Physical Job, Can I Retire at 57?

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Physical Job, Can I Retire at 57?"

Podcast: Jill on Money with Jill Schlesinger
Air Date: July 14, 2026
Host: Jill Schlesinger
Episode Theme:
A listener, Dave from New Jersey, calls in to ask if he can retire at 57 from his physically demanding construction job. Jill breaks down his financial picture, explores the realities of early retirement, and offers practical, non-jargony advice tailored to Dave’s life and goals.

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Main Theme & Purpose

Jill Schlesinger takes a listener call from Dave, a 55-year-old construction worker facing burnout and seeking clarity on whether he can retire next year at 57. The conversation centers on balancing financial security with the strain of a physical job, navigating pensions, investments, and retirement benefits, and finding flexible solutions to support both well-being and long-term financial stability.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dave’s Financial Overview

• Age: 55 (turning 56 next month)
• Retirement Age Goal: 57
• Job: Construction (physically demanding)
• Marital Status: Divorced
• Children: Three (one senior in high school, two in college)
• Children’s College Costs: Covered via 529 and ex-wife’s inheritance

1.1 Assets and Income Sources ([03:35]–[05:05])

• Pension: $2,000/month after taxes (starting at 57)
• Profit Sharing Plan: ~$865,000 (untaxed, can access via rule of 55)
• Brokerage Account: $75,000
• Roth IRA: $7,000
• Cash: $40,000
• Home Value: ~$500,000 (remaining mortgage: $400,000 at 5.9% rate)
• Other Properties: None post-divorce

1.2 Expenses ([06:30]–[06:46])

• Monthly Spending: ~$6,800–$7,000
• Child Support (included in spending): Will drop in 5 years, reducing expenses by $2,000/month

1.3 Other Benefits ([06:51]–[07:04]; [12:01]–[12:06])

• Healthcare: Free coverage until age 65 (Medicare), followed by $250/month
• Social Security Estimate at 67: $3,900/month (pre-tax)

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2. Retirement Feasibility Analysis

2.1 Immediate Shortfall ([07:07]–[08:45])

• Pension covers $2,000 of $7,000 expenses.
• Dave would need to supplement ~$5,000/month from the profit sharing plan:
  “You basically have to say that for 10 years, you're almost going to deplete the whole account.” – Jill ([07:59])
• Concerns about depleting his profit sharing before Social Security kicks in at 67

2.2 Alternatives and Adjustments

• Work a Few More Years?
  Jill suggests staying employed longer to contribute more to savings and reduce shortfall, or else finding part-time work post-retirement ([09:18]–[09:42]).

  “Do me a favor, can you work a couple more years instead of retiring next year? Work till you're 60, get some more money together, put more money in the profit sharing, and then you'll more likely to be able to hit your goal." – Jill ([08:43])

• Part-Time/Seasonal Work?
  Could Dave transition into lighter or part-time work after stopping full-time construction to ease the financial gap?

  “Is there a way to do it so it's not quite as grueling, but you kind of are part of...maybe you won't make 140. And I don't know if you could do this for someone else or you could do it for the same place, but, you know, could you maybe say, you know, I'm going to go from 140 to 70.” – Jill ([10:03])

2.3 Expense Reductions and Positive Factors

• Child Support Ends
  In five years, spending drops to ~$5,000/month, significantly easing cash flow ([11:17]).
• Healthcare Coverage
  Free insurance until 65 is a “great benefit,” lowering potential out-of-pocket surprises ([07:06]).
• Rising Pension/Assets
  Continuing to work increases future pension and lets retirement accounts grow ([13:12]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Oh, my God, you really are surprising me with your math. Fantastic.”
— Jill joking with Dave about his age ([03:26])

“It’s physically demanding...I just kind of want to hang up the boots.”
— Dave honestly shares why he’s seeking retirement at 57 ([08:54])

“I mean, I don’t do anything physical and I want to hang up my metaphorical boots.”
— Jill empathizing with the toll of physical labor ([09:42])

