Would you put a huge addition on your house if it meant you might not be able to retire in style?

Answer 1

If it would make me happier in the long run, definately yes.

Answer 2

Well, you can look at this in different ways. If you add substantial square footage on your home, you are only increasing the value. In today's market it could be reason enough to make the investment, But you have to consider being able to recoup the monies needed to be in the same financial position. The answer to that may be laying in a drawer somewhere long forgotten.

For example, if you have a life insurance policy, chances are they are paying a decent interest and you can have substantial cash value available. I recently needed money fast and didn't want to touch equity in my home. I had more than enough in cash value. The best part of cash value is you don't even have to pay it back. They call it a loan against the policy, but in the event of the named insured's death, any loan amount is simply deducted from the face amount of the policy.

There are so many ways to answer this question, but without more information its hard to give you my best recommendation. At least these are things you can think of, Remember in today's real estate market, you can sell your home for much more than you would have even as little as a year ago, No, we don't know what the future holds in terms of the market, but history has shown what goes up must come down.

After the construction you can sell the home for possibly much more than the cost to add on to it. If you invested a good portion of that in an IRA if you're conservative or the stock market, if you want to take risks. If you speak with a financial planner they can recomment a nice combination of the two.

In the meantime, you can live on a modest budget to save as much as you can to add to the retirement fund. You could realize the dream of living it up in your golden years. Just food for thought.

I wish you the best.
Ciao!
Raylene♥

Answer 3

You do what you feel is going to mean the most to you. Do you want liquidity so you can be mobile, or is your home the center of your world and that's where you want your investment.

Are you going to have a lot of family home after your retire--will your home be central to the family?

If home's just going to be a place to hang your hat in between doing whatever it is you want to do, then why the big addition?

Also, do you need the addition for a few years, or is it a solid investment that will pay you back over time.

Answer 4

Another thing to consider: Will you be over improving your home?

What would happen, if for some reason, you had to sell your home in a few years? You've spent all this money improving it and you may not recoup your investment.

When we were in the market, we found a home in which the owner spent about $50,000 over the original cost of the new home in upgrades. He lost all that money because the home didn't appraise any higher. Ouch!

How far away is retirement? If it's 30 years, then you have time to adjust. If it's 10, I don't think I'd gamble with my retirement fund.


Best of Luck!

Anne

Answer 5

My idea is any house I live in might be the one I retire in. So it must be what I like. If the addition won't be good for your retirement home, I would consider buying a different house.

Answer 6

Probably not. Unless the addition would give me happiness in retirement.

If you have a big house now, you may want to downsize during your retirement, or even move somewhere else. So keep your retirement money safe for retirement.'

Answer 7

i look at it this way, when you retire, the kids will be gone, so why do you need the big addition. wait till they leave, knock down the walls to their bedrooms and make a small addition.

we did this and made a much larger kitchen.

Answer 8

Save your money for retirement. When you retire you do not need a big house and besides who is going to clean it for you.

Answer 9

I would compromise and put an addition on - but not one that was going to break my retirement fund.

Answer 10

Nope.