Ok, all you mavens and menschen:

Knowing what you know now, would you have:

retired sooner (say, a year or two or three) with less money?
waited a bit (say, a year or two or three) with more savings?

If I even come close to my number I'm hitting the eject button.

Unless retirement is a for sale thing, and I suppose in a way it is. Would you hold out longer for more money or decide to let work go? probably better in another forum.
I started slowing down as investment income began to cover the cost of living. I continue at my pace for the little things that make life better. The economic/social turbulence is providing some fun keeping things on course. (How do you get a contractor to do a home re-model project?)

Edit...Some good questions have been raised. Do you need the money? Do you like what you do? How is your body/mind holding out and will more work lead to damage? What will you do with your time and how will you meet social needs?
PS...And I wish I had started putting money away earlier in life.

I'm Goldilocks... not too early, not too late, but just right.

(musta missed part I)

I know this is gonna be of absolutely no help but it’s how I answered everyone who asked “ all the moons lined up for me”

I'm so sorry - no idea how this ended up in Items for sale or wanted.
I want retirement and must have been looking to see if someone would sell me theirs. Sorry, everyone! ;)

I retired 5 days after my 50th bay.
Went to Springfield in January 12 years ago. They told me how much I would mak
e. When I retired. They said I would 28 $a month more if I waited to retire 2 years later. I retired 5 days after I turned 50. Ya can have your 28 bucks....

I retired 2 years ago come March. About the right time, 33 years in the Post Office, so I got a nice little pension every month. And we paid off our house around 5 years early and banked most of the money, about 12 thou a year. When my wife hits 62, she' ll go for SS. Neither of us work, except I do some odd jobs for cash once in awhile. And we have a retirement account, which we haven't even touched yet. If your finances are good, go for it. We haven't much changed our lifestyle, in fact, I don't think we spend anymore, and probably less than we did when we both worked.

Ahh, the age old question. So many things factor in this decision. If timing, money, family, and health are right, then go. I choose to go 4 years early with less money. But that was right for me. Financially, things worked out anyways and I realized I made the right choice.
If you do retire early and then find you need more money or just something to do you can always go find part time work.
The thing I was surprised by was the high cost of health insurance, always had it paid for at work.
My best advice I can give you is to consult a financial advisor. They will work the numbers and tell you just how much you will need in your situation. They will plug in your wealth or input, and your needs, and wants or output. They will project your money to last you to an average old age. Look at that end projection number they give you and make your decision. Good luck.

I had several part-time careers when I was raising my family, and then was a full-time public school music teacher (starting at age 40) for 19 years, while also having a part-time position as a church choir director. I had always said I planned to teach school for 20 years. But after 19 years it just seemed like the right time to hang it up, and I did retire in 2004. I have never regretted retiring from my full-time position at age 59. I kept up with the church choir position until Spartan1 retired (at age 65) in 2010.

Fortunately for us, Spartan1 was good at retirement planning, and we have been comfortable with the way it was set up, between pensions (mine is very small, after only 19 years of teaching), social security, and some other blessings. I would describe our lifestyle as "conservative", except that we do love to travel, and we are thankful that we can afford to do that. We have a good financial adviser to help us plan and keep us on the right track.

I think, looking back now on it all, we would both say that we did it at the right time. We have really enjoyed our retirement thus far and hope to do so for quite a few years to come.

As long as you have enough money now to be relatively comfortable, I say retire now and enjoy exploring. Experiences are worth way more than money and you never know what life has in store for you. I've seen too many times people spending their whole life amassing more money than they, need for retirement than passing or having a serious illness before they can enjoy retirement

I "retired" at 56. Was made an offer I could not refuse. I was able to secure a job through a grant that got me back to field work. Did this for another 7 years when the grant ended. After running all the numbers I went ahead and retired. Been a few years now and am glad I did. As I have started to develop issues that make me slow down.

If retiring before age 65, you really need to think about health insurance. If you have that covered via a spouse or retirement benefit then things become easier. The other part of the equation is expenses. Do you have debt? What things are you willing to give up ( things like eating out). But it really starts much earlier with a plan and a goal that you work towards.

My brother retired too early and at 73 and he is still working, although he just went to part time. The main reason is they did not downsize their lifestyle. He kept warning me not to retire too early. I think I hit it just right at 64.

One other factor, how well do you like your current job?

Besides the money side of it, also included in the mix is long term heath. My father retired at 62 and two years later could not leave his chair due to back pain. So all the retirement plans and extra money he worked longer to gather didn't mean much to him. So, if you think your health will not last over 60 (amazing how fast the body breaks down at that age) you may want to consider enjoying what you can, while you can. Given you can live with your income.

Just my observation.

We hit the magic number for me to retire and then my wife raised the number! Not fair.

I am going to retire at 55 which is this year. I still feel I need to work or do something part-time. And I don’t get the pension and SS for a few years so I have that to deal with.

Everyone writing in about doing it sooner than later is my motivation!
Tom

Jillpine... since you will be turning 122 years old this year, I'd say it's time to retire.

I've been hustling on my own for a few years now. Several side hustles that make up a whole hustle. Most of the time, it doesn't feel like work. I think the goal for almost everyone is to make a living doing something tolerable or better. I've found that. So I don't even think about retirement. I'm also way too young to consider it anyway.

I hope to retire somewhere between 50-55. If I break savings down to three categories, i'm solid on one, close on a second and have a third to figure out.

59 1/2+: I feel good here
College Savings: I'm close to feeling like I have it covered.
The gap from whenever I retire to 59 1/2: Mistakes were made here and I don't have that covered much at all. Currently working on funding this gap. I'll likely get to point where I pull the plug early and just work part time doing something I enjoy.

To your original question - I think only you can answer that. How hard is it to get up everyday and go to work?

Speckled:


To your original question - I think only you can answer that. How hard is it to get up everyday and go to work?