“Easy for me to say, keep working. I don’t have a physical job...I don’t want to say that to him.”
— Mark (co-host/producer), underscoring the challenge for physical workers ([10:32])

“Every year you delay, obviously it gets better. And also your pension amount will go up, right?”
— Jill, on the compounding benefits of working slightly longer ([13:04])

“I think you’re totally on track. If it's like, oh, my God, I cannot do it one more day, then I also want to hear from you. If that happens, then we have to come up with plan B and C.”
— Jill offering flexibility and continued support ([13:39])

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Key Timestamps for Main Discussion

• [03:14] – Dave introduces his situation and provides financial overview
• [06:30] – Social Security estimate and expense breakdown
• [07:07] – Retirement plan analysis, health care discussion
• [08:43] – Work longer and alternatives (part-time work)
• [09:18] – Dave shares desire to retire due to job strain
• [10:03] – Exploring seasonal or reduced hours/part-time work
• [11:17] – Child support discussion and future expenses
• [12:01] – Health insurance provisions until Medicare
• [13:04] – Value of delaying retirement: higher pension and assets
• [13:39] – Final advice and encouragement to stay in touch

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Conclusion

Jill offers thoughtful, personalized advice, emphasizing the financial risks of retiring at 57 with Dave’s current numbers but highlighting strategies to bridge the income gap—namely, working longer (even part-time), tracking child support phase-out, and leveraging valuable health benefits. She underscores the emotional and physical aspects of work, always offering flexibility and a path to reassess if circumstances change.

“We always try to give you a little bit of grace. You know, we don't have physically demanding jobs. So, you know, if you're a nurse or a doctor and you're in construction and you're in law enforcement, these are things that are just...take a massive toll on you.” – Jill ([13:53])

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Hi, Jill. Mark, how are you? I'm doing good.

[A]

We're good. What's up? How can we help you?

[B]

All right, I'm 55. I'll be 56 next month. And next year I turned 57, obviously.

[A]

Oh, my God, you got. You really are surprising me with your math. Fantastic.

[B]

But I can retire.

[A]

Oh, pension.

[B]

The pension would be roughly 2,000amonth after taxes.

[A]

Oh, after taxes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that's next year at 57. 2000amonth after taxes. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. And I also have a profit sharing plan with 865,000 roughly in that.

[A]

And that has not been taxed. That is right, no. Okay. Are you married? Single. What's your story?

[B]

Divorced.

[A]

Okay. And you have kids?

[B]

I have three kids, yes.

[A]

How old are they?

[B]

About high school age. Senior in high school is going to be starting college and one's in college.

[A]

Okay. Do you have money set aside for college for them?

[B]

We did actually. Yes, we did. A 529. And also my ex, she inherited some money and she made it that money for the kids, college.

[A]

Oh, great. So no more money that you have to worry about. In other words, I don't think about next year from your profit sharing plan that you need to pull like 50 grand out a year. Okay, so. So college is set. Great.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And how about other money besides the pension and the profit sharing plan, what else have you saved, roughly?

[B]

I have. In a brokerage account, I have about $75,000.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

In a Roth account, I have about $7,000. And in cash I have roughly $40,000.

[A]

Great. Do you own or rent?

[B]

Right now I own my house.

[A]

How much would you guess it's worth?

[B]

I'm going to say roughly a little over $500,000.

[A]

Is there a mortgage that is Outstanding.

[B]

Yes, there is.

[A]

Tell me about it.

[B]

It's a $400,000 mortgage remaining.

[A]

Okay. And what's the interest rate?

[B]

5.9.

[A]

It's horrible. It's all right. It's not six and a half?

[B]

No. It's not.

[A]

Small mercy for you there. Okay. And is that the only home you own? Do you have any other property? Anything else going on?

[B]

We did when I was married and through the divorce, we sold everything.

[A]

Okay. As you kind of look ahead after next year, when you are actually think about retirement, will there be any other income?

