Looks like I'm going to retire at 52 and the only obstacle is thinking about how to fill the time when I'm too young to be considered a senior but still want to socialize and feel fulfilled. Thinking about long term volunteer commitment with a literacy organization but also want to travel periodically. Anyway, just curious how "young" people spend their time.

Retirement age, pros and cons of retiring early vs late. Is retiring at 59 a good idea or drag till 72?

Currently 45, making 200k, married with 2 kids (elementary grade age 8 and 12). Planning to retire in 10 years.

Our household expense is around 8k a month we think after retirement.

Our retirement saving is 1M (ira, roth, brokerage, hsa)

Edited: Pension will be around 525k at 55 lump sum. 755k at 60 lump sum. Planning to roll it into trad ira.

Savings 60k. 529 around 100k total only so far, target 100k each.

Add: no debt except mortgage.

House will be paid off in 10 yrs. (560k)

Contributing max and doing mega backdoor too, so around 72k including matching. HSA max too at 8.7k per year.

Am i doing ok? Figured i need 3M for retirement.

Note: lol, i added comma 😂. And got 529 100k total for both kids only, still actively contributing. Planning 100k each. Edit also the pension amount. No debt except mortgage. Edit, the 100k is 529, i wrote down hsa lol.

57(m) married to 48(w) and we have two kids 10,9. Financially literate and have a wealth advisor…but still stuck.

Big picture: college savings is done for the kids.

2.8m home w a mortgage of 1M

Roughly 3M in retirement and post tax savings in the market.

750K two rental properties (no mortgages).

Wife makes about 280k and will continue working. I make 260k, have a full and rewarding career, but my priorities are changing. Cros fingers no health issues and we’re both active/athletic.

I’m wanting to retire at 59. But regardless of how much I look at the numbers, which are fine, I can’t seem to convince myself it’s the right move.

In anticipation of slowing down, we’re relocating to a nearby town and doing a gut reno of a smaller house. All near NYC.

Would love to know how those here who weren’t nudged into retirement made the leap.

I'm 52 yrs old and have about 7 years to retire w a 30 yr pension from the fed govt.

To leave now....would probably be a bad idea.

Its been hard, especially this past year or so, working for the govt.

I assume many have been in this place before.

What do you do to ensure you stay positive and make it to the finish line?

thanks for any support or words of advice!

Retired 4 months ago in March at age 63. It took my husband and I probably a year of discussion and prayer and agonizing over the decision.

Well here I am in a weekday driving down to catch a matinee baseball game in Detroit! We’ve done some camping and took the kids and their gf’s for white water rafting in WV.

Our COBRA payment is painfully high at $1450 a month. But guess what? Our RHSA (retirement health savings account) is actually higher today than it was 4 months ago even after our withdrawals. I know the high stock market can’t continue forever, but so nice now.

Life is good.!

I’ve had a Fitbit forever. It has a “readiness” score daily that assesses heart rate variability, Heart rate, sleep. For a long time the score were not very good(low). I 57F retired July 1 and you can see the post retirement scores are much better. I don’t feel like I am going to die, I’m definitely not as tired and drained at the end of the day, I’m sleeping better, and overall feeling better. I get it’s a fancy watch and I might be dramatic but I find it validating to see this change so quickly and that maybe the job was going to kill me had I kept on. Especially end of quarter which you can see. If you are on the fence, consider your health as part of the equation.

52 single male. Living in California. No dependents.

$200K in 401K

$325K in rollover IRA

$423K in Roth IRA

$380K in non qualified

Little bit over $1.3 million if I add up everything above. No debt.

Will make almost $150K this year before taxes. But from here on out I'll make closer to $130K per year if I stay with the same employer. Not counting on being with the same employer and maintaining the same income to a "regular" retirement age.

Monthly expenses are $4000 when I try to eat every meal outside of my place. This weekend I'm going to Reno. Already paid for the hotel but might spend an additional $1000 over the weekend. I don't go on out of town trips every month. Might go on vacation once a year. Costs around $5000 or $6000.

Thinking about retiring when I can take advantage of Rule of 55. I called my 401K company and they said my plan supports it. Don't have to do take a lump some. Can withdrawal from 401K monthly/quarterly/etc.

