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Retired at 55 with 34 years of government service. Social Security did not inform my decision of what age to retire since I don't get Social Security, just Medicare. I kept my health insurance and continue to pay into that. Had the years of service required before I had the age. I moved out of state within 3 weeks of retiring and was looking for a whole different life doing the things I like to do. Took classes, joined a book discussion group, picked up photography as a hobby, joined a camera club, went on bus day trips to casinos, took annual 2 week road trips to various states, read about 2 books, per month. I was very active my first 7 years of retirement. My health started to go south when I was 62. I was glad I got to do a lot before that happened. If I was Social Security eligible and waited to retire, I would have missed a lot.
Given that the financial services industry endlessly brays about how we're unprepared for retirement and need to work longer or to save more, it's refreshing to see a counterexample. We should then note, that a person who's been planning for retirement since age 18, who then does retire at 55, will have been working, saving and investing for 37 years. Isn't that already sufficiently long?
We think nothing of a person who dawdles, fritters money away and has $0 at age 40. Then suddenly he or she has an epiphany, becomes financially committed and frugal, and... retires at 70, thirty years later. But in our first example, the fellow has been striving for 37 years... that's 7 years longer than in the second example. Why do we then regard the first, as "early", meaning luxurious and a bit presumptuous... while the second example is decent and hard-working and deserving?
Given that the financial services industry endlessly brays about how we're unprepared for retirement and need to work longer or to save more, it's refreshing to see a counterexample. We should then note, that a person who's been planning for retirement since age 18, who then does retire at 55, will have been working, saving and investing for 37 years. Isn't that already sufficiently long?
We think nothing of a person who dawdles, fritters money away and has $0 at age 40. Then suddenly he or she has an epiphany, becomes financially committed and frugal, and... retires at 70, thirty years later. But in our first example, the fellow has been striving for 37 years... that's 7 years longer than in the second example. Why do we then regard the first, as "early", meaning luxurious and a bit presumptuous... while the second example is decent and hard-working and deserving?
Because we have become a society of "victims" first.
My son is a Fire Chief. He can retire at 50. Will he-I doubt it-he likes his job. He said maybe at 55 and then he will go back to teaching future firefighters for a few years.
I told him if he retires at 50 he would only retire 1 year after his dad who is waiting until he is 70 to retire.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by EllieKay56
My son is a Fire Chief. He can retire at 50. Will he-I doubt it-he likes his job. He said maybe at 55 and then he will go back to teaching future firefighters for a few years.
I told him if he retires at 50 he would only retire 1 year after his dad who is waiting until he is 70 to retire.
I have a couple Fire Chief friends who have taken the retirement and done (3) more gigs as Fire Chiefs in very desireable places they wanted to visit for awhile but could have never afforded. (One went to North Macedonia / Greece)
They go in and shape things up, and then move on... leaving a far better functioning dept behind them. (because fire service has a LOT of 'good-old-boy' network issues that have been plaquing them for decades.)
Very well paid, not always fun, but quite rewarding and engaging, and essentially being paid (well) to live in a beautiful place for awhile. Another bonus... selling their homes in these nice places for a LOT of tax free gain. ($500k every 24 months). Win-win, especially for Early Retirement and desiring to stay engaged, contributing, and earning $$$.
other Fire Service retirees fulfill their self employment / businesses they have nurtured or dreamed of. Many seem to become back-country guides or rescue service leaders. Or buy a commercial fishing boat. Or open a Gunsmith business.
The only people I know who have been able to do it with largely repeatable circumstances are almost exclusively military/fire/LEO with a pension, and have their medical covered through their former employer, or by their spouse who continues to work.
You can get there with corporate employment, but it requires a good job, and possibly a few good breaks. A friend of mine is a pharmacist who is a regional pharmacy manager for Walmart. His wife is a hospital pharmacist. I know he's had two profitable home sales. I have no idea what their finances are like, but those are the types of careers.
I know a handful of people in tech who have done really well through stock, but that's few and far between in many areas of the country.
There is the usual inheritance and "I bought in California/New York/DC years ago, sold out, moved to a cheap state, so if I can do it, you can too" type of thing, but that doesn't do those of us who aren't in those affluent areas any good.
It really comes down to savings rate and time. If you can live beneath your means and save enough, you can retire at 50 with a savings rate of around 30%, regardless of income, using a pretty repeatable methodology of investing in low-fee, diverse index funds that get average returns.
Well, it's official. I had my financial advisor re-run the Monte Carlo analysis based on the updated information including the equity we were able to get from selling our house on the coast and buying a place in Michigan. We met today to go over it. I've had retiring early as a goal for a very, very long time, and it looks like I'll be doing it at 53. I am expecting a bonus in March so I'll stay long enough to get that (or until I hear we aren't getting bonuses this year). So I should be wrapping things up in the rat race in the next 8 weeks......after planning for this for so long it is hard to wrap my head around.
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