Why does it seem like everyone wants to retire early?

[Anonymous]

I don't know about about you guys. But I am 65 and frankly the number of people that I know that are either disabled, dead, or dealing with very serious health issues as soon as their 50s is SCARY.

I look at life expectancy for men it say 82. Okay great. But how is that trajectory to 82? Is it being on 20 pills a day, 4 doctors visit a week, 2 surgeries a year the trajectory? I think we need to think about this. Many of us have so much saved for retirement, but perhaps we should prioritize spending that money while we are still in decent health no? So retire early if you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does it seem like everyone wants to retire early? Is it because they started in a very high stress job in their early 20s and are burned out by 50? Or are there other reasons.

I just turned 50. I plan to retire at 65. My job is okay in terms of stress, but I am not stressed to the point of wanting to retire early

Oh, my gosh - to TRAVEL! There is never enough time to see all the places I want to see because of work. My spouse and I have one child who is now in a state school and we have all educational expenses covered for undergrad and grad school. We have lived conservatively so we have the financial ability to retire early without sacrificing our lifestyle. Our jobs are not particularly fulfilling in terms of the work we do and he works remotely, so there is not even a social aspect that makes it appealing to continue working. We are in our 50s and have worked our whole lives to this point and now want to enjoy some of what we have worked hard for while we are healthy and able to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it seem like everyone wants to retire early? Is it because they started in a very high stress job in their early 20s and are burned out by 50? Or are there other reasons.

I just turned 50. I plan to retire at 65. My job is okay in terms of stress, but I am not stressed to the point of wanting to retire early

Oh, my gosh - to TRAVEL! There is never enough time to see all the places I want to see because of work. My spouse and I have one child who is now in a state school and we have all educational expenses covered for undergrad and grad school. We have lived conservatively so we have the financial ability to retire early without sacrificing our lifestyle. Our jobs are not particularly fulfilling in terms of the work we do and he works remotely, so there is not even a social aspect that makes it appealing to continue working. We are in our 50s and have worked our whole lives to this point and now want to enjoy some of what we have worked hard for while we are healthy and able to do it.

why cant you travel and work? I had a job with travel and over 8 years I visited 23 states and 5 countries. Lot more fun when not paying for it and you actually experience the state or country with locals as opposed to a tourist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does it seem like everyone wants to retire early? Is it because they started in a very high stress job in their early 20s and are burned out by 50? Or are there other reasons.

I just turned 50. I plan to retire at 65. My job is okay in terms of stress, but I am not stressed to the point of wanting to retire early

How are you able to plan to keep a job.

For last 10 years, i have been subjected to multiple RIFs, and they always go for the older people. Software development is dominated by H-1bs and cheap disposable labor. This allows companies to get rid of older people and favor younger developers.

After last layoff, gave up and “retired”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would "retire" today if I could. There are so many other things to do with my time, from family stuff to travel to exercise to volunteering. I have burned out in past jobs, yes, but the bigger stress is balancing work (and commute) with home life.

Agree, same here!

[Anonymous]

Planning to retire in 2 years at 55 when youngest go to college. DH is retiring this year
We have no mortgage, 6 million retirement + taxable investment.
Our monthly expense is only 10k, there is no need to work any longer even though my remote job is not stressful , pays good benefit and decent pays well and offers good benefits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would you want to keep working? Life is limited. I belong in a nice small town near a beach in Thailand running a laid back cafe.

running a cafe is work

[Anonymous]

Because no one on their deathbed ever wishes they had worked more. But they do wish they spent more time with family, etc.

Can you really not think of a better use of your time than working? Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it seem like everyone wants to retire early? Is it because they started in a very high stress job in their early 20s and are burned out by 50? Or are there other reasons.

I just turned 50. I plan to retire at 65. My job is okay in terms of stress, but I am not stressed to the point of wanting to retire early

Oh, my gosh - to TRAVEL! There is never enough time to see all the places I want to see because of work. My spouse and I have one child who is now in a state school and we have all educational expenses covered for undergrad and grad school. We have lived conservatively so we have the financial ability to retire early without sacrificing our lifestyle. Our jobs are not particularly fulfilling in terms of the work we do and he works remotely, so there is not even a social aspect that makes it appealing to continue working. We are in our 50s and have worked our whole lives to this point and now want to enjoy some of what we have worked hard for while we are healthy and able to do it.

why cant you travel and work? I had a job with travel and over 8 years I visited 23 states and 5 countries. Lot more fun when not paying for it and you actually experience the state or country with locals as opposed to a tourist

We do! We have visited more than 40 countries with our child. We want to travel more and for longer.

[Anonymous]

Follow all of the fed discussion threads. I wasn’t planning on stopping working just yet, but it’s nice to know I can.