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I am a dad, carpenter, writer, and retired software engineer who has been living in Longmont since 2005. I used a few simple but powerful life principles to become wealthy enough to retire at age 30, and went on to start a blog called Mr. Money Mustache that has now reached over 30 million people in the past nine years. Now it’s time to take these ideas to the streets of Longmont, so send in your questions about money and life!
I didn’t hear about FI until about five years before I had to retire due to health. I got out of debt, grew an emergency fund, and opened a small retirement acctount before retiring. I am less than 10 years from paying off mortgage with accelerated payments. Question: What should I do with extra money since I can’t add to retirement? — Norma L
Dear Norma L,
It sounds like you are in a pretty good financial situation, if you still have enough surplus income to make extra mortgage payments and are considering more investments - congratulations!
You can always add to your “retirement” balance, even after retirement. Depending on your age and income situation, it could be in a conventional IRA, Roth IRA, or it might not be in a conventional tax-sheltered retirement account at all, which is totally fine.
In fact, because of contribution limits while I was working in my own career in the early 2000s, most of my own retirement savings are in standard taxable brokerage accounts rather than real retirement accounts. And like you, even though I am now retired (15 years and counting!), I still have extra income in some years and I contribute to these accounts.
Best of luck and feel free to write back if you want to get into any more details - I think many people have uncertainty about different retirement account types and when to contribute or draw from them.
Have a question for Pete? Email [email protected].