"

For me, I no longer enjoy going to work. It’s the stress of my job and nobody that I can turn to for help. My job has changed over the years and too much is on my shoulders.

The biggest problem I have is I make a good living and there are no other jobs I can get making what I do if I leave my field of expertise. I do have enough to live from 55 until I get SS and pension but it’s hard to drain down what I’ve spent 30 years growing.
Tom

Retired from teaching at 56-1/2, as soon as Rule of 90 meant full benefit. Started taking Soc Sec at 62, also. Lower monthly amount? Bleh. Been getting those good-sized checks for years now instead of waiting for a bigger payout later, when who knows what my health will be. Life has been good.

I 'semi-retired' from my mechanical engineering job of 33 years at 55. I then worked for a professional trail-building company for 5 years, and had a blast working outside (mostly trail design and mapping, but also some big trail construction projects) those 5 years. It worked for us because we'd paid off the house, my wife didn't retire until 65, we had a couple nice 401K plans that we still haven't tapped into, etc. As others have suggested, let a financial advisor look at your plans, but if the numbers work for you, I highly recommend an early and active retirement. Best of luck!

TZ

hobbydog: "If retiring before age 65, you really need to think about health insurance. If you have that covered via a spouse or retirement benefit then things become easier. The other part of the equation is expenses. Do you have debt? What things are you willing to give up ( things like eating out). But it really starts much earlier with a plan and a goal that you work towards.

"

This is good advice, and something I didn't mention. Not having debt was key for us. No mortgage, no car payments, no loans of any kind, no credit card debt. It was just the plan for us and we worked to make it happen. I was fortunate to have health insurance that carried over until I was eligible for Medicare, and that was another big consideration. Early retirement takes planning.

I think it depends on your definition of "retirement." In the traditional sense of the definition retiring meant removing oneself from the workforce...you know they send you away with a cake and a watch. (I never understood why a watch became the symbolic gift for retiring when it would seem more appropriate as a gift for someone entering the workforce.) If anything, the last two years has shown that the concept of work can change, and has changed, dramatically. There are many vocations that now allow one to work from locations that were unimaginable just a couple years ago and today's job market allows for much more flexibility, particularly if you're in a career where demand is high and supply is low. Those conditions seem to make if easier to transition to a schedule that allows for more leisure activities while at the same time keeping you engaged in your career.

The previous responses all make good points about needing to assess for yourself factors such as retirement savings, health, insurance costs, etc. Obviously the earlier you leave the workforce the more you will need to have saved to maintain a current lifestyle, but the flip side are the stories of people who worked for forty years and saved regularly for retirement only pass away shortly after retiring. I think that if you love what you do for your career and it gives you fulfillment then you should look to ways to transition from a full-time position to a less-than-full-time position so that you can do things like travel, explore, etc. If you're stuck in a position where you hate getting out of bed on Monday morning to go back to work then you may want to reconsider and maybe the transition isn't from working at a job you don't like to retiring but rather changing from a job that you don't like to something that brings you more fulfillment.

It's a crap shoot, JillPine. You can keep plodding at work because money through retirement is precious, and then Fate, of all the gall, gives your gallbladder cancer, and time is suddenly the most precious thing of all, far surpassing money. Even if you're not struck with the Big C, your muscles and brain and energy all shrink, so with a longer work life, you're still left with less wherewithal, even though you have more money. I wish we all knew what to do, JillPine. I sure don't. So, I'm 65 and still sort of work, writing articles for eight or nine magazines, but I'm done with the heavy lifting because Fate might have me in her crosshairs and her finger might be twitching.

Interesting thread. I’m now 62 and pondering when we will retire. Probably still a few more years of work. When I do retire, I intend to keep doing some science on my own time and replace the committee meetings and paperwork with sailing, paddling, and more time in the wilderness. I got cancer when I was 44, so I know it can all change fast.

Two of my colleagues retired with a list of rivers to run and mountains to climb. They decided they better retire while they could still do the hardest ones on the list and then worked to the easier ones as they got older. I liked their attitude. They also helped me find the first canoe we bought and introduced me to carbon fiber paddles. We all chipped in and gave him one for his retirement present.

Interesting to hear everyone’s experiences. Thanks.

I went at 59. 25 years in. I was so disgusted with PC and woke culture at the University I couldn't stand it anymore.. It reached the point of absurdity to me.

I am much happier now,, my blood pressure is down and I have a quiet place in southern Indiana woods.. It was one of the best things I have ever done..

It was a little less money but nothing I couldn't live without.

I doubt when anybody dies they say they wish they had worked longer.

I retired 2 1/2 yrs ago at 60, too many years in a paper mill was wearing my body out, I wanted to get out while i was still able to do things. I have gone on at least 2 trips a year to the BWCA since I've retired and play a lot of golf last year during covid I played over 140 rounds it was the only place where I could get together with friends and play. I was in a good position, in good health and my wife is still working so I don't need insurance, I will admit in the wintertime I need to maybe get a part time job, just to kill time. Only one thing I often times don't know what day of the week it is because it really doesn't matter to me LOL

I am 66 and have been in real estate appraising for 22 years. Retirement will be cutting back to just a few assignments a week and only one county. I don't intend to take SS until 70 so as to max that out. Not because of the need for the money, but rather to keep active and in the game.

Too many people just "check out" when they retire. Drop out of church, work, social circles, etc. There is a lot of data, that particularly for men, the vast majority of men that retire early end up regretting not having the social interaction and something that makes their day worthwhile. They also tend to die earlier then those that continue to be active in the workforce, community, and church.

My uncles were all farmers on farms that were several thousand acres each. All 9 lived into their 90's and were still involved in farming right up to the end. . .and loving it.

If you don't like your job. . ."retirement" is a great time to try something new that you really love. . .and get paid at it.

