.” (24:16)

• Jill on retirement readiness:

  • “You and your husband did a really good job of accumulating these assets. Now we’re just trying to figure out how to get you there most efficiently.” (26:56)

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4. Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:39 | Travel talk: Jill recounts her India trip, culture, air quality, and contrasts with New York. | | 06:21 | Introduction of Mary from Northern California. | | 07:32 | Mary’s age, family, and retirement timeline. | | 08:46 | College funding, daughters’ plans, expected expenses. | | 09:48 | Household income and decision to fully fund daughters’ education. | | 10:42 | Breakdown of brokerage and retirement accounts. | | 12:17 | Real estate and mortgage details for each property. | | 14:12 | Discussion about rentals’ profitability and HOAs eating up profits. | | 15:21 | Monthly spend and inclusion of support for parents. | | 16:00 | Discussion of possible timelines for retiring, healthcare transitions, and future plans. | | 17:15 | Social Security and pension estimates. | | 19:11 | Mark and Jill debate the benefits of offloading rental properties before or in early retirement. | | 22:44 | Tax implications of selling real estate, step-up in basis after spouse’s death. | | 23:17 | Discussion about investment risk and the need to dial back aggressive stock positions. | | 25:18 | Estate planning – are documents ready for adult children? | | 26:56 | Jill summarizes: Mary is generally on-track, just needs to tweak property and risk strategies. |

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5. Key Takeaways and Recommendations

Retirement Feasibility

• Mary can retire in about two years—but only if she:
  • Sells both rental properties upon, or shortly after, retiring. This generates liquid assets to support her withdrawal needs and reduces the risk of real estate underperformance.
  • Moderates her spending if keeping both rentals; $13k per month is a stretch unless more cash is freed up.

College Funding

• Her daughters’ education is secure, but funding it means reducing her brokerage holdings from $740k to $600k. She should continue to reserve retirement account funds primarily for her own benefit.

Investment Strategy

• Mary is overexposed to equities (almost 100% stock). Jill strongly recommends reallocating to reduce risk as retirement approaches.
  • “It would behoove you to make some changes... You may be feeling a little bit of anxiety because you’ve taken all this risk.” (24:16)
• Take advantage of the ability to rebalance within her 401(k) without tax consequences.

Real Estate Optimization

• Both rentals have little net cash flow and rising expenses (HOA, insurance, taxes).
• Low interest rates tempt her to keep them, but the downsides (no cash flow, hassle, uncertain appreciation) outweigh the benefits as she enters retirement.
• Jill and Mark both recommend selling both or at least one property to increase financial flexibility and reduce risk.

Next Steps

• Begin preparing for the real estate sale, consult a tax advisor, and potentially a financial planner for full retirement planning.
• Revisit the investment allocation and dial down risk.
• Finalize estate planning now that children are turning 18.
• Continue employment at least until college funding is certain and lifestyle post-children becomes clear.
  • “It gives you a little bit more comfort with a little more knowledge.” (26:56)

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6. Closing Guidance

Mary is generally in excellent financial shape—thanks to high earnings and disciplined saving. Jill affirms her path is workable with modifications: freeing up more liquid wealth from real estate, reducing investment risk, and seeking professional guidance on taxes and estate planning.

Memorable Closing Quote:
“You and your husband did a really good job of accumulating these assets. Now we’re just trying to figure out how to get you there most efficiently.” (26:56)

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Transcript

[Jill Schlesinger]

This message comes from Jill on Money sponsor Charles Schwab. Independent financial advisors focus on building a relationship with you that goes beyond your portfolio. As fiduciaries, they must act in your best interest always. The relationship they have with you will be based on transparency and trust, and they're committed to bringing you advice that fits your values. That's why Schwab is proud to support them. Visit find your independent advisor.com Today's episode is supported by what Should I Do With My Money? An original podcast from Morgan Stanley. And like Jill on Money, this podcast makes understanding money and getting advice about what to do with it less intimidating. You'll hear candid conversations from people just like you who have money questions just like yours. They talk to experienced financial advisors about their goals, worries and dreams, asking questions.

Like, can I retire early?

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Help.

The conversations can get emotional, but they're always practical. Find what should I Do with My Money? On your preferred podcast player and feel empowered and supported when it comes to managing your life and finances.

