To remind you who MamaMinou is, here is her introduction from the last time she wrote in:
I’m MamaMinou, a 50-year-old nurse living in the Pacific Northwest (US). I’ve been a nurse for around 12 years (before that, doula and teacher). My lovely partner and I have been married for 26 years and we have two amazing adult kids. I love to travel, knit, read, write, walk, do yoga, hike, nap, visit libraries and the great outdoors, and make things.
Please, weigh in with your advice, encouragement, and thoughts in the comments.
Dear Financial Mechanic Community,
Hello Financial Mechanic and readers! Happy 2025! Thank you for asking for a MamaMinou update.
I’m writing to you from the end of a month-long stay in France and have enjoyed it enormously. I’ve been studying the example of my lovely sister-in-law, who is living her retirement with very little money.
An Example Of Retirement: My Sister-In-Law
She goes for long walks in town and in nearby parks and forests, uses the library daily for books, films, and the internet, and has created a beautiful, cozy, and comfortable home. She has tea and a biscuit every afternoon, buys organic groceries, and prepares healthy meals with multiple courses for herself daily. She has a car, which she rarely uses, and she is extremely careful with water and electricity—both out of environmental consciousness and necessity. She does not heat her apartment (which she owns outright), does laundry once per week, and turns on no more than three lights at a time. With all these money-saving habits, she’s able to live on a pension of around $1,100 USD per month and save a little in a MCOL city.
But this is the life of my sister-in-law, who lives in a country with universal affordable health care, and not my own story. Three years on from my original case study, you might be interested to know—have I taken the big step and actually, finally, retired?
I Meant To Retire Last Year
In early 2024, I planned to leave my job at the beginning of December. Then, I’d kick off retirement with this trip to France, stay covered for health insurance through the end of the year, then get ACA coverage for 2025.
Instead, an interesting new job opportunity presented itself last summer and I decided to keep working— to switch positions within my organization in the fall to do something different, learn new skills, keep our health insurance longer, and save more money. To be honest, although I admire my sister-in-law’s example and plan to live simply and frugally myself, I also recognize (having experienced it for many years), the stress and anxiety that comes with not having “enough” of a financial reserve. I’d like more of a cushion if possible.
So I haven’t retired yet.
These Are My 3 Conditions
It was a choice— my hope was that a new position, with a mission I’m excited about, would ease my ennui with working. Sadly, I am not sure that this will be the case. Maybe…?
I’d be happy at my new job **IF**:
- it is less than full time (my organization does not encourage this)
- it has a more flexible schedule
- it allows enough time for hobbies, interests, and spending time with my people.
There are several creative endeavors that I am feeling called to, as well as lots of other personal and home projects. I no longer want to work full-time, but my current organization doesn’t have a role that would support this.
A Month Of Retirement Try-Outs
This last month of leisure, filled with knitting, reading, walking, resting, family time, and a bit of traveling, has been a sort of practice retirement. I have loved it from the beginning and am not at all eager to pick back up the complicated jigsaw puzzle pieces of daily life.
Working 40 hours a week, commuting, trying to fit in exercise, sleep, volunteering, spiritual practice, and time with family, friends and my partner while also grocery shopping, cooking, and maintaining minimum standards of home cleanliness…it makes me tired just thinking about it.
I want to slow down! (How did I ever manage when my kids were young and at home? I must have had more energy or slept less. I can’t remember.) No matter how wonderful the position, I feel done with full-time (or close to it) work. A hobby job is what I need! If only I could find one that came with health insurance.
What’s Been On My Mind Re: Retirement
Before getting into the financial details, here are a couple of psychological observations:
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- Once my investments reached $1M, I felt less financial anxiety.
Last fall, after deciding to take a new job instead of retiring in December, I began to let myself spend more. It started with a YMCA membership for both me and my partner, then a new pair of jogging shoes, fancy note cards, indiscretions in the yarn store…culminating in seriously flirting with the idea of buying a brand-new hybrid vehicle and becoming a two-car family! Luckily, I came to my senses on that one. But laxer spending habits have continued. For example, I have not hesitated to buy gifts, yarn, or pastries on this vacation…although I feel a little embarrassed in front of my frugal-by-necessity sister-in-law. I think it’s time to rein it in, and this month away has reminded me how much I value my time more than having more things.
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- I feel obligated to continue to work.
The second part is harder to explain. As a nurse, I know that I have a license and credentials that give me the privilege to touch people’s lives during vulnerable or important moments. There are so many ways to be helpful, to be kind, to be a positive force in the world, and most of them do not involve a specific job. Yet I somehow feel that I should use my skills and professional training, that it is selfish or wrong to walk away from my position. Where does that come from? I know that I don’t have to convince readers of a FIRE blog that I can both deeply believe in the mission of public health and want to stop working. But maybe I have to convince myself that it is a valid choice.
MamaMinou’s Full Financial Picture, 3 Years Later
So now, on to the part you are likely most interested in, the financial details. And I am also interested, from Mechanic and your collective perspective, if I have reached the elusive “enough”. I continue to want to plan for eventualities…if something happens to my partner, or to our relationship, I need to know that I would be secure on my own.
We did a deep financial dive last summer and figured out that our combined budget, while planning for expensive ACA health care in the US, would be about $73,000 USD per year. This includes some items that could be reduced if needed, like gifts, but doesn’t include travel (which I love) or luxuries like media subscriptions (my partner loves). We still split expenses. You may notice that our mortgage ($860/month) is not included in the budget—it’s covered by rental property income.
For savings and investments, I’m going to use approximate numbers.