[B]

No, none whatsoever.

[A]

You're not gonna. You're not gonna work, you're not gonna go part time, you're not gonna. You wanna know, can you really do this without doing anything else?

[B]

Exactly. I mean, if I have to, I will, but I'd rather not.

[A]

Okay. All right. All right. Any other. There's no other assets, right. Nothing else that I got to think about?

[B]

No, nothing.

[A]

You will be entitled to Social Security. Do you happen to have your Social Security benefit at age 67? So we'll get you. We'll see if we can get you to 67 for 10 years. Let's see what we got. What do you got at 67?

[B]

That's roughly 3,900.

[A]

Okay, good. Okay, now, major question here. How much do you spend?

[B]

I roughly spend about 6,800amonth.

[A]

Let's say seven.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. What's going to happen for healthcare for you when you retire?

[B]

I'll have health insurance for free for about three to four years. I figured exactly what it is. Then I pay a difference of. After those years are up, about 250amonth.

[A]

Wow, that's a great benefit.

[B]

Yes, it is great.

[A]

Holy moly. Okay, that's good. All right. So a few years where it's free, then it goes up to. So you will be at seven. Let's just think 7,000amonth. Okay. So of your seven, you know that you've got two. That's coming out, was your game plan to do what? To get that extra money. Where are you thinking about getting your

[B]

five grand from the profit, Sharon.

[A]

And you can take that out because you will be invoking some rule of 55.

[B]

Yes, exactly.

[A]

Okay. Of that 865, you would have to take out. I mean, since it's not taxed, right. You would have to pull out, I don't know, 70 grand. You're in Jersey. It's expensive.

[B]

Yeah, it is expensive.

[A]

So you'd have to take out about 75 at least.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You basically have to say that for 10 years, you're almost going to deplete the whole account. About right? And then you're going to say, when I have my Social Security, you'll have your 3,900amonth. That'll be pre tax, your 2,000amonth, which is post tax, and that'll be almost enough. But it doesn't look like it's enough to me. So what's. What do you like, is. Is retirement like, oh, my God, I have to get out? Like, okay, what feels better if I say to you, do me a favor, can you work a couple more years instead of retiring next year? Work till you're 60, get some more money together, put more money in the profit sharing, and then you'll more likely to be able to hit your goal or retire next year and figure out how to make 50 grand a year doing something. What do you earn right now?

[B]

I earn roughly. I gross about 140,000.

[A]

I mean, so what is this job? You hate this job. Like, what's going on?

[B]

It's. It's physically demanding.

[A]

Aha.

[B]

Construction. So.

[A]

Oh, yeah, that's tough. So do you think you'd rather try to figure out how to just, you know, muscle through and find your, you know, do it for another couple years and then you'll be in better shape, or you could retire next year, but you need to get, you have to get more income coming in the door. You really do.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So which one do you think sounds better for you?

[B]

I. Obviously it's the. It's definitely working a little longer would make it work. I understand that, and I kind of went into this thought of working a little longer if I had to, but I really don't want to just because of the physical demand. And I, you know, I just kind of want to hang up the boots and.

[A]

I hear you, man. I mean, I don't do anything physical and I want to hang up my metaphorical boots. Mark, do you have a different idea around Dave? I mean, could you work less? Dave, could you. Is there a way that that is possible?

[B]

Okay, very possible. That I can do it as maybe just a few months a year?

[A]

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking. So that. Is there a way to do it so it's not quite as grueling, but you kind of are part of. Again, maybe you won't make 140. And I don't know if you could do this for someone else or you could do it for the same place, but, you know, could you maybe say, you know, I'm going to go from 140 to 70. Okay. And you know, just do that for a while or.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Or 100. But like, I think you need some more time. Mark, do you agree with that?

[B]

Yeah, I do. I mean, you know, easy for me to say, keep working. I don't have a physical job, so I, I don't want to say that to him, but.

[A]

Yeah, you barely have a mental job.