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[Jill Schlesinger]

Welcome to the Jill on Money show. It's Monday, December 15th and we are here trying to help you make better financial decisions, sometimes just less bad ones. And if you've got something going on in your life, I know there's only a couple weeks left in the year you get subsumed by the holidays. I get that. But if you need some assistance, you just want to get in the queue, maybe even just for next year. Get in touch with us. Go to jillonmoney.com, click the contact Us button. Write us a note if you would like to come on the air live with us. Check the box. Mark will do everything else. And Mark, let me have you come on to the microphone please, because as we record which is on Monday, December 8th. It is the first day I am back from my two weeks in India. Did you miss me, Mark?

[Mark]

Very much so. But I will say welcome back to the great city of New York. How was it? Do I need to book my tickets now?

[Jill Schlesinger]

It was incredible. It was so incredible. It's like an assault of the senses. Like, I mean, just what you see and what you feel and what you hear. It's a very noisy country, especially in the cities. It's insane. The traffic, just the amount of beeping of horns. The trucks have huge block letters on the back of the trucks that say, honk please. There's so much honking I cannot even tell you. It's crazy.

[Mark]

Makes New York City seem like Disneyland, right?

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, yeah, it's nothing. It's nothing. In fact, I got back to the city and I was like, oh, it's nice and quiet here. That's great. So it was incredible. The people were beautiful, amazing, welcoming, friendly. This is an economy, by the way, that grew by an annualized 8.2% in the last quarter. And it's still a country, however, where you are told repeated times by anybody who talks to you, do not drink the tap water. So it is a very odd combination of a wildly on fire, where there are still some pretty significant problems. That said, it was amazing. And when I saw the Taj Mahal, yes, I cried. I cried for the. When I first saw it. So amazing, amazing, wonderful people, as I said. And I had a great guide, so that was very helpful.

[Mark]

How was the. How was the. How was the overall air quality?

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, funny you should ask that, as your asthmatic host here tells you that I, before I left, I was told that the. The air quality is pretty bad. And so I had purchased, yet again, like, hadn't purchased in two years, a bunch of N95 masks, which I needed. The air quality is lousy. It's terrible.

[Mark]

I thought I saw that in a.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Couple of your pictures. I was like, yeah, did you see that haze?

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Part of that had to do with not just the air quality anyway, but there was an earthquake in Eritrea that blew for the first time in like, you know, thousands of years. And so there was ash floating across the entire country of India. All that being said, it was still amazing. And I wore my mask and I puffed on my inhaler and everything was great. And so I really didn't feel ill effects of anything. And how about the colors in some of the those pictures?

[Mark]

Very vibrant.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Yeah, very vibrant. Incredible animals that you see just walking in the street. Now, here's something you don't see in Manhattan. Monkeys. Which are just around. Did I send you the picture of the elephant and the motorcycle in the same frame?

[Mark]

No. No.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, my gosh. I have a bunch of pictures for Theo, basically, for your son. Just incredible. Truly incredible. And so what I would say is that this truly was like a trip of a lifetime. The things that. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the everything. It was incredible. That said, I really don't want to go anywhere for a while. And I avoided what they call deli belly for. For all but a small fraction of the trip, which was, unfortunately, on the last leg home. I still have it, Mark. My first three steps are still very quick, especially when you feel like you have to boot. So I jumped out of that seat during turbulence, and I was like, I need that bathroom open right now. And there was that business class in Emirates. Incredible. Absolutely incredible. And the people were again, the flight crew. Incredible. So there it is. I'm back, and I'm ready to do the favorite part of my entire job, which is talk to our people. So, Mark, let's get our.

[Mark]

Let's see if you remember how to do it. Let's see. Go.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Let's see. Mary from Northern California joins us. Mary, have you ever been to India?

[Mary]

I have never been to India, but I was to Morocco this past summer.

[Jill Schlesinger]

And how did you find that?

[Mary]

Very colorful. As you mentioned, the colors so sense. Incredible. But I agree with you. Once I left, I wanted to stay home for quite a while.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Well, good. I'm glad you're home, and I'm glad I am home, and I'm glad that we can try to help you out today. So what's going on for you, Mary?

[Mary]

Yeah, so I appreciate you taking my call. I just started listening to your podcast, like, about a month ago.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, great.