Expenses - Family Budget
| Category | Subcategory | Monthly | Yearly |
| Medical | Health Insurance Premium (for 2 people with HDHP) | $500 | $6,000 |
| Medical | Health deductible | $1500 | $18,000 |
| Medical | Dental Premium | $160 | $1,920 |
| Medical | Dental Savings Account | $150 | $1,800 |
| Medical | Eyeglasses | $80 | $960 |
| Housing | Electricity | $82 | $984 |
| Housing | Waste Removal | $25 | $300 |
| Housing | Water & Sewer | $82 | $984 |
| Housing | Internet | $83 | $996 |
| Housing | Mortgage (not included in total; covered by rental income) | $860 | $10,320 |
| Taxes | Federal | $500 | $6,000 |
| Taxes | State | $400 | $4,800 |
| Taxes | Property Tax | $417 | $5,004 |
| Food | Groceries & Household supplies | $500 | $6,000 |
| Transportation | Future vehicle payment | $268 | $3,216 |
| Transportation | Fuel/charging | $150 | $1,800 |
| Transportation | Maintenance | $100 | $1,200 |
| Transportation | Car Insurance | $65 | $780 |
| Transportation | Licensing | $10 | $120 |
| Insurance | Home Insurance | $70 | $840 |
| Insurance | Life Insurance | $28 | $336 |
| Gifts & Donations | Kids Gifts | $50 | $600 |
| Gifts & Donations | Other Gifts | $50 | $600 |
| Gifts & Donations | Charitable Donations | $50 | $600 |
| Savings | Foreseen expenses | $268 | $3,216 |
| Savings | Unforeseen expenses | $268 | $3,216 |
| Personal Care | Clothing & Shoes | $50 | $600 |
| Fitness | YMCA Membership | $75 | $900 |
| TOTAL | $6,088 | $73,056 |
Assets
| MamaM’s | Investment Assets |
| 457b | $500,000 |
| Roth IRA | $215,000 |
| Other Roth IRA | $30,000 |
| Traditional IRA | $45,000 |
| Brokerage taxable account | $205,000 (includes 20k money market cash fund) |
| 403b | $40,000 |
| HSA | $55,000 |
| State Pension Savings Plan | $100,000 |
| CDs: | $10,000 |
| TOTAL | $1,235,000 |
| PapaM’s | Investment Assets |
| Brokerage | ~$200,000 |
| Home | value $450,000 (owe $170,000) |
| Rental property | value $575,000 (owe $360,000) |
| Rental property net Income after all expenses | $13,800 (pays our home mortgage) |
| TOTAL | ~$700,000 |
Combined Total = $1,935,000
Mama Minou’s Knitting Projects
Future Income Considerations
Open Social Security suggests the best couple strategy is for PapaM to take SS at age 70 and MamaM at 62, both in 8 years (with respective rough estimates of 1,600 and 1,000 month). MamaM will also have a state pension at 65 for an estimated $2200 per month (or if taken at 55, about $1,000 per month).
Currently, PapaM earns about $60,000 per year and MamaM about $100,000. PapaM has decided that he would also enjoy retirement (thanks to our current practice run) but is considering continuing a few more years while scaling back.
So, to wrap up…that’s where things are at, Financial Mechanic and community! Our assets are higher than I would have ever imagined in the past, but the huge health insurance question in the US, not to mention possible political instability, makes me hesitant to leave regular employment. Yet there are so many other things I feel called to do.
MamaMinou’s Questions
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- When is it feasible to stop working? When would it be feasible if I ended up, not by choice, solo?
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- What do you think about my “giving back” moral dilemma?
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- I’d also welcome advice about how to manage savings until I do retire—more in CDs/cash? Continue saving the maximum into Roth and tax-advantaged accounts?
If you made it this far, thank you for reading my long case study update, and I appreciate any thoughts you want to share! I wish all of you a happy, healthy, safe, and prosperous 2025.
Financial Mechanic Note:
I’ll drop my thoughts in a follow-up post, but feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
I feel like I could have written this past by MamaMinou because I too have kept delaying retirement! I waited until the kids graduated Then waited until the house was paid off. Now I feel rewarded by my job (I also work in healthcare) and have considered volunteer work but then I might as well do the same thing but get paid for it! Perhaps the answer is a practice retirement. Like an adult gap year. Go for it MamaMinou. I will be right behind you!
I like the idea of an adult gap year a lot!
I too recently hit a new stage of feeling secure and a related willingness to spend more – it’s been interesting.
How would you feel about retiring but then volunteering in some kind of health role? There has to be a million things a person with your skill can do, and if you don’t need the money, you don’t need to be tied to a full time schedule.
It’s great when you can feel secure enough to let a little loose with the budget. I haven’t regretted my increased spending!
I love the idea of volunteering in order to get total control of your own schedule.
I wish I had this article a couple of days ago. I was talking to yet another math and travel-averse American. They were talking about how going overseas makes no sense because of the taxes. I tried to explain that erasing high health care costs would come out even with the taxes, eyes glaze over.
I was a math teacher, so it’s so depressing. Even getting people to understand basic math is hard, but when they can’t understand the whole gross/net of their income, we will never get universal here because people just can’t understand the numbers.
Sigh. So depressing to see how hard retirement is with American numbers. Also the car necessity.
There are a whole host of great reasons to go overseas! I would definitely agree with you that costs will generally shake out— high taxes in Europe typically means better public services overall, including health care. Health care is definitely one of the more difficult barriers we have when we consider retirement.
Thank you all for taking the time to answer! Yep, if I took out the car and health insurance costs…no question that “enough “ was reached some time ago. Living car free would be much harder where we are now (though I am car-lite, my partner isn’t due to work). BethH, I am not sure if I would want to volunteer in my same capacity…maybe? I think I agree with Felicity, I would rather be paid for doing what I do now, unless it was a very specific situation . Some of the things that I want to do more of in the future, like writing and art, are for myself and will definitely not bring in income.