'I don't want to die on the sales floor': I'm 67 and earn $19.50 an hour at a big-box store. When can I finally retire?

By Quentin Fottrell

'I started taking Social Security at 66 and receive $2,410 a month. I have $214,000 in my 401(k)'

"My daughter lives in Ohio and keeps telling me to 'just retire already,' but she doesn't see my bank statements." (Photo subject is a model.)

Dear Quentin,

I read the letter from the reader who claims to love that he's still working ("I'm 71 and still working. I earn $108,000 a year. Am I doing the right thing?"). He doesn't mind it, anyway, and he earns a nice salary. It's nice for this gentleman that he seems to love his six-figure job and doesn't want to give it up, but a job is a burden for many other older people, me included.

I've worked at a big-box store for 14 years, mostly in the gardening and lumber departments. I make $19.50 an hour and work about 34 hours a week, so I take home roughly $2,300 a month after taxes. I'm a widower. My wife died three years ago, and I've been managing our money alone ever since, which she always did better than I do.

I started taking Social Security at 66 and receive $2,410 a month. I have $214,000 in my 401(k) from a previous job, mostly in target-date funds, and about $31,000 in savings. My house is worth around $340,000 and I still owe $58,000 on it, with a payment of $1,150 a month. I have no credit-card debt, and my car is paid off.

My daughter keeps telling me to 'just retire already.'

One of the reasons I kept working as long as this is that I'm on the company's health-insurance plan, which costs $190 a month. I have Medicare, but I've kept the employer coverage as a supplement because I'm afraid of gaps. Some days I stand on concrete for eight hours, and last winter I slipped on ice in the parking lot and was out for two weeks.

My daughter lives in Ohio and keeps telling me to "just retire already," but she doesn't see my bank statements. My son thinks I should sell the house and rent a place near him in Charlotte, N.C., but I've lived in this town for 40 years, and my wife is buried here. I also have friends here, even though many others have died or moved away.

I've read that I should be able to withdraw 4% a year from my investments, which on my numbers would be about $700 a month. Between that and Social Security, I'd have roughly $3,100 a month, against roughly $3,400 in expenses. Does that mean I should keep working a few more years? Do I sell my house? Or find some kind of part-time job?

I don't want to run out of money at 85, but I also don't want to die on the sales floor.

Tired in Tennessee

Related: After 46 years working, I'm not retiring - instead, I take a vacation every month. Is that a good life in your 70s?

You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com. The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

Your biggest expense is your mortgage, and I hope you're on a fixed rate, because the 30-year rate has risen to 7.3%.

Dear Tired,

Financially, you are in a tight spot. But you are managing it with grace.

If you were to take 4% from your 401(k) and give up your job, you would lose that workplace health insurance and move entirely to Medicare, as you say. But you'd still be left with a shortfall of nearly $300 a month, and there's no guarantee that stocks will continue on their bull-market trajectory over the next 10 years. You don't want to be in a position where you have to draw money from your 401(k) in a down market. The opportunity cost of doing that is high.

So, yes, for better or for worse it makes sense to keep adding to your 401(k) rather than withdrawing money from it, and to stay at your retail job. It's worth talking to your manager, though, about tasks that don't put you in harm's way. Sell your enthusiasm and gratitude for the job and all the pluses that come with it, as well as the skills and experience you bring to the company, such as how you are able to help stressed-out customers.

Your biggest expense is your mortgage, and I hope you're on a fixed rate, because the 30-year rate has risen to 7.3%, according to the latest data. But that number is still relevant, because if you decided to downsize to a cheaper house or perhaps one that's on a single level, you might have a tough time selling your home to a first-time buyer or to someone who needs to take out a loan to afford it. Those rates are putting a lot of pressure on the housing market.

You're currently running a surplus of $1,300 a month.