[Mary]

And I found it really interesting that a lot of the situations were similar to mine. So I thought I would reach out and see if you guys can give me some good advice. I'm a widow. My husband passed away three and a half years ago.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Mary]

Thank you. I have twin daughters. We had children late in Life. They are 17, about to turn 18, and next year they'll be attending college.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay.

[Mary]

I am 61, turning 62 in April.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay.

[Mary]

So I'm looking to see if I can retire in a position to retire within two or three years from now.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. Even though the kids are going to be in college, you're still like, I'm done, basically, if I.

[Mary]

If it's possible.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. Are you miserable at work? Are you okay at work? How are you feeling?

[Mary]

I'm not miserable. I'm doing well. But I feel like I want to start living for me.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay, you know what? I completely understand that and I absolutely understand that feeling of you've been through a very major life event of losing your, your husband at such a young age. And I think that, you know, I'm sure that what happens is that, you know, you have this hyper focus on the kids because they were young at the time, right?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Then it's like, okay, they're okay, steadied the ship, now they're going to college. And even if I'm not miserable at work, like, I need to just take a breath for me. So let's figure out whether or not this is achievable for you. So first of all, the kids are both going to college, right?

[Mary]

Yes, they are.

[Jill Schlesinger]

And have you guys or had you saved up enough money for their college education?

[Mary]

I think partially. We have. I have about 200k saved up for them.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Do you. Will they be going, since you are a California resident. So will they resident. Will they be going to UC schools or private schools? What do you think?

[Mary]

State universities? I believe depending on. They haven't decided yet. So my preference is state universities. We'll. We'll see how it works out. But. Okay, either way, it's going to be 40k for each one of them annually, minimum.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Right. So, which, you know, obviously, you know, even if it's, you know, 80 grand a year. Let's see. How much money do you earn? Let's see. Would you, maybe even. You'll have to spend down a bunch of this money, but you know, you have like two and a half years. That's set. Right. What would you do for the rest of the money? Will you apply for financial aid? Because they are in school at the same time.

It's.

It'd be interesting to see if you could actually get it.

[Mary]

No, I don't qualify for any financial aid.

[Jill Schlesinger]

That must mean you make a lot of money. How much do you earn?

[Mary]

I make about. I'm in sales, so it varies from year to year. This year probably just over 400k.

[Jill Schlesinger]

I see the problem. I mean, that's a good problem to have, but. Okay. Do you want to pay for college? 100%. Do you want them to have some loans? Like, how do you feel about that?

[Mary]

Yeah, my preference is to pay for their college, at least for undergraduate, because with AI and the world changing, I don't know how Long it will be before they find a way.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. And you don't want them to be saddled with debt. So that's what I'm hearing. Yes. Okay, I gotcha. So let's talk about other money that you have salted away in addition to the college funds. First of all, let's do outside of retirement. Do you have a brokerage account?

[Mary]

Yes, I do.

[Jill Schlesinger]

How much is in there?

[Mary]

$740,000.

[Jill Schlesinger]

So is the idea of that 740 another couple hundred you'll use for college?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. All right. So we got college paid for. I feel good about that, so I hope you feel good about that. But, you know, you'll need. Let's just say that, you know, at the end of the day, you don't really have. Let's pretend you don't have 740. Let's say you have 600 grand in there because between the college funds you need another 140 or so. That'll be fine. So you have 600 left over. And then what about in your retirement accounts? What's that look like?

[Mary]

I have, as of right now, $2,350,000.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Wow, that's great. Okay, terrific. Has it been taxed yet, or is it Roth? Is it traditional? What is the.

[Mary]

It's traditional. 401.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay, I got it. All right. And that's it. So 2.35 in traditional. I'm going to call it $600,000 in the brokerage because I'm going to use a bunch of that money for college. You have money that's in cash, savings, CDs, things like that?

[Mary]

I have about $130,000 in the bank emergency.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay, great.

[Mary]

What about your small pension?

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, yeah, tell me about that.

[Mary]

It's at 65. It will probably pay about $800 a month.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay, it's not bad. We'll take that. Help pay for some of your Medicare. Okay. And what about your house? Do you own it?

