I'm a teacher too, and I can give you some advice on some of these topics. I am 100% sure we're not in the same state because you make more money than I do (though I have 24 years experience). - First, you sound like you're doing very well for your age. You should pat yourself on the back for realizing the importance of saving and thinking about retirement well before most people your age. - I'll second the point about talking to your potential fiancée about finances ahead of time. Do not just assume it'll all work out. - Buying a house is a sound investment. I assume you'll sell your current paid-for house, so you'll have about 120K to put down on a new one -- excellent. Even if she brings little to the table for this project, the two of you should be able to knock out the borrowed 100K within five years (even if you have a baby soon). With no mortgage, you'll be amazed at how much easier it is to live comfortably and still save! - Do you have a savings account for a new car? Since yours is paid for, I suggest you begin paying a car payment into a savings account. Once you get yourself "a car ahead" (meaning that you're ready to buy a new car when you need it, so that you're not wasting money on interest), it's easy to STAY "a car ahead". - I have the impression she's a teacher too? If the two of you work at the same school, consider becoming a one-car family. We did it for several years (until I started teaching, and our schedules were completely incompatible), and it was a MONUMENTAL money saver for us. It was the single biggest thing that allowed us to get off to a good financial start in our 20s. - If you hate your job (I do at times, really, I do) but want to stay in the pension system, could you do something else within the school system? Could you be the tech guy? the athletic director? could you do something different as a state employee -- a possibility, if your pension systems are linked? - I don't think you need to think about life insurance at this moment. Not to be crass, but if you died today, would anyone be worse off financially? With no wife or children, probably not. Once you're married, you probably won't need it yet. If you were to die, your wife could use your pension pay-out and your other investments to pay off the modest house payment you anticipate taking out, and she'd still have her job to sustain her. You WILL need life insurance once you have a child. If you were to die and leave your wife with a toddler, she'd have years ahead of her in which she'd be a single parent, and although her salary would be enough to put food on the table and clothes on their backs, your life insurance would be there to educate the child in the future. The life insurance would also assure you that your wife would be able to take some time off work, and that she'd be able to put aside a good chunk for retirement. Remember, she too will need life insurance. If she left you with the toddler, you'd need the same help. - The two of you probably need disability insurance more than you need life insurance. Statistically, you are more likely to be disabled than to die young. And becoming disabled is the real nightmare scenario (from a financial standpoint). Consider: You're in an accident or you become sick. You cannot work, so your household income's slashed in half. Yet your medical bills are sky-high. Your wife is still working, but she's also doing ALL the housework and ALL the childcare AND is trying to help you with your physical therapy. She's burning through her sick days taking you to the doctor. THIS is the nightmare scenario: She's overworked, AND she can't take advantage of your life insurance. Avoid it by signing on for disability insurance. - Another thing you should do after you marry is to write wills. As a teacher, you probably have access to your an employee's credit union? They probably offer such services for a low price. - About your pension: Do you know the details for the pension in your state? In my state you're fully vested at 10 years (so, yeah, you'd be a fool to leave at 9.5 years), and you can collect a full pension at any age once you've put in 30 years. You can collect a reduced pension at 20 or 25 years, though the dollar amount is reduced, and you can't begin collecting until 65 (65?) if you don't put in the full 30 years. Once you find out the details for your own state, you can "run the numbers" and see when it makes sense for you to leave teaching. It might be sensible for you to aim for 20 years, then do something else -- but you have to get the facts, then do your homework. - How secure is your state's pension? This is public knowledge, so look into it. You do not want to put all your eggs into the "staying in teaching" basket, if your state's weak in the pension department. As the people in Detroit! - In my state the pension program (defined benefit program) is being exchanged for a defined contribution program. This has its pros and cons, but overall it means that the new, younger teachers aren't going to get a pension. Why does this matter to you? Because if you ever leave, then return to teaching, you'll come in under those new rules! - An above poster mentioned Social Security. In my state, teachers DO pay into SS, so I will collect an SS check one day. You seem rather financially savvy, so I assume you know whether you've been paying into this or not. - I disagree with the above poster who says you're essentially screwed if you choose to have children AND want to retire at a reasonable age. The key is that you have to choose to live FRUGALLY. My husband and I are 48 and 51, and we have two college students. When we married, we had between us $200, college degrees and jobs, one car, and a brand-new mortgage. We chose to be frugal from the very beginning: We maxed out our 401Ks, even though it meant we couldn't afford vacations. We built an emergency fund, then started a savings account, putting away 1/4 of our after-taxes paychecks, even thought it meant we rarely ate out or bought new clothes. When our savings account grew, we started investing, even though it meant we had to remain a one-car family. Today we live in a house that's paid for, have significant investments, and are easily able to pay for our two college students' expenses -- they will graduate debt-free. My same-aged friends who wail that they can't afford their kids' college tuition don't like to hear that we buy used clothing, drive an 8-year old car, etc. The key is knowing the difference between needs and wants -- and being self-disciplined enough to stick to a budget. - Finally, I think you're off to a good start. If you and your wife are both about 10 years into teaching, then 20 years from now the two of you can expect the following: 1. You'll be about 55 years old, and as a person who can "see 55 from where she's standing", it's not "old" -- at 48, my knees hurt sometimes, but I can still hike all day and can pretty much still do whatever I want. 2. You'll live in a house that's paid for. 3. You'll have two teacher pensions. 4. You'll have teacher health insurance in retirement. 5. You'll have two Social Security checks. 6. You'll have the investments you've already begun. 7. If you have a child soon after your marriage, that child will be finishing college (and beginning to support himself) about the time you retire. You'll be able to have all these benefits AND you can work part-time (or seasonally) so you can avoid dipping into your investments too early. Though you're not earning big bucks now (or ever), you'll be well prepared for retirement. If the two of you put in a total of 60 years of teaching to earn these benefits, you'll have WORKED for every penny, but you'll have a comfortable retirement.