I could have retired at 60 but when I made it to 60 I kept extending out a few more months. I finally retired at almost 62. I could have gotten better pension the longer I stayed. I wanted to retire no doubt but my wife became ill at the same time and died 6 months later. All our together retirement plans were blown up.

Just saw your posting name. Also a Saluki!

For those of you that retired, I appreciate your insight.

I’m am now really thinking about this and it gives me a lot of confidence in my decisions and things to think about as I move forward.
10 months to go.

Tom

I think my husband should retire, he is 68 and has a very physically demanding job. But the best I can get him to do is partially retire. He owns his own business and it is his baby so he is unable to let it go for good.

At 57, I occasionally toy with the idea. I could pull it off, but the thought usually only occurs on the days that I feel overwhelmed. But most days, I love my job. And since I get the summer off, I get to satisfy my desire to get into the wilderness a lot. Yes, it would be nice to do trips in the off season, but I had a youth well spent (lots of adventures and travels) so I have no complaints. I will retire when I don't enjoy going to work more than 50% of the time.

The only thing better then getting up each day and doing what you really love, is getting paid for it!

ockycamper: "I am 66 and have been in real estate appraising for 22 years. Retirement will be cutting back to just a few assignments a week and only one county. I don't intend to take SS until 70 so as to max that out. Not because of the need for the money, but rather to keep active and in the game.


Too many people just "check out" when they retire. Drop out of church, work, social circles, etc. There is a lot of data, that particularly for men, the vast majority of men that retire early end up regretting not having the social interaction and something that makes their day worthwhile. They also tend to die earlier then those that continue to be active in the workforce, community, and church.


My uncles were all farmers on farms that were several thousand acres each. All 9 lived into their 90's and were still involved in farming right up to the end. . .and loving it.


If you don't like your job. . ."retirement" is a great time to try something new that you really love. . .and get paid at it."

There is a lot of research to support that. People that live a quality life to 100 years old all stay involved in some type of work. Doesn’t have to “a job” though, but the key is being involved and feeling needed adds to quality of life and longevity.

For some that might be retiring and volunteering or helping family or still doing some work if they enjoy it. Just isn’t one answer for everyone.

T

As others have posted, I own my own company and love the work and freedom it brings.

I can't imagine waking up every morning to nothing but golf or fishing, day after day.

True living is getting to the end of the day, looking back, and seeing that you have made a contribution to others around you, and that you still have value.

Fascinating responses - thank you for sharing your experiences and wisdom.

This was like a thunderbolt - " I will retire when I don't enjoy going to work more than 50% of the time." Thanks, SHC!

I'm fortunate that I do enjoy my line of work very much. I'm also fortunate that I could probably - if I was intentional about it - excise nearly all the parts that I dislike, or at least ignore them, and still do a very good job, maybe even better.

Thank you for the thoughts.

And BN3, you're pretty clever. I'll be 122 * 0.4590 this summer. :)

~JP

I agree that you want to have value for each part of your life. I think that becomes more of a struggle as we age and it becomes harder to engage with the world around us. But it doesn't need to happen in retirement. It is very flexible to have a small company where you can control the work load. While I intend to live on our retirement funds, the science I intend to do is meant to contribute to my field and not just my own enjoyment. I could potentially try to get research grants for those projects but I'm hoping that it won't be worth the hassle. And one of the things I want to do at our sailing club is start participating in our disability sailing program. It's great to get kids out on the water and people could also look for ways to do that paddling.

salukiguy: "I could have retired at 60 but when I made it to 60 I kept extending out a few more months. I finally retired at almost 62. I could have gotten better pension the longer I stayed. I wanted to retire no doubt but my wife became ill at the same time and died 6 months later. All our together retirement plans were blown up. "

I am so sorry. Heartbreaking to learn this about your life, salukiguy.

missmolly: "It's a crap shoot, JillPine. You can keep plodding at work because money through retirement is precious, and then Fate, of all the gall, gives your gallbladder cancer, and time is suddenly the most precious thing of all, far surpassing money. Even if you're not struck with the Big C, your muscles and brain and energy all shrink, so with a longer work life, you're still left with less wherewithal, even though you have more money. I wish we all knew what to do, JillPine. I sure don't. So, I'm 65 and still sort of work, writing articles for eight or nine magazines, but I'm done with the heavy lifting because Fate might have me in her crosshairs and her finger might be twitching."

Sobering words from my idol who will paddle eternal!

missmolly: "It's a crap shoot, JillPine. You can keep plodding at work because money through retirement is precious, and then Fate, of all the gall, gives your gallbladder cancer, and time is suddenly the most precious thing of all, far surpassing money. Even if you're not struck with the Big C, your muscles and brain and energy all shrink, so with a longer work life, you're still left with less wherewithal, even though you have more money. I wish we all knew what to do, JillPine. I sure don't. So, I'm 65 and still sort of work, writing articles for eight or nine magazines, but I'm done with the heavy lifting because Fate might have me in her crosshairs and her finger might be twitching."

I have been lurking in the shadows on this thread but….

Words of wisdom to ponder. Really! Go ahead, ponder away!!

JW

ockycamper: "As others have posted, I own my own company and love the work and freedom it brings.


I can't imagine waking up every morning to nothing but golf or fishing, day after day.


True living is getting to the end of the day, looking back, and seeing that you have made a contribution to others around you, and that you still have value."