[Mary]

Okay, this is where the problem is. Oh, so it's the real estate I have. I have three houses, two rentals, and my. My own house.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Wait a minute. Hold on. Let's go. Let's go, line by line. Primary residence, the place where you live. How much is that worth?

[Mary]

It's probably worth about a million.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Is there a mortgage on it?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Jill Schlesinger]

How much?

[Mary]

I still owe 740,000.

[Jill Schlesinger]

And what's the interest rate on that?

[Mary]

4.5.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Not terrible. Pretty good, right? Relatively speaking. Okay, now let's do rental number one. How much is it worth?

[Mary]

It's A condo, it's about $365,000. Mortgage? $154,000 left.

[Jill Schlesinger]

$154,000 at what percentage?

[Mary]

3.8.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. And how's the cash flow on that condo?

[Mary]

It pays for itself.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Pays. But no more?

[Mary]

No more.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Let's go. Rental number two.

[Mary]

Worth about 875,000 right now.

[Jill Schlesinger]

And this is a house?

[Mary]

It's a house.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Uh huh. And what about a mortgage on that?

[Mary]

490K left on it.

[Jill Schlesinger]

I'm going to call it 490. And what's the interest rate on that?

[Mary]

2.8.

[Jill Schlesinger]

That's a tough one to give up. And that's it. These two rentals, that's all for the rentals or is there anything else?

[Mary]

No, that's it.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. So is your home.

[Mark]

How's the cash flow on that second one?

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh yeah, I forgot to ask. Thank you, Mark.

[Mary]

That one also pays for itself, but that's it.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Nothing more?

[Mary]

Nothing more.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Are you not charging enough in rent?

[Mary]

No, no, no. They are at market value, but they both have HOAs. Oh, these go up every year, so. And with taxes going up a little bit every year.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Yeah.

[Mary]

And property management fees, it they cover themselves. My whole idea is at some point I would sell one and take the profits and apply it to my mortgage at my house.

[Jill Schlesinger]

And the other one, which one is the one that you think you would keep? The house or the condo?

[Mary]

Well that's, that's my question. I don't know one of them. Obviously the house only has 2.8 interest rate and that's why I've kept these and I haven't sold them because.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Yeah, but I mean they're not cash flowing so. Great. Which one do you think has a better upside? What about that? Let me ask it that way.

[Mary]

The house.

[Jill Schlesinger]

The house does. So if we sold the condo, you were able to get a couple hundred thousand dollars out of it. Your idea would be to pay down the mortgage on your house. My idea might be to just add it to your brokerage account. I'm thinking. But let's keep talking here. If you look at your spending right now, what does that look like?

[Mary]

We're averaging about 13k a month.

[Jill Schlesinger]

13K a month. And that's not going to change because these girls are going to be, you know, they're in your life for a while, right?

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, I forgot to ask you, is there anyone else besides these girls that you're taking care of?

[Mary]

My parents. But it's not a huge cost. It's like.

[Jill Schlesinger]

But that's embedded in that 13 grand a month?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Jill Schlesinger]

So make sure I got this. All right, you're 61. You'll turn 62 early next year. Your idea is let me work for a couple more years, maybe 26, 27, retire in 2028. Is that the idea?

[Mary]

Yes. Okay.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Retire in 2028. You'll need to pay for your healthcare and for the kids. Still have healthcare, Right. For a year before Medicare, right?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. At that point, perhaps you would think about selling the condo and you would have an extra 200 grand. The question is whether or not that you would pay down your mortgage, your 4.5% mortgage, or whether you take that $200,000 in proceeds and add it to the brokerage account. Would you have any opportunity to work in retirement? Like part time? People in sales sometimes can say, like, yeah, you know, I could do some projects. I could do this, that and the other thing. What do you think about that? No. Oh, I heard that. Ugh. No, I don't want to do that.

[Mary]

I. Not in the job that I have. It's. It's all or nothing in this.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay.

[Mary]

I mean, I don't mind, like working in the garden center at Home Depot. I love gardening. But it, you know, it would be a very. My idea is that would only probably pay for our travel.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Yeah, just fun stuff. Okay. Do you happen to know your Social Security estimate at age 67 and 70?

[Mary]

I, you know, I only looked up 65 and 70.

[Jill Schlesinger]

All right, let me see, let me hear the 70. I can figure it out.

