Want to retire at 60 and help take care of your parents in their old age? How to do financial planning? Check out the experts’ advice

Paul and Christine Zielinski’s finances recently “did a 180.” The Milwaukee couple lived on a single income and paid off student debt for the first five of their six years of marriage. Now in their early 40s, they have a combined income of about $200,000 and some to spare, but they don’t know how best to manage it.

If possible, the Zielinskis hope to retire at age 60 and start traveling more. While their parents are currently healthy and financially independent, they hope to help them one day. “Paul and I are the only siblings in our family without children,” Kristen Zielinski said. Therefore, their home would be a logical place for their parents to go, she said. If his parents move in, Paul Zielinski hopes to handle possible renovations, relocation or the purchase of a new home.

Paul works in marketing and analytics for a medical device maker. Kristen is a dental hygienist. They live pretty frugally, she said. She drives a 2002 pickup truck she bought from her mom. He rents a car for $475 a month. Their only debt is a $141,000 mortgage at 3.5%. Their monthly mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance total about $1,300.

The couple spends less than $4,000 a month on transportation, utilities, food, dining out, entertainment and care for their two cats. Their health insurance premium is about $270 a month.

Paul has more than $500,000 worth of term life insurance. His employer offers a 401(k) plan, and he generally contributes the maximum allowed, which is $23,000 for people under 50 in 2024.

Kristen will be eligible for her employer’s plan in July and plans to contribute at least enough to get the full employer match.

Paul also has a health savings account through work with $18,000 in an S&P 500 index fund. He plans to contribute the maximum allowed this year, $8,300 for family insurance.

The couple put most of their surplus income, about $6,000 a month, into the robo-investing account “because I didn’t know where else I was going to put my money,” Mr. Paul said. The fund strategy used in the account is somewhat aggressive, he said.

Together, they have nearly $650,000 in savings, retirement and investment assets, including about $505,000 in traditional IRAs and 401(k) accounts and a $20,000 emergency fund in a high-interest savings account, which currently pays 5%.Advice from professionals

Kelli Send, a certified financial planner and co-founder of Milwaukee-based Francis LLC, praised the Zielinskis for keeping costs low. “It gives them a chance to really grow their savings,” Send said.