Many folks might love what they do also, but not enjoy the freedom that you do. The freedom for traveling, for spending time with family (if family does not live nearby), for doing other activities that might also make a contribution. In my case, my job was more physically demanding than I was able to handle, due to early-onset osteoarthritis, and it was a good fit to just keep the part-time job for a few years and retire early. (and I didn't receive a watch, but I did get a nice wall clock.) I have had several joint replacements and open heart surgery and have continued to remain active, partly because I have the time for medical care and an exercise regimen that I could not accomplish without great difficulty if I were teaching. I keep busy with some volunteer work, an extensive correspondence list, and packing for the next trip--as we always seem to be going somewhere! :-)

I worried that my husband, who retired at 65, would sit and watch TV and not find anything to do. We neither golf nor fish, and when he first retired he said "The only way to keep track of what day it is: "Sunday we go to church. The other days are all Saturday!" But in addition to cutting and splitting wood in the winter and raising a huge vegetable garden in the summer, he has become very active in volunteer work. He volunteers at church, but mainly at the University of Michigan Hospital, where he is a Peer Mentor at the Kidney Transplant Center (has won some very prestigious awards for his outstanding work) as well as serving on several other boards and doing other work with the Transplant Center. I don't even try to keep up with his busy volunteer schedule--we have a wipe-off board on our fridge so that I know when the iPad needs to be available now that his meetings are on Zoom.

So, I think the sentence at the end of your post rings very true for us. We did enjoy our work and we made contributions during our "working life". We are still making contributions, and the big difference now is that we have more freedom, and yes, more free time! We have earned it. We did two road trips in December, and now we will hunker down here in Michigan for January and February, but we won't be just sitting around.

Great Topic and discussion... From my own perspective, I retired from 40 years in Education, with the last 22 being in administration in May of 2020. I was 63. My original intent was to work until I was 65 and draw a paycheck and teacher retirement to build up a nest egg that last year. However, when Covid hit and all the restrictions on education I decided I was done.
The nest egg I want to have ended up being my TDrop money from Teacher Retirement. I draw social security, and a check from Teacher Retirement which amounts to about 75% of what I made working. However, we are not hurting at all. I am able to pay all my bills, including medical which seems to have increased but that's a different story. So, in my opinion, if you can retire and be happy and able to do what you want to do... do it! If you want to keep working, keeping working!
This is the kicker for me, now that I am retired, I wonder how I was able to do all the things I did while I was working! But... now I get to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, hunt, fish, work in the yard, babysit grandkids (which keeps me busy), do work for my 91 year old mother. Also, I have been able to become more active in my church, teaching a Life Group, becoming a Deacon, being on the board of our Christian School, cooking for our men's group. I say all this to specifically say that when you do retire, you can stay as busy as you want!

Good Luck in your decision!
Bruce

At 46, this thread is great for me to read. I don't think that I'm the kind of person who will want to keep working, I want to retire as soon as I can. But we've only just this year secured two good paying full time jobs. Wife finally, after working private schools to get our kids in there, landed a great full time art job that she needs to work at least 7 years before she can qualify for pension in Iowa (she's turning 50 this year). No savings, starting to pay down cc debt. I have a great 401k through ISU (200k and building for 12 years), that if I stay on track, with SS, will be enough for us to live on. Oldest of three kids just started college - so we assume wife's salary will be paying for college as much as we are able though they will have to take out loans. Cost of living for us are at peak right now with three kids - two in HS and one in Middle School, food alone is an incredible expense. But I'm thinking it would be good to start paying down principal on the mortgage so the house will be paid off by retirement. I'm not sure I'll be able to retire early, but sure would like to! Any advice?

scotttimm: "At 46, this thread is great for me to read. I don't think that I'm the kind of person who will want to keep working, I want to retire as soon as I can. But we've only just this year secured two good paying full time jobs. Wife finally, after working private schools to get our kids in there, landed a great full time art job that she needs to work at least 7 years before she can qualify for pension in Iowa (she's turning 50 this year). No savings, starting to pay down cc debt. I have a great 401k through ISU (200k and building for 12 years), that if I stay on track, with SS, will be enough for us to live on. Oldest of three kids just started college - so we assume wife's salary will be paying for college as much as we are able though they will have to take out loans. Cost of living for us are at peak right now with three kids - two in HS and one in Middle School, food alone is an incredible expense. But I'm thinking it would be good to start paying down principal on the mortgage so the house will be paid off by retirement. I'm not sure I'll be able to retire early, but sure would like to! Any advice?"

I am 66. Everyone focuses on savings but misses debt. I would offer what Dave Ramsey keeps saying: Pay off the mortgage; pay off any charge cards; pay off any car payments. . .then never go back into debt. THEN. . .start ramping up you investment accounts. If you don't have any debt you have lots of options on whether to work or not work. Our only bills at this point is food, utilities, medical and insurance, and gas. When those expenses are under $1000 per month everything opens up.

Just try this: Keep track of your expenses for one month. Then pull out all debt related expenses. Finally, pull out purchases that are not expenses but just stuff we like to buy, along with eating out, etc. That's your nut. Does that seem easier to handle in retirement?

I retired at 54 within 3 months of eligibility and have not looked back. My house and vehicle were paid off, wifey is still working 3 days a week. An old park ranger told me to retire as soon as you can, I took his advise. (I would have hit mandatory retirement when I turned 57)
With my federal pension, firefighter pension, (this goes away when I turn 62 so I can get SS.) my 401 K and health care mostly paid for, I am doing pretty good. I camped out 40+ days last year and should double that or more this year. Soon I am going to AZ and desert camp for a couple months.

Glad I retired for health reasons as well, even though I am in fairly good shape my lungs took a beating breathing all that wildland fire smoke. A year ago I was diagnosed with early stage emphysema.

ockycamper: "

scotttimm: "At 46, this thread is great for me to read. I don't think that I'm the kind of person who will want to keep working, I want to retire as soon as I can. But we've only just this year secured two good paying full time jobs. Wife finally, after working private schools to get our kids in there, landed a great full time art job that she needs to work at least 7 years before she can qualify for pension in Iowa (she's turning 50 this year). No savings, starting to pay down cc debt. I have a great 401k through ISU (200k and building for 12 years), that if I stay on track, with SS, will be enough for us to live on. Oldest of three kids just started college - so we assume wife's salary will be paying for college as much as we are able though they will have to take out loans. Cost of living for us are at peak right now with three kids - two in HS and one in Middle School, food alone is an incredible expense. But I'm thinking it would be good to start paying down principal on the mortgage so the house will be paid off by retirement. I'm not sure I'll be able to retire early, but sure would like to! Any advice?"

