My wife and I have banked a few million for retirement so far – what changes we should make to optimize our financial plan?

Investing for retirement can be both a journey and a destination, one for which you might choose to tweak along the way. A Reddit post on this very topic caught our attention as it could resonate with many other people. In this posting, the Redditor asked for advice on early retirement between the ages of 45-50 with a stay-at-home spouse. As a 34-year-old living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this individual shared several personal details about their life, including  plans to grow their family from one child to three and fund their college educations.

First, congratulations to this couple for growing your net worth to nearly $3 million already. You have already built a solid financial foundation at this stage and appear to have avoided the pitfall of debt. As this balance is impressive in and of itself, it excludes real estate and a 529 savings plan, both of which they also possess. Let’s take a look at the rest of your assets: 

• Cash: $37k
• Pretax Retirement Accounts 401k/457: $620k
• HSA: $70k
• Roth Retirement Accounts: $762k
• Mega backdoor Roth strategy, allowing for greater contributions
• Taxable Brokerage: $1,355,000
• Rental income property at an attractive interest rate and monthly profit with a mortgage of $218k, approximately half of the home value.

The lion’s share of this person’s investments are in S&P 500 ETFs, like the popular VOO and VTI funds. This strategy has served our Redditor well, as he has benefited from the bull stock market runs of 2023 and 2024. Of course, 2025 has been a different story, and he is astute in his desire to reevaluate the plan. One consideration off the bat might be to diversify into other asset classes beyond equities, your real estate holdings notwithstanding. Given risks around tariffs and an economic recession, stocks could present more risk than you can afford to take.

With an annual salary of $240,000 per year, coupled with his wife’s income of $50,000, this family also has steady cash flow coming in. Considering the goal for the spouse to become a stay-at-home mom, her share of the income can be considered fluid. Also, he shared that their monthly nut amounts to roughly $10,000 with one child. That amount is only going to grow as they grow their family. Let’s dive in. 

Keep in mind that the following response is just one person’s opinion, and a qualified financial advisor can more accurately answer your financial question. 

Retirement Advantage 

Based on your current net worth coupled with your disciplined savings habits, not least the Mega Backdoor Roth), you appear to be in a very favorable position for retirement. Assuming a standard 4% withdrawal rate in retirement, your current investments could potentially generate approximately $115,200 per year in income, close to the $120,000 annual spending and not even taking into account any future Social Security benefits or the rental property income if you hold onto it.

Retirement Savings Accounts

While your retirement accounts are big, the bulk of the funds sit in tax-advantaged accounts (pre-tax and Roth), which may have limits on early withdrawals unless face penalties. Your consideration toward continuing the Mega Backdoor Roth or pivoting to more accessible accounts is reasonable and something you might want to discuss with your financial advisor.

Given your interest in retiring early, a focus on taxable brokerage account growth might offer greater flexibility for early withdrawals without penalties. Meanwhile, the Mega Backdoor Roth tax advantages are attractive and deserve careful consideration before abandoning this aggressive investment approach. You might consider a balanced approach in which you keep some degree of Mega Backdoor Roth contributions while also directing more funds to the taxable brokerage. 

Budgeting

Your current monthly spending of $10,000 is notable and appears to be a conservative estimate for your growing family. While you plan to reduce it slightly, the anticipation of more children will likely increase this budget item considerably.

Be sure and formulate a reasonable budget that includes higher costs associated with a bigger family, whether that’s housing, childcare, food, clothing, healthcare, etc. Given you and your wife’s careers in education, we are assuming you’ve got health insurance covered. Nevertheless, transparency on these potential cost increases is crucial for realistic long-term financial planning.

You are committed to bankrolling your children’s college education, which is admirable. With potentially three children needing college funds, your current 529 balance of $28,000 may fall short. Consider developing a more robust college savings plan, including potentially contributing more to the 529 plan or venturing into other savings vehicles. 

Big Picture

One thing this couple has going for them is their youth. They are both healthy and have built a sizeable nest egg so far. Given their exposure to the equities, they might want to consider making some changes by adding greater diversification into their investment portfolio to offset volatility or capitalize on other opportunities. Overall, they present a successful model for retirement savings in America.

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