Q. My wife and I are 33 years old, and are tentatively planning on "semi-retiring" in the next year or two. By that I mean we will quit our professional jobs, move somewhere pleasant (maybe Colorado or Wyoming) and work jobs that are more laid back, from which we hope to pay our living expenses while our existing retirement savings grow. We would hope to retire altogether by the time we reach our mid-fifties.

By the end of this year we should have between about $125,000 and $130,000 in total retirement savings, of which about $40,000 is in tax-exempt accounts. Our only debt is our house, for which we have about $70,000 in equity. Although we currently have no children, we plan to have two, and we want to make sure they can go to whatever college they wish.

My wife and I each make about $125,000 annually and we have managed to save about $50,000 a year each of the last two years. Is this plan feasible? If so, how much longer do we need to work and save before we can move somewhere pretty?

---M.B. and A.A., Dallas, TX

  

A. Let's start with some basic ideas about the reproduction of money. If your cash is invested in stocks, the long term average return is about 12 percent which means that your money will double every 6 years in a tax deferred account. You've got 24 years until you are 57.   This means your current next egg could double 4 times, increasing 16 times to about $2 million. With inflation averaging 3 percent during the same period, that $2 million would be worth a little under $1 million on today's dollars. That, in turn, means your present savings would sustain a spending rate of about $50,000 to $60,000 a year in today's dollars.

That's a whole lot less than your current standard of living.

Add the idea of having kids that might want to go to Stanford before they go on to Harvard Law and you've got a major unknown in your future.

Finally, there is one of the rude realities of exurban life: it's hard to make a living out there in the boonies, any kind of living.

My suggestion: you can get a lot closer to this by putting the financial calculations aside and looking for satisfying work in a pretty place and then figuring out how you will adjust your expectations.

  

Q. My parents are 60 years old and have virtually no savings. My father has been out of work for 10 years due to mental illness. And my mother is out of work and in the midst of a disability claim. I understand they can begin collecting Social Security at 62.5 years at a diminished withdrawal rate.

My wife and I would like to help them, but I've observed over the years that anyone who helps gets burned. It seems like I should be writing Doctor Laura. Is there a way I can help them and get a tax benefit? I know that probably sounds cheap--- I just don't want to end up like them when I turn 60--- and I'm doing that by saving as much as possible now. If I start helping them it will not end until they pass away.

---C.K., Dallas, TX

  

A. The first thing you need to do is to learn about disability benefits, Social Security benefits, and Supplemental Security Income. SSI, in case you've never heard of it, is the income people are eligible for if their Social Security disability or retirement income doesn't meet certain limits. Basic reading is the Mercer Guide to Social Security and Medicare, updated annually and available at most book stores. A second good reference is "Golden Opportunities" by Amy and Armond Budish. Published in 1992, the book is no longer in print and is starting to get dated, but it's still a great background book for anyone dealing with disabilities. Acting as an agent/coordinator for your parents may be a greater gift than any direct financial contribution you can make.

Another thing you can do is to pick a particular thing you can do and do it, avoiding open-ended help.

Finally, you have more latitude in housing than elsewhere. You could buy your parents a home, giving them life tenancy with you as the residual owner. That way they don't have a mortgage to pay and can't encumber the property. You'll have the expense but you'll also have any tax benefits and ownership at their death.