I am 66. Everyone focuses on savings but misses debt. I would offer what Dave Ramsey keeps saying: Pay off the mortgage; pay off any charge cards; pay off any car payments. . .then never go back into debt. THEN. . .start ramping up you investment accounts. If you don't have any debt you have lots of options on whether to work or not work. Our only bills at this point is food, utilities, medical and insurance, and gas. When those expenses are under $1000 per month everything opens up.


Just try this: Keep track of your expenses for one month. Then pull out all debt related expenses. Finally, pull out purchases that are not expenses but just stuff we like to buy, along with eating out, etc. That's your nut. Does that seem easier to handle in retirement?"

I agree with every single word that ockycamper just said!! This is what we did before retirement, and it has worked very well for us.

I'm still a long ways from retirement myself, but I can't see myself just not working. Who wants to sit at home all day doing nothing? I'd be more the type to get a different job to occupy my time. Maybe a driving for a shuttle service, working on a golf course, being a daytime bartender, or even starting my own business where I can work whenever I feel like it.

My point is that you spend your whole life working. Just up and retiring so you have no job at all can't be good for you mentally or physically. You need to keep up activity levels and routines. I've known too many people that work every day until retirement, then are dead within 5 years. That's too big of a lifestyle change, so I'm planning on taking a slower approach. Maybe retire from my career early to get a job that is new and fun. My grandpa was a golf ranger at a nice course for 10-15 years. Towards the end, he was only using it for free golf rounds and as an excuse to get out of the house. That's the retirement I dream of.

A1t2o: Sounds like a fine plan. But I am sort of resentful of the implication that those of us who are retired are just "sitting at home all day doing nothing." Did you read the other posts in this thread?

Spartan2: "A1t2o: Sounds like a fine plan. But I am sort of resentful of the implication that those of us who are retired are just "sitting at home all day doing nothing." Did you read the other posts in this thread?"

I did, but I also think that people on this forum are not a good representation of average. How much of the population likes their vacation to be "roughing" in the woods? The "sitting at home all day doing nothing" part comes from what I have seen of some family and neighbors after retiring.

Also, I'm more referring to routine. A job of some sort is good for keeping people to a routine, and without it that routine might start to slip into some unhealthy habits. I realize that I might not be disciplined enough to maintain a healthy routine on my own, but having a job and responsibilities would probably be enough.

scotttimm: "Any advice?"

1 - A loan for a primary home is the best interest rate you will ever get. Use it to your advantage.

2 - Never buy a car you can't afford to pay cash for and take the loan offered. It's usually a better deal and then pay it off in a month or two.

3 - Never ever carry cc debt unless you absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTLY need it to get to work so you can pay all your other bills on a timely basis.

uqme2: "

scotttimm: "Any advice?"

1 - A loan for a primary home is the best interest rate you will ever get. Use it to your advantage.


2 - Never buy a car you can't afford to pay cash for and take the loan offered. It's usually a better deal and then pay it off in a month or two.


3 - Never ever carry cc debt unless you absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTLY need it to get to work so you can pay all your other bills on a timely basis."

#2 sounds great but it's not very feasible. Maybe in previous generations, but the cost of living has gotten so high compared to wages that having that much cash on hand isn't possible for most households.

A better advice is to invest a little at a time into investment accounts, like mutual funds or stocks. Then when you go to buy a car, house, ect., check to see if your interest rate on the loan would be higher than your average growth rate on your investments. If the interest rate is higher, sell the stocks and mutual funds for a larger down payment, but if the growth rate is higher, put down the minimum down payment and keep or deposit as much as you can in the investment account.

Carrying a debt is not always a bad thing. Having debt with an interest rate lower than the rate of growth on your investments is very profitable. What is bad is holding on to investments that earn you less than the interest that your debt is costing you. Paying down debt with disposable income (if such a thing ever exists) is always a good idea though.

uqme2: "

scotttimm: "Any advice?"

1 - A loan for a primary home is the best interest rate you will ever get. Use it to your advantage.


2 - Never buy a car you can't afford to pay cash for and take the loan offered. It's usually a better deal and then pay it off in a month or two.


3 - Never ever carry cc debt unless you absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTLY need it to get to work so you can pay all your other bills on a timely basis."

As an appraiser I can't tell you the number of homes I have been in where the owners thought it was "smart" to keep their mortgage. Then a job loss occured, health issues, or a long list of other things and they couldn't continue to make the mortage payment

When you retire, the last thing you want to be tied to is a large mortgage payment. What happens when we hit a big downturn in the stock market again? And the nest egg you were depending on is down by 75%? Or SS runs out of money, as everyone is predicting?

There is no peace of mind like knowing you can continue living in your paid off house, driving your paid off cars, and paying for your needs whether SS is there or not, and whether or not your investments tank.

Topic makes me want to throw up. I’d love to have retired at 50, I’d still probably not have had enough time to do all the things I wanted to do. My daughter will be starting college when I’m 65, I suppose I’ll be having to work until I’m about 78.

I retired from State government 6 weeks after I was eligible for a pension at age 55 and never looked back. If you don’t love your job I don’t think you realize how much you dislike it until you leave it. For me it was like a great weight was lifted from my shoulders. Of course finances and health care are a major issue you need to address, but in most cases working a few more years isn’t going to make a significant difference in how much post-retirement income you have. If you’re concerned about keeping busy, there are unlimited volunteer opportunities almost everywhere.

