> [she] retired at 49 with $1.3 million in savings. That doesn't not seem like nearly enough. How does she afford health insurance? I would be terrified that after a prolonged downturn you'd be left with nothing. And Social Security in the US pays less the less you work.
Also, depending on where you live, that might be ok for an unsubsidized exchange plan too, if you're just worried about affording health insurance. Actually use it to the out of pocket max most years, and you'd be cutting it close, especially if you have substantial living expenses, suffer an expensive injury or illness that's not covered, or need to get help with daily activities. OTOH, planning to use your assets to get into a situation where medicaid will cover you when your assets run out is a realistic plan, even if it's not a great outcome.
I've got some numbers in an older comment[1]:
> In my county, if I were 64 years old, assigned male at birth, I'm looking at about $17,000/year for a Blue Cross Bronze plan (less costly options available), with $9,200 out of pocket max.
I'm using 64 years old rather than 49, to give an idea of the increased cost as the retiree ages, and assuming things kind of stay even with inflation (because I have to make some assumptions to budget, not because they're good assumptions!) $17k/year on $1.3m is 1.3% of portfolio, so maybe a third of a safe withdrawal rate (depending on yet more assumptions) significant, but manageable. If you end up paying the full out of pocket max every year, that's more like 2% of the portfolio, and is like half of your safe withdrawal rate. I wouldn't want to retire with half of my budget spoken for, but depends on the situation.
Of course, personally, I retired at the end of 2019, and then got roped into working part time again at the end of 2022. If my financials were on the wrong track, it seems like I'd have lots of options; there's also plenty of retail work available in my community.