"I'm 68 and newly retired. Should I tap my $850K nest egg to renovate my bathrooms, or borrow instead?"

HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

Jean Chatzky Her Money

Investing, Business

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does it actually feel like to be on the cusp of retirement and wonder if you're doing it right? This week, Jean sits down with two listeners, Nancy and Melissa, who are both asking the same underlying question: How do I make sure I don't run out of money in retirement, while still actually enjoying my life? First, Jean talks with Nancy, 68, a soon-to-be retired nurse with $850K saved, a pension, and Social Security on the way. Nancy wants to renovate her bathrooms before she stops working, but she's torn between using her HELOC or tapping her nest egg. Then Jean hears from Melissa, 53, who, along with her husband, has $1.2M+ saved across tax-deferred, Roth, brokerage, and treasury accounts, and wonders if she's taking on too much risk. Jean helps her zoom out, look at the full financial picture, and think through what a bucket strategy or annuity could mean for her peace of mind. In this episode: HELOC vs. refinance vs. pulling from savings; how to think through home improvement financing in retirement The 4% rule and when it makes sense to use it RMDs, IRMAA penalties, and why timing your withdrawals matters more than you think What 72% stocks actually look like when you account for your entire net worth Why hybrid long-term care policies might be worth a look How guaranteed income can actually free you to invest more aggressively with the rest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's Gene Chatsky. So today we're doing something a little different.
0:06.9	We're bringing you not one but two AMA conversations in a single episode. And I've got to say
0:13.0	these two conversations belong together. Because even though Nancy and Melissa are asking
0:18.4	very different questions on the surface, they're really both
0:22.0	grappling with the same deeper question. How do I make sure I don't run out of money in
0:28.2	retirement and still actually enjoy my life at the same time? The tension is so real.
0:35.9	And it's one of the things I've been thinking a lot about lately as I gear up to release my new book on spending in retirement.
0:44.4	Because most of us are so focused on saving that we never quite give ourselves permission to spend.
0:51.5	So today, you're going to hear from two women who are asking exactly the right
0:56.4	questions at exactly the right time. And my hope is that if you're in your own run-up to
1:02.5	retirement, you'll hear something in these conversations that speaks to you. Let's get into it.
1:09.5	Today I'm talking with Nancy. She's 68, newly retired, after an incredible
1:15.6	46-year career in nursing. Wow. And she is in the process of figuring out her next financial move. Nancy,
1:26.7	welcome. It's so nice to see you. Hi, Jean. Nice to see you too.
1:30.8	Tell me about what's going on in your life. Well, I'm not quite retired yet. I will be retired in June,
1:36.6	but I'd like to do a couple of home improvements. I recently got an estimate for my bathrooms.
1:43.0	And if I do, the one that I want to do, it probably
1:45.6	cost me $38,000 to $40,000. I may do a second one, which will be a little under 20.
1:51.9	And my question is, is I currently only have about $79,000 left on my home mortgage at a 3%
1:59.3	rate. And my home value is probably about 1.1 to 1.2.
2:04.5	So I have a lot of equity. And I got a proof for a home equity line of credit many years ago.
2:10.4	I did it after I got divorced. It's like I wanted to know that I could have this there on my own
	...

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