When to sell if cash poor and asset rich? Dilemma.

tea-bag

Sell it and enjoy it! Short sighted? No way unless you have a crystal ball and can tell me when you're going to die. I am going to spend every penny!

Mallotum_X

i would hold on unless there are other reasons you fancy a move.

If you want to release some funds then could you borrow some money against the house? Or consider a lodger

27col

From what detail you have given. I would be inclined to down size.
Otherwise you are giving yourself another 10 years or so of financial worry. You cannot possibly know what the future holds health-wise or work-wise. A lot can change in 10 years and with no guarantee of it being a change for the better.
You can parcel out the lump sum so as to draw a little each year and also get a reasonable return if you put some of it into peer to peer lending. Such as Zopa and Wellesley.

Lord_Baltimore

A £400k house implies a decent-sized property, although it depends where you live. If you have a 4-bed, you don't need it. Nor do you need the bills associated with a house with rooms you probably don't use.

You can live comfortably in a cosy little 2-bed and reduce your bills massively and have some spending money in the bank. As you get older your 'needs' lessen. You need somewhere to live modestly but independently. Also, you are healthy now; if you wait too long to cash in some of your equity, you may be too ill to enjoy it when your 66. Who knows?

Unburden yourself of a house you don't need and eat like a king; laugh when your utility bills come and feel the weight lift from your shoulders. You've worked to enjoy yourself...get on with it before anything unforeseen puts a spanner in the works.

franklee

Moving house is one of the most stressful things to do not to mention the work that may be needed to get the new house renovated to your taste. If you leave it too late it'll only get harder. I'm still gutted my lovely uncle moved to his dream retirement home by the sea and died of a heart attack within the week. That said the age to do this by depends on your own health and plans which only you know. If you do downsize early you don't have to spend the cash, you can still invest it if you wish. It also depends on if retirement would mean you can move to a better or cheaper area. Why not make a list of pros and cons to start with.

moneyistooshorttomention

Which is another take on the matter indeed. A certain level of fitness and personal "energy" is needed to renovate a house. That is got round by many of the people who move on retirement buying a new house (but, of course, that assumes it was a decent builder building that house and not one that needs chasing to put right a lot of errors).

By and large most people would expect to have the necessary level of fitness and "energy" at retirement age to do so though and other people I know that have also recently moved to the area I myself recently moved to are of a pretty similar age to myself (ie 60s) and we are all gutting our houses partially or completely.

Only OP knows what his health level is like and how well (or otherwise) he looks after his health.

Actually gutting a house at the start of retirement is one way to ease the way from paid work to retirement (ie as it IS work - but work that can be done according to one's own personal timing iyswim). There are a noticeable number of people who don't feel ready to retire really at retirement age - but are doing so because they hate the work they are doing and gutting a house is a project whilst they work out what to do with their retirement years.

ognum

Do you want to live in the area you are now when you retire?

If you don't then stay and then look for something in a new area when you retire.

I would also suggest you don't take money out of your home while you are working, live on what you earn now and then live off you assets when you can't.

TBagpuss

None of us can predict what house prices will do over the next 10-11 years. However, if you are worrying every month, then it would seem sensbile to downsize now. As you don't need to move for a new job you can take you time to look for something suitable, and can think about how to invest the money which you release in order to plan for your retirement (would a smaller property/lower bills mean you could live off your current income without having to dip into the capital?

Alternatively, and depending on the size of your property,would it be possible to take in a lodger or two to boost your income and stay put?

I think it does depend, too, whether you plan to staying the same area when you retire, or whether you would expect to move to a different location at that time. Moving twice in 10 years is not excessive, but you'd need to take into account the costs involved in a second move.

AdrianC

OP - are you including the savings in council tax and property maintenance in the savings?

Thrugelmir

I'd downsize now. Enjoy the benefits of reduced outgoings. While using the released equity to enhance pension provision for retirement.