Here’s the deal about a mortgage.

My mortgage is 4%

My lifetime average return on my investments is about 7%.

I make more money having a mortgage than I do paying it off.

However, some day I might wish to lose a little just to get the monkey off my back. I have no debts whatsoever except the mortgage.

Tom

Taught school for 36 years, retired at 58. Started investing in low expense ratio funds from Fidelity, Vanguard in late 30's, likely could have done better, tho 2 kids in college, a divorce, so investing was difficult for some years.

Didn't retire until we were out of debt, no mortgage or car payments, and our investments were more or less on autopilot. Took social security at 62 and had a modest pension.

After retiring, fished, hunted, cut and split firewood, shoveled the roof, told my present wife I'd shop, clean and cook as she was working a few more years. Baked bread, gained weight. Wrote a small wild game cookbook that maybe only my mother would use, volunteered in town, shoveled a lot more snow, took flying lessons, tied a few flies, rode my stationary bike during deep snow. Summers we ran rivers esp western whitewater, fly fished, traveled a bit, gardened, remodeled, family stuff.

2 years into retirement my wife was very ill so I substitute taught in her classroom, later subbed for other classes during late winter only, it was play money. One winter I drove airport shuttle a few months.

Why retire early? My two closest friends plus a couple acquaintances died young or their health failed right after they retired at 65.

I'd worked full time for 35 years, also had a side gig, sometimes two gigs, had kids, grand kids and obligations. It was time to kick back. There are few risk free decisions in life. But I'd still retire early again.

Your mileage may vary.

I retired at 66.5, full retirement. My wife retired at 62. I was still working and had insurance through my company benefits. In retrospect while it was ok for her to quit working, she should not have filed for SS as we were doing fine on my salary and benefits. She talked with someone in the local SS office who told her that overall the total amount of SS payout would even out over the years. i.e. getting less over a longer period or waiting to get more but collecting for less time. In retrospect she should have waited to full retirement or even age 70 as we did not need the SS payment.

In my own case I too could have waited to file until age 70, drawing on my pension in the interim as we were getting more from the pension and SS than we needed to live. We still do. I withdraw what I do from my pension to meet the RMD requirements.

So keep in mind that retiring and filing for SS do not necessarily have to coincide depending on your financial situation.

Salukiguy, so sorry for your loss and that you and your wife didn't have more years together.

I retired at 62 from a wonderful pediatric nursing career-I'll be 69 tomorrow. My wife is 53, pediatric nurse practitioner, and will retire this Spring. We have been well-compensated for our work and have not lived with any extravagance. We have averaged saving/investing over 25K a year for the last 25 years-so today that has grown to a pretty nice sum. We have been debt free for some time with only the routine day-to-day expenses. Being frugal, live within your means folks...it was never our planned intention to be in the financial situation in which we have landed-it simply happened within the flow of our lives.

We have many hobbies and interests-and our little Scamp trailer. We are tied to godforsaken Kansas for several more years-seeing our grandsons through HS. We love to travel-have done a little abroad but will mostly stay on the North American continent. May is the month when dual retirement begins for our household and June will kick-off with some wonderful family times in venues we love. Family, golfing, hiking and fishing will guide our activities. We have connections to SE Asia, have been there, and we love, love, love the people/culture and food of that region-need to stay connected there. We are connected to several excellent disaster relief agencies and will volunteer significant blocks of time with them.

We are sooooo excited for this next chapter of our life together!!!

outsidethebox: "I retired at 62 from a wonderful pediatric nursing career-I'll be 69 tomorrow. My wife is 53, pediatric nurse practitioner, and will retire this Spring. We have been well-compensated for our work and have not lived with any extravagance. We have averaged saving/investing over 25K a year for the last 25 years-so today that has grown to a pretty nice sum. We have been debt free for some time with only the routine day-to-day expenses. Being frugal, live within your means folks...it was never our planned intention to be in the financial situation in which we have landed-it simply happened within the flow of our lives. "

One thing to point out with this situation, but I don't think it applies to you with your investments, is to be careful about having the younger spouse retiring early when there is a significant age gap. When my grandpa died, his wife (remarried) ran into an issue with his pension and SS. When we was alive, they could claim SS for both him and his wife, but after he died, she had issues with her portion of the SS being much lower than his due to her retiring so much earlier in life. Combined with how his pension worked out, she ended up with much less coming in each month and she is about 15-20 years younger than he was so the retirement account needs to last her quite a while.

The point I'm getting at is that while many might be fine when both spouses are around, some might not have a plan in place if they or their spouse passes early or unexpectedly. My grandpa's wife lost part of their SS and pension income, but the bills don't just cut in half because there is only one person instead of 2. You want to make sure that you aren't relying on that outside income which could be lost.

Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered.

When I became eligible I did the math on SS. After successfully correcting a year they got wrong 35 years ago, I filed. It's been a few months now and it still freaks me out to get a check for doing nothing. I don't truly need it but in my case I'd be a fool not to take it considering average life expectancy. Plus I expect my wife will get more since she will have worked longer and could sell the house.

Oh, and my kid desperately wants a pickup truck for her 21st birthday. Do they still sell Matchbox or Hot Wheels?

Thanks, jillpine and Jwilder!

I retired at 60 from a job that was very demanding physically. A couple years later I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how well we’d be financially but I found that if your expectations are kept modest and realistic that it’s easier to get by than expected. All that extra money I could have made wouldn’t have meant much if I didn’t have the good health to enjoy things like canoeing the BWCA.

The “experts” say work longer to increase your SS income…but it’s only worth it if you can use it.

I have really enjoyed this post and appreciate all of you who shared about your retirement life.