[Mary]

Yeah, 70 is right now is 48. 56.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. So, you know, we know that you'll get this small pension. I'm just gonna pretend you claim it. 70, you know, just for the heck of it. Just wanna work this just as, you know, just to start. Okay. And you know, it doesn't mean you have to. I'm just saying that that's what I'm gonna look at. Okay, so we have about 5,600, $5,700 a month coming in from Social Security. And the pension. Does the pension have a cost of living adjustment or is it a flat line, like 800amonth and that's it?

[Mary]

You know, I'm not sure.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. All right, we can check that out. So, you know, we've got a chunk of the money you need, but I know we need to generate a real amount here, right, from your portfolio. And the thing is, you've got this chunk, this big, huge 2.35. You know, let's just pretend in a couple of Years, it's two and a half million dollars, which we know you are going to need to tap. We need to pull money out of that retirement account so that you will not be hit with massive required minimum distributions. Right. So I guess the idea would be that at age 60, almost 64, you retire, you know, in 28, you start pulling money. Once you, you have no income, essentially, except, you know, you have rental properties, but not big income. You would start pulling some money out of the retirement account to start the process of whittling that money down and giving you, you know, let's say that extra, I don't know, I'm going to call it like 10 grand a month, you'll have to pull out of that retirement account. You have to pay tax on it. So I'm figuring if you pull ten grand a month out and you pay the tax on it, that'll be enough money to bridge the gap between the money you spend and the money, the other money you will have coming in. So, Mark, while you're listening to all.

Of this, how do you see Mary's.

Situation lining up for retirement in two years, given that she and her husband saved a lot of money?

[Mark]

Saved a lot of money. But 13,000amonth, that's a big number. I was just wondering what part of the 13,000 is your primary mortgage and interest? How much of that?

[Mary]

About 4800 of it.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay.

[Mark]

I mean, you know, perfect world. I would be on load in both of those extra rentals.

[Jill Schlesinger]

That's what I'm thinking. I was thinking that this works a lot better if you, you got rid of both of. Because I don't feel like these properties are actually work. I mean, forget about the low mortgage interest rate, which I think is wonderful. It doesn't sound like these are properties that are like really kicking tush. They're not like, I mean, you probably have made all this money in appreciation and the actual rental income is less, is not keeping up with them. But if you sold both of them, or if you sold one in the first year of retirement and the other in the second year of retirement, you would pay whatever taxes do you have to recapture your depreciation. You have to. But you'll have a big chunk of money freed up. Like, I don't see that they're doing that much good for you. I think that maybe the best days are maybe behind you. Unless you told me that, like, oh, I'm undercharging on rent. But you didn't say that. You said you're charging market rates. So I think that if you could have the money from both of these properties freed up earlier in your retirement, you could then think about, you know, beefing up either. Either beefing up the brokerage account or using some chunk of money to pay down your mortgage or recast the mortgage on the primary. I wouldn't take all of this money and pay off the primary mortgage because you need access to this money. You need to have it available to you. So when you say, is it possible for you to retire in two years, I think it's possible, but I think it requires selling both of these properties earlier in your retirement. And if you say, I don't want to do that, only one is going to be the one, then I think working an extra couple of years, at least till college is behind you, and you see, you know, sort of how that goes, then you definitely have very possible, you know, like a much easier way of making the numbers work. But if you sold both of these properties, you'd have that excess cash. Right. You. You'd have more like a million dollars in Your brokerage account, 2.3 in the retirement, no liabilities that are outstanding. You'd be able to maybe absorb the cost of the house more readily. Cause you'd have your brokerage account helping to grow your asset base while you're paying down this mortgage. I think it works better if you. I agree with Mark. I think it works better if you sell the rental properties. These were great purchases, I bet. Just in terms of appreciation. Right. They've gone up in value. But as you said, you live in California, where home. Homeowners association rates, which are incorporating big increases in insurance premiums and taxes, that's eating into the ability for you to profit on a cash flow or to really generate better cash flow. So I think it works a lot better if you're thinking about doing that. I would also very much encourage you to consult with somebody to help you out in terms of the tax ramifications of these properties and determine which of these properties and what the actual net effect will be of selling them. Do you work with an accountant right now?