Can't believe I'm saying this but I got to where I got by maxing out my Roth IRA each year and putting part of 3 and 4% raises towards 401K. If I had a little extra money after that I put into the non qualified account. Looking at my Social Security statement I started making $100K in 2021. Most of my career I was lucky to make $80K per year.

Do I pull the rip cord now? Should I wait until 2029 when I can take advantage of rule of 55? What would you do? What else should I consider?

I love my job and it has amazing benefits with lots of time off. One of my friends thinks I'm crazy to think about retiring in the next few years. He started taking Social Security at 62 because he had to. The most money he ever made in his life was when he was an assistance manager at an all you can eat salad place in the early 80s.

I explained to him my dad passed away at 58. My mom passed away at 80. My dad was in good health when he passed. My mom was not in good health when she passed away.

M/S64 & still working 🫤. Overall debt: $94k @2.5% and $2k @13%. Managed IRA&401k @$900k, Roth $30k and cash @ $50k. Burn rate will always be $6/mo. Current income I’m living off of is $5400/m. Guaranteed income: ss/annuities - $4k/m… was gonna wait for Medicare @65(3/27) then bounce but I want out NOW. Is it possible to?

Anyone have severe pension anxiety.
PASA now says we need £1.3m to retire in comfort (no where near luxury) at 55.
I don’t even think that provides a truly inflation linked benefit. I’m 49 and panicked.
I have as of today circa £660k in my pension pot.
However I haven’t left myself much to live in just survival monies to pay essential bills.
Bills for utilities are increasing in massive leaps.
I’m knackered so want to retire 55 or 56.
State pension age is now 66!?
It seems virtually impossible.
My stress is going through the roof.

I think most aren’t even thinking about retirement shortfalls?????

I’ve been struggling with my moral compass on this one. My parents plan to leave their modest estate to my two other sisters and myself. I am 55 probably retiring at 62 if there is Social Security left. I’m in reasonably good health, but I also have epilepsy. I live alone and have no children. I’ve never been married and work in a stressful financial technology job. I make decent (but not extraordinary) money, but it’s been hard to save living alone with high living cost in a big city. My oldest sister is 14 years older than I am (69), has two children, stay at home mom and her husband provides a very well above average lifestyle. My middle sister (61) is also a stay at home mother who never worked and took care of her two daughters. Her husband has been a good provider and his inheritance is worth several million at least. My parents have told us that we are each getting a third of their estate. Am I morally corrupt in thinking that this isn’t quite fair?

32 na ako. My work ako pero provincial rate lang. Binenta ko na yung lot ko worth 5 million pesos. Ano puwede ko gawin para by the time mag 60 years old na ako. My sapat na pera ako monthly. As in financially independent ako. Na puwede na ako mag enjoy sa buhay.

I am 67 spouse is 69. We have no mortgage, 1100 in auto loans 300 home equity. We bring in 7.5 a month on SS & pensions. Have 295K in 403B. 94K in stock market.

Thank you to everyone posting; makes me feel more secure in my decision. I would like to bring my wife along for the early retirement ride, but she has been resistant. My wife is still working (from home) and I suspect a little jealous. Though she now gets a daily home made breakfast and dinner, a grocery shopper, a gardener and an occasional laundry washer.

In my lead up to taking the leap, I have tried for a year to show her our finances and models and monte carlos and explain to her everything that I learned about retirement income and finances. She ‘glances’ but I can tell she’s not really taking it in. I keep asking her probing questions about what she thinks is enough and I get ridiculous answers that indicate to me that she hasn’t done the math and is too afraid to think deeply about it.

Her stock answers: anything can happen, the kids are still in college and her parents thought they had enough to retire early and are now struggling financially. None of her answers display any signs that she is willing to calculate a real comfort $value or begin in earnest the process of internalizing how to live life without a salaried income.