Retiring at my 55th birthday has been a long time goal, at 51.5 it is fast approaching. I don't hate my job, but it is stressful, demanding and requires long hours in doors. A couple years ago I started my 70 month plan, which was a road map to being able to retire at 55. Updated quarterly it tracks all of my retirement funds and debt and projects out balances to my retirement goal. It is helpful when I think about spending money, because I will enter the results of spending this money into my 70 month plan, if the purchase derails the plan I don't buy the item. The plan is heavily reliant on no debt at retirement.

Retirement for me means more time outdoors, more family time, multiple paddling trips, more physical activity, and pursuing a side gig that I enjoy at a higher level. The side gig figures strongly in my retirement. I have slowly been building this business so that at my early retirement age it will already be producing some income. It also helps to invest in the side business while at the higher income level for the tax deductions. 90% of the work for this gig is outside.

I live well below my current income level. Some of my co-workers refer to me as "cheap" "tight fisted" and other less glamorous names. I doubt if they ever cross my mind when I paddle the border route my first week of retirement........

Whenever I run into past colleagues that have retired I always make it a point to ask them how retirement is going. Its about 50/50 those who love it and those who hate it. The ones who hate it typically had limited interests outside of work.
The ones who love it typically had a wide range of interests prior to the retirement that they could pursue at a higher level once they retired. I think that mirror's many of the comments we have seen here from the already retired.

Great thread (in spite of some of the investment advice............) Happy paddling.

I retired early 14 years ago and I’m glad I did.

A friend of mine is a Financial Planer and the three things he sees derail a retirement most are….

Health issues of retiree, spouse or children.
Gambling.
Adult children or grandchildren “borrowing” money.

He does a lot of counseling with people who retired and fret over investments or think the worst will happen and they will lose everything.

Thanks again to all the contributors. To my original post, I was wondering how those who had achieved retirement felt about the timing of their retirement. The responses have been insightful and helpful. Thank you.

DougD - I admire your incisive planning. It inspired me to generate a spreadsheet last night called Retirement Portage. At the outset, it looks like it will be about a 48 month crossing if I'm able to single-portage it, which I plan to do. Here are the hurdles / considerations I predict along the way (credit to TIAA for this list I wrote down from a 2020 webinar):

timing of social security - planning to wait until 70, living off savings and very modest pension until that time. I believe SS will not "go away". Understand and respect different opinions here.
healthcare costs - even the benefit of retirement healthcare through my work is costly - no way around this blowdown. Just have to move through it.
order of income drawdown - I leverage the knowledge and skills of a fee-only financial planner whom I trust (and pay), a lot. I think of him like the guide I hired for this first-time, true-wilderness expedition.
sequence of returns - same as above
debt - we refinanced the mortgage and bundled in an unsavory ARM for the dry cabin, capitalizing on low interests rate in 2021. When we down-size at the end of this portage, the mortgage will be paid off in full. We don't carry consumer debt. My wife's student loan is 2.25% and will be paid off at the end of the portage. We regard it as "good debt", a cost of doing business if you will. Without it, she would not have been able to do the job the education trained her to do - I don't feel this way very often about student debt....
Taxation - help from the expedition guide above
Investment expenses - I follow investing strategies as a Boglehead. Says it all about fees and funds. Keep it simple, stay the course, avoid high fees.
Portfolio returns / inflation / volatility - carry good rain gear, be confident in how to access and tie a tarp, and be content playing cribbage instead of doing the paddling as planned. Easier to say than do or plan, but it is helpful to have the flexible mindset.
IRMAA surtaxes - again, reliance on a CFP to help navigate the complexities of taxation and draw-down strategy.

Thanks, again, to all who contributed.

Great thread.

When I was 55 I started doing the math (SS, pensions, health care insurance, just got three kids through college, blah, blah, blah) and found out that it was possible to retire early. Even though I knew I could retire the actual decision was very hard for me. It was like stepping into the unknown after 40 years of structured work. I struggled with the decision for over a year. One day my wife and I took a bike ride into town and were visiting the cemetery where our parents are buried. I was standing at my dad's grave and thought "what advice would he have for me"? That was the moment I made the decision. I set a date to retire on my 58th birthday and the rest is history.

I just turned 71 and retirement has turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. The uncertainty soon evaporated and I became secure in the fact that it was going to be OK. The OK eventually turned into happiness. The new found freedom reminded me of summer vacations when I was a kid....not a care in the world. I eventually came to the conclusion that it wasn't the work that I minded but it was the "structure" associated with it. I had to be there at a certain time, leave at a certain time etc. I still work hard doing other "stuff" but most of it is scheduled by the weather rather than the clock.

Our situations are all different and because of that there's no cookie cutter approach to this. I think people intuitively know when they're ready to move on. For me it was like being kicked in the head by a mule. I knew it.

Do what's right for you. You'll feel it. You'll know when you're ready. Like the old saying goes.... If it looks like a skunk and smells like a skunk, it's probably a skunk.

This is a good phase of my life.

.......Mike

I don't know if we will ever be able to retire but the best thing I can say is to get rid of all debt as soon as possible, including the mortgage. We have 0 debt as we paid off our home and land in 2017. But inflation, insurance, and kids are expensive. So in my mind, the best thing to do is remove ALL debt.

All of you advocating keeping the mortage are not taking into account the economic principle of risk. You can't just compare a guaranteed return (paying off a mortgage) to a speculative return (stock market) as apples to apples.

Paying off a 3-1/2% mortage is a guaranteed 3-1/2% return. We are moving into a period of inflation and probably hyper inflation. I can also tell you as an appraiser that there is going to be a correction in the housing market this spring or summer.

What happens to your portfolio if you get hit with a 40 to 60% correction? What happens if you lose your job, or social security runs out?

ockycamper: "All of you advocating keeping the mortage are not taking into account the economic principle of risk. You can't just compare a guaranteed return (paying off a mortgage) to a speculative return (stock market) as apples to apples.

