Should I stop daydreaming about retiring at 55?

[Anonymous]

Not everyone wants to spend a decade producing creative work they know to be inferior and essentially nonproductive

[Anonymous]

if your money is tied up in retirement accounts what will you live in between ages 55-59.5? your child will also presumably be in college. How will they pay for health insurance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if your money is tied up in retirement accounts what will you live in between ages 55-59.5? your child will also presumably be in college. How will they pay for health insurance?

1. I have a 457(b) plan which does not have an age requirement for distributions, but for other plans there is the rule of 55
2. Employer's retiree health insurance benefit which includes family coverage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be careful what you wish for. I retired at 55 per plan but now at 58, wish I had not. $$ is not the reason. There is not much to do after the first 6 month post retirement. Im still at my mental and physical peak to sit around planning the next vacation. Now I get why the most successful never retire or keep working.

Fair. Appreciate this perspective (and other PPs that shared similar thoughts). And I'm guessing it's not as easy as just getting another job in your late 50s.

So find a part time job/volunteer work/something that challenges your mind and gives you daily purpose. But keep it flexible, so you can take that 2 week vacation and actually not have to do any work/emails/etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if your money is tied up in retirement accounts what will you live in between ages 55-59.5? your child will also presumably be in college. How will they pay for health insurance?

That is something you must plan for (obviously). A family plan will cost $20-25K, a couple plan $15-