[Mary]

Accountant. But not a financial advisor? Pretty much.

[Jill Schlesinger]

You do it yourself?

[Mary]

My own, yeah.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay. And you feel comfortable doing that?

[Mary]

I think I'm at a point that I would like to consult someone. But one thing to point out is, you know, the whole step up thing when my husband passed away.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Right.

[Mary]

That taxes on some of these properties are going to be lower.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Okay, good.

[Mary]

Then they would be. My only concern is the stock market right now.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Yeah.

[Mary]

How unstable it is. Most of my assets are in very aggressive stocks.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Well, chill out. Stop taking so much risk.

[Mary]

It's been doing fine.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Oh, what a pig you are. Come on now. This is. Don't you know bulls and bears make money and pigs get slaughtered? Okay, I only am joking with. We are all like that. It's like, you want to know. Please, could someone tell me the magic time when the market is going to turn? I don't know the answer to that. I promise you, I'm just as greedy as you are. What I would say is if you're really aggressive, it would be. It would behoove you to make some changes. I would do it in the retirement account because there's no tax issue. By going a little bit less aggressive in your retirement account. Right, right. And especially if you really think that two years away is, like, doable for you. I don't see why. Like, are you, like, 90% in stocks or how does it look for you?

[Mary]

Yeah, basically everything is in stocks.

[Jill Schlesinger]

So I think that it makes sense for you. You know, it's coming into the end of the year. I think it would make sense for you to shave off some of the risk because you may be feeling a little bit of anxiety because you've taken all this risk. It's paid off. Now, what would happen if you went from 100% stocks to 80% stocks or 70% stocks? It wouldn't kill you. What it would do is it would limit your upside so the market keeps going up. You're like, oh, Jill, how dare you. But isn't the bigger risk to you right now a big accident in the stock market that drops the retirement account from 2.35 to 1.8? Isn't that scarier than thinking, oh, I could have been at 2.7, and I'm only at 2.45.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Jill Schlesinger]

So I think that. That then you have your answer. Pull the risk back. There really is no. And there's no reason not to do that. All right. Now, I just. I want to ask you one last question, which is the. These kids are turning 18. Do you have all of your estate documents done?

[Mary]

I'm working on it right now.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Yeah, that's a. That's a must. You really. You got to get that done. Just because, you know, I want them.

[Mary]

To be the beneficiaries now. So with somebody over looking over their shoulder.

[Jill Schlesinger]

But Mark's happy. Mark's raising his hand. He'll do it. He'll be happy.

[Mark]

Both hands.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Exactly. Let us know if there's anything else that we can do for you and we'll figure this out. I think you're on track to get there. It's just a question of how we do it. So I think if you're willing to sell these properties and that way. And also maybe just waiting anyway just to see how are the kids doing, how's college, where did they end up landing? Maybe one of them, you know, maybe, maybe, you know, college costs a little bit more than you think, in which case you say, maybe I'll work for another year, six months, who knows. But it gives you a little bit more comfort with a little more knowledge. So but you're on track. You got again, you guys have done a great. You and your husband did a really good job of accumulating these assets. Now we're just trying to figure out how to get you there most efficiently. If you are like Mary from Northern California and you are looking at the college for your kids and you're juggling that with retirement, you're not alone. We hear from so many of you. Get in touch with us. Go to Jill on money dot com, click the contact us button. Maybe we can come up with a game plan for you. And you know that contact us button means a form will pop up. That is the email that we receive. Just complete the email if you want to come on the program. Check the box. Mark will do everything else. Don't forget to sign up for the free weekly newsletter because that also entitles you to my blog. Our blog. I would say you can subscribe to us on the Odyssey app or wherever you find your favorite podcast. Please leave us a rating and review wherever you listen and of course lift someone up. Change your work, change your wealth, change your life. Thanks for listening and we'll talk to you tomorrow.

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[Von Miller]

World is Von Miller, Super Bowl MVP, chicken farmer and now host of Free Range. This is a show where I go off the field and off the script. We're talking what's hot in music, film, trending news and everything blowing up your feed. If you love football, you'll feel at home. But if you're here for the vibes, the Internet deep dives, the conversation. This is your podcast. Join me every Wednesday. Follow and listen to Free Range with me, Von Miller, everywhere. You get your podcast.