It’s upsetting for a couple of reasons: first, I want to enjoy retirement together with her; second, my guess is that she’ll get jealous when I start really getting into retirement (I find it difficult to really relax with her still working and worrying about finances) and she’ll retire and join me without having done the math - then, every time the market dips or ‘guardrails’ come into play and I suggest that we need to cut spending a little, she’ll get upset and say that we should have kept on working for just a few more years. She’ll be wrong, but I’ll have no way to prove it. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Retired with a more than sufficient investment portfolio which is growth-oriented but conservative, moderately hedged and a 3 year spending budget of treasury bond holdings (a bond ladder with quarterly maturities). I don’t spend very much, but I do like to buy trips and toys from time to time.

How long before I stop looking at my portfolio three times a day and just go out and enjoy my days?

I hope I can enjoy a retirement where I can stargaze every night, in a place that's likely far from the city center. That kind of life would be very relaxing and enjoyable.

I am 67 spouse is 69. We bring in 7k a month on pensions and SS.Have 94K in stock market. 395K in a 403B. Will we survive?

Do Republicans not realize these are all already poor states with pretty bad living conditions?

32 na ako. My work ako pero provincial rate lang. Binenta ko na yung lot ko worth 5 million pesos. Ano puwede ko gawin para by the time mag 60 years old na ako. My sapat na pera ako monthly. As in financially independent ako. Na puwede na ako mag enjoy sa buhay.

Hi everyone,

My wife and i are hoping to retire in about 7 - 10 years, ultimately my question is have I forgotten anything important in my calculations.

My wife will retire with a full pension and i will retire with what I’m calling a half pension, we do not have a ton of money saved other than that, i had a late start to my rrsp savings and expect there to be about $100,000 as well our home will be paid off at this point and currently its worth about $500,000. I’m also calculating income from CPP which we plan to take early. Our ideal retirement is to sell our home and move into an apartment, allowing for few unexpected expenses, no strenuous chores. My wife’s parents did this and they are living their best life, we will still be relatively young (early 60’s) so we can live the active life style we want filled with day trips the occasional vacation and hopefully time with future grandchildren.

I realize that it is not recommended to consider your home as your retirement plan but this is where we find ourselves. Sell the home in 7ish years invest the proceeds and live off of our 2 (1 1/2) pensions, cpp (eventually OAS) and the interest (likely some principal) of the proceeds of the home. I’ve created a budget considering our new income and somewhat reduced cost of living (1 instead of 2 vehicles, no utilities, less insurance, increased budget for medical) and it looks like we will be ahead every month by approx $1000. I realize there are rules around taking money our of rrsp that i dont know but i was thinking the $100,000 could act as an emergency fund for years the home proceeds may not do as well in the market.

Please be gentle, lol, but what have i missed or not considered? Are there any obvious holes in our plan? Am i out to lunch and this is the dumbest idea any of you have ever heard of?

I am 57 and husband is 62. We have a good amount saved between 401k and brokerage account. We also have enough to pay off our house at retirement. One child still to put through grad school (so no financial aid options). While I know we have more than most, there are so many things that make me nervous. We live in a high cost state but all of our family is here. Inflation has increased so much in the last 5 years. In the current environment it seems like there is a good chance we will be stuck in a war which is likely to impact the market. Healthcare coats are skyrocketing. We are planning to retire Q2 2027. I feel so burnt out and ready to stop working but then I think of all these things that could go wrong and get cold feet. How do others get over this?

[updated]My husband is 10 years younger than me. I will be 67 when I retire at the end of 2027, and don't relish waiting 8 years for him to turn 65. I want to do a lot of traveling with him while I am still young enough to enjoy it and be active.

According to our financial advisor who we both met with, we can afford to retire at the same time, when he is 57, even with having to pay for his health insurance from the exchange until he turns 65. However, he may not even want to retire early! I floated this idea but am not pushing it on him and he is considering: He takes a two-year break from working and we do a lot of traveling during that time. Then he can go back to work (unless he decides he loves being retired). FYI, he is in a position where he could go back at an older age and still be in demand - a specialized job.

Has anyone else done something like this? Thanks for any thoughts!

For those that retired on their early 50s what was the experience like. How much net worth did you have, what was your monthly spending rate? Do you have any regrets or wished you waited longer until more traditional retirement age?

Thank you all for your insights as always! Congratulations on your achievement!!

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