Paying off a 3-1/2% mortage is a guaranteed 3-1/2% return. We are moving into a period of inflation and probably hyper inflation. I can also tell you as an appraiser that there is going to be a correction in the housing market this spring or summer.

What happens to your portfolio if you get hit with a 40 to 60% correction? What happens if you lose your job, or social security runs out? "

JillPine, I enjoyed your paddle and portage analogies.

Mr. Camper, if one weren't intending to sell their home to fund retirement, why would a housing correction matter?

Also, isn't inflation good in this way: The less money is worth, the less one's mortgage.

My SIL is a closing agent. We both laugh about home inspectors and appraisers being basically just factored in grifters profiting off the uneducated rubes.

It's all good.

Jillpine, excellent and interesting thread. Thanks for starting it.

I retired after teaching at the college level for 40 years at age 65. I enjoyed my job and with summers off, and I took them, retiring early was never a big deal to me. By working to 65 I maxed out my pension and also receive some SS. We have been financially fine since retirement and because we are financially conservative, actually save more $ than prior to retirement. I also help with the grandkids, and my elderly parents needed help until they passed away. I have never thought myself bored or regretting not working. So, I would say I timed it right. I agree with those who have said your physical ability does start to decline in your 60s and this can effect your best laid plans. We have just gone with the flow and dealt with physical issues as they come up. I would advise trying to lower your debt as much as possible prior to retirement. Have your house paid off, car, and other debts as much as you can. We have been debt free for years and this allows us to do more that we want by not having to worry about paying debt bills. This also applies to credit cards. Pay them off. Also, keep in mind because people live longer today you need to plan a bit for a long life. By retiring too early you may find yourself having to go back to work part time, not because you want to, but have to. Each person is different and that is the key. There is no best path for everyone. But once you choose your path, it will strongly influence the rest of your life so choose wisely.

I'll echo other's, it's been a great thread for those of us getting up there.
Thanks for the opinions of those who have retired.
55 and I've not thought all that seriously about it until the last year or so.
Little lady and I do pretty well, no kids.
House has been paid off for 10 years, same stress free GIS job for the last 28 years. Been in the private GIS industry 31 years, so I don't know what this pension thing is a lot of you have been blessed with is.......it's been a blessing to both of our folks.
It seems to be a timing thing to those of us who truly enjoy the outdoors, I want to still do it.......but can I still do it? Will the the body permit it? I guess we all adapt as we age, trip goals are not as ambitious. Life goals as well.
Grew up with not all that, have carried that into my adult life......pretty stingy overall. By being stingy, I do not really worry about money, kinda hard to explain. But I have zero problem paying for nice things, nice gear, stuff that lasts and will treat you well.
I could retire today, but the side eyes from the Mrs qualms that every time it comes up.
I don't know, time goes by pretty quick these days, 7 years will probably be here before I know it. That's my goal at this time tonight, things could change, and they usually do.

What I want to know is..
How many years do I have left?
How many active, healthy years do I have left?

These are the unanswerable questions that stymie my calculations.

I did nursing home admission for five years. Convinced me to not count on tomorrow. So many sad stories.

So, while I cannot retire, I do all I can with my time off. And, balance as much as possible. When I was young, I always took less stressful jobs for less money so I could play while I was healthy. Good job, young Amy! Wise decision. :)

I say if you can at all do it, DO it.

I haven't retired yet, but I'll speak to what my thoughts are, as I've had them. I'm 53 now and unless things REALLY tank I'll be able to retire when I'm 60, and my wife is 58. I LIKE to work but I'm currently setting myself up to be able to do a fun part-time thing when I hit 60 so I can not worry one bit about my fun and expensive hobbies.

I'm waiting until 60 because I want my wife to not worry about money. She (and I) needs to be able to spoil the grandkids (when they arrive) and not think too hard about the cost, assuming we don't go nuts on all that.

If I had to continue to work beyond 60 so she can live a great life, I'd do that. It's not ONLY about her, but I do it for her. If for some reason I have to continue to work and she gets to retire, I'd do that. I'd INSIST on it.

So my decision is to retire later if needed, so she can retire "on time". If we hit our number and I drop dead, hopefully on the way down I can think "Success!".

ockycamper: "All of you advocating keeping the mortage are not taking into account the economic principle of risk. You can't just compare a guaranteed return (paying off a mortgage) to a speculative return (stock market) as apples to apples.

Paying off a 3-1/2% mortage is a guaranteed 3-1/2% return. We are moving into a period of inflation and probably hyper inflation. I can also tell you as an appraiser that there is going to be a correction in the housing market this spring or summer.

What happens to your portfolio if you get hit with a 40 to 60% correction? What happens if you lose your job, or social security runs out? "

It depends on when you are retiring or if you are already retired. If you are 5+ years from retirement, there is enough time to mitigate the risk and make a 3.5% return look small. I'm pretty young and invest my 401K pretty aggressively so my average return is 5-7%. If you are retiring sooner than that, or are already retired, then 3.5% can look pretty good because there is no time to recover from a market crash. Either way it is less than inflation right now so my mortgage debt is relatively shrinking.

How you want to invest changes based on what stage of your life you are at.
Personally, I find that people within 5 years of retirement or already retired don't always give the best financial advice to people under 55. Their situation is different and needs to be looked at in a different way. Fixed interest rates and guaranteed returns are much more attractive when you have so much to lose and no time to recover from losses. Riskier investments, though, are much more attractive if you have the time to take advantage of the average rate of return.

It's more complicated than just this, but it basically boils down to different people having different goals based on when they retire. If your goal is different than someone else's, or separated by a few years/decades, then your advice based on your own personal experiences probably isn't perfect for their situation.

I disagreed with the 1099 I got from SS today too. That was way more than I expected. So I went to my checking account and sure enough, their math is right.

Not that I had a choice so many years ago when that insurance mandate kicked in or anything.