I’m 62 and looking to retire in 3 years. I want to be able to buy a house for cash or at least put-down half when I retire. I’ve been selling off the mutual funds that I purchased over 20 years ago from my taxable account and putting the money into CDs paying 5%. A friend told me I should not touch my taxable account and that I should start pulling money out of my 401k. Any suggestions on which is best?
Thanks for your response. The 401k has over a million dollars and it’s from a former employer. I have another million in my regular account. Houses where I want to buy are over 800K and the thought of a large mortgage when I retire scares me. I want to put as much down as possible to keep the mortgage low. With the stock market at record highs I started selling a little bit at a time. I now have 200K in a CD. I want to sell more that’s why I was wondering if I should pull from the 401k
non retirement money for the down payment then maybe a 15 year mortgage out of your taxable 401K money. The problem listing to Clark over the years is that he tells you how to save it but never tells you how to spend it.
If you use $400,000 to $800,000 for a house purchase, will your retirement income still be adequate for your retirement expenses?
Mutual funds from over 20 years ago likely have significant capital gains. Have you been doing the selling using Specific Identification to minimize the capital gains?
Taxes favor withdrawing from the brokerage account. All of a 401K withdrawal will be taxed at your income tax rate. Only the gains from a brokerage account are taxed and the taxation is for most individuals at the lower capital gains rate.