When my husband retired we cashed in his VIP (IRA) and it didn't affect his soc sec, it was not earned that year. We did get billed by soc sec for his separation pay, but that was a mistake on their part and our accountant took care of it.

Snidely, to be a little more clear... SushiPup originally said, "I started my SS at 63. My husband has planned on not starting his until he is retired, which should be next year when he turns 69. When he turned 66, he started getting spousal benefits from me. And his new (just this month) medicare B account is under my SS#! But when he starts collecting his own benefits, I'll start to get spousal benefits based on his account, which is more than mine." As you stated, Snidely, the spouse can file/suspend, but the spouse needs to be full retirement age (which, for most of us is 66 but is changing depending on the person's year of birth). That way, the spouse can receive one-half of the suspended amount while his/her own benefit increases because it isn't being drawn upon. The spouse who has suspended payments is also going to receive an increased amount when he/she finally begins receiving monthly payments. It seems that SushiPup's husband was not yet 66 when she started receiving her benefits at age 63. Because she started receiving her benefits before her full retirement age, she is receiving a permanently reduced benefit. Also, when her husband begins drawing on his own benefits, SushiPup can apply for spousal benefits, but, again because she was not yet full retirement age when she began receiving her own benefits, she will receive a reduced amount of spousal benefits. Here is an example/quote from one of the FAQs on the SSA web site: "Mary Ann qualifies for a retirement benefit of $250 and a spouse’s benefit of $400. At her full retirement age, she will receive her own $250 retirement benefit, and we will add $150 from her spouse’s benefit, for a total of $400. If she takes her retirement benefit before her full retirement age, both amounts will be reduced." [bolded emphasis added] Since SushiPup's husband plans on retiring when he is 69, and because he is already receiving a monthly spousal benefit (albeit not nearly as much as what he will receive from his own SS account), he might want to hold off claiming benefits on his own account until he is 70 so that he will receive the maximum. Yes, he could file and suspend so that SushiPup can get an increase by adding the spousal benefit, but since her spousal benefit is going to be less than half of her husband's amount because she filed early, it would be more beneficial to wait. Hindsight is always 20/20, so it pays to learn as much as you can BEFORE you begin drawing benefits. :-) For example, did you know that if you've started receiving benefits and then come to the conclusion that you should have waited (for whatever reason), you can pay it all back to the SSA and it would be as if you'd never received a dime? You can, but you have only one year exactly in which to do it. Day 366? You're out of luck permanently. My husband and I both started receiving our SS benefits early -- me at age 64-1/4, and Hubs at age 63-3/4 (quarter-years figure in when calculating amounts). Yes, we would have received more if we waited until full retirement age of 66, or even delayed until age 70. It's not like we needed the payments -- both of us simply put it into savings each month because we each have a government pension from working for the State. But, if I had waited until age 66 to claim my benefits, it would take me over 15 years to recoup the money I received between ages 64 and 66. It would take my husband almost 24 years. And who knows if we'll live that long??

Thank you, Nickel. Yes, that will be our next step. Husband had another conversation today and this one sounds more promising. Anna Eshoo came through for him with a traveling visa problem some years ago, so we will try her again if no progress is made after today. Maifleur, husband was told to to send in his passport which will be acceptable; they do have it and just need to input the info. But only certain people (person?) can do this and he cannot communicate with her. He's been given another name so hopefully that person can do same. Thank you for your suggestions.