[B]

There, there is a, there is a shortfall. You know, if, if seven grand a month is a number, then there's going to be a shortfall. Right.

[A]

I think it's going to be. I think it'd be interesting to see if you could do more, if you could do more time at a lower level, how much longer he could really last. But I mean, you'll have to see, I guess because it depends like how demanding that becomes also. I don't know. I mean, I feel like there's a way to make this work. It definitely involves a little bit more toiling on your part.

[B]

Now I got enough as far as the amount I need some of that is in child, what do you call it?

[A]

Support.

[B]

Yes, child support. And that will reduce in five years. So.

[A]

Yeah. By how much your seven year.

[B]

Seven will go to. What about. It'll drop down probably two thousand.

[A]

So it's five grand.

[B]

That helps.

[A]

That definitely helps. I still think you need a little more time.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think if, like, I almost feel like it's two years and it could be two years at partial, two or three years at partial. But because, okay, five grand a month is obviously helpful also for the health care. Is the health care predicated on some age? Like you said, three or four or five years. But like, how, how long is that free health care?

[B]

Until Medicare, that's 65. Yeah.

[A]

So that's that. So that's, that's more than four or five years. So it's free until Medicare. That's good. Okay. So then I imagine the way that the support works is that as each kid ages out, the number goes down a little bit. Right. Okay. So the youngest is in high school, right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

We have like five years for that kid to get to be the age. Okay. So I don't know, maybe what you do is you work one more year. You, like, we see where the numbers look like, and then you see if you can go part time for a couple years.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And maybe that's enough. You're going to have to come back to us or talk to us, because I'm very. This is tight and we want to and maybe also understand, like, what is it you really could earn? Would you stay at this company or do you think you'd go somewhere else to work part time?

[B]

No, I would stay with the company.

[A]

They love you. They want you to stay.

[B]

Yes, absolutely.

[A]

So, I mean, I think that every year you delay, obviously it gets better. And also your pension amount will go up, right?

[B]

It will.

[A]

So, like, if just a couple of these variables change just a little bit, not a lot. But if 2,000 after taxes turns into 2,500, if now instead of 865 in the pension, in the profit sharing, there's a million dollars, you know, and the kids are kind of rolling off the payroll, all those things will help. I think that you're going to get back in touch with us. I think you're totally on track. If it's like, oh, my God, I cannot do it one more day, then I also want to hear from you. If that happens, then we have to come up with like plan B and C. Gotcha. All right, Dave from Jersey, stay in touch with us, all right?

[B]

You got it. I will. Definitely.

[A]

Sounds good. All right, gang. If you are in one of these jobs, it's really hard. I mean, again, Mark and I are always listening to these questions and putting ourselves in your place. And we always try to give you a little bit of grace. You know, we don't have physically demanding jobs. So, you know, if you're a nurse or a doctor and you're in construction and you're in law enforcement, these are things that are just take a massive toll on you. And we want to hear from you. So get in touch with us. Go to jillonmoney.com, click the contact us button. Write us a note. Let us know if you'd like to come on the air live by checking the box. And of course, don't forget to check out all the other content that lives on the website. Videos and resources. And our other show, which is called Money Moves. Check it out, subscribe, pass it around. Do something nice for someone else today. Change your work, change your wealth, change your life. Thank you for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

[C]

Well, well, well, Cookout's over. Now it's just you two, a bottle of wine and the smell of old potato salad on the breeze. Ugh.

[A]

Is that coming from the trash?

[C]

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[A]

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[C]

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[A]

Hey there, it's Jill Schlesinger. I'm launching a new show. It's called Money Moves, and your money is going to move. We're going to help you make better financial decisions. We're going to call out the B.S. you're finding all over social media. We're going to give you actionable guidance to make make your financial life clearer, less stressful. We're going to answer your financial questions and take the mystery out of your financial life. Follow and listen to Money Moves with Jill Schlesinger. Wherever you get your podcasts.