Can Jill, 60, afford to retire to Nova Scotia while keeping her suburban Toronto home?

With her 60th birthday approaching, Jill wonders if she can “retire responsibly” soon or if she needs to work longer.

Jill is single again, with three adult children, a salary of $81,000 a year, and a $1.2-million house in a Toronto bedroom community. She earns another $4,800 a year teaching yoga.

“My dream is to live in Nova Scotia, where I can purchase a home for $400,000 easily, but would worry about not being able to afford to come back if I needed or wanted to,” Jill writes in an e-mail. Ideally, she could keep the family home as well. It has a mortgage outstanding of about $225,000.

Are Barry and Beth saving enough to retire at 62, help their kids with down payments and take a big trip soon?

Jim and Shirley fear the market downturn will eat into their retirement savings….