You may not be earning a six-figure salary like that other letter writer, but your outlook is far less bleak than the initial arithmetic suggests. You're still healthy enough to work, and you're bringing home roughly $4,700 a month between your paycheck and Social Security, against what you say is $3,400 in expenses, so you're running a surplus of around $1,300 a month that you can save or use to top up your 410(k) while you plot your next move.

Here's something to shoot for: Your mortgage will be gone in about five years, and once that $1,150 payment disappears, your expenses fall to roughly $2,250, which your Social Security check alone would cover. You'll also have close to $340,000 in equity in your home, so downsizing or moving somewhere cheaper is an option that could free up cash and lower your costs further. Meanwhile, your $214,000 401(k) keeps growing (for now) as long as you leave it be.

Your Social Security income is guaranteed for life and adjusts for inflation - notwithstanding any shortfall in the agency's funds if Congress doesn't act to shore up the program by 2033. You have no credit-card debt, and your car is paid off. As you have already demonstrated, retiring doesn't have to be all or nothing. When it's time to start taking your required minimum distributions, you could drop to two or three shifts a week or, better yet, move to a seated job like customer service. Start planning for that now.

Related: My grandpa retired happily at 70 with $750K after working as a missionary. I know where most Americans go wrong.

Physical stamina

You're right that standing up all day is tough, even if you're not lugging boxes to and from the warehouse or climbing ladders and risking your health to help a customer or to restock shelves. I'm only glad that you had health insurance and, I hope, paid time off when you slipped on ice in the parking lot and injured yourself. It's a brutal reminder that we all are temporarily abled.

But not everyone who continues working past their full retirement age has enough physical or even mental stamina to put in an eight-hour day, or even a four-hour day, which still requires you to get up, get ready for work, drive or take a train, report to a boss and, in your case, deal with members of the general public. I'm sure you get all sorts of customers in your store - the good, the bad and the impossible.

Millions of older Americans work to supplement their retirement income. Almost one in five people 65 or older had a full-time or part-time job last year, according to a study from LendingTree, which analyzed Census Bureau data. The 10 places with the highest rate of older workers were Nebraska, Maine, Alaska, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Mexico, New Hampshire, your home state of Tennessee, Nevada and Washington, D.C., the study found.

Almost one in five people 65 or older had a job last year.

The LendingTree researchers have advice for people who don't believe they'll have the wherewithal to keep working in their 60s or who, understandably, simply want to stop working earlier. It's not mindblowingly original, but it is solid and bears repeating: Start saving earlier than feels necessary (even small, steady contributions add up through compounding), pay down high-interest debt, and resist upgrading your lifestyle every time your income rises.

They also recommend looking after your health as carefully as your money, including regular checkups, exercise, a good diet and enough sleep. And, as you have discovered, don't rely on a single source of income, primarily because Social Security or one retirement account leaves you exposed to inflation, drops in equity markets and unexpected bills. And if you do have to work? Keep upgrading your skills and find something about your job that you enjoy.

I'm willing to bet that not all of your customers are personable or easy to deal with, especially if they are facing an emergency repair. It's stressful dealing with members of the public at the best of times. I have a friend who works the cash register at a supermarket, and she told me that she dreads the holidays. That, she said, is when people start acting out, harassing and bullying staff. The holidays are not necessarily a time of goodwill and cheer if you are working in retail.

Take care of your health and your finances, and keep your eye out for a customer-service job.

Related: 'We lived within our means': I earned $30,000 as a pastor and still retired comfortably. Why don't you tell people that?

By emailing your questions to The Moneyist or posting your dilemmas on The Moneyist Facebook group, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch.

More columns from Quentin Fottrell:

'I'd rather be on a beach in Bali': My husband resents my $8 million net worth. Should I pay for his retirement?

'I'm never selling': I'm 47 and buy bitcoin with every dollar I earn. Am I crazy?

I'm 77, pay rent and live off Social Security, but I help homeless people. Why are so many people going hungry?

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-Quentin Fottrell

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10-02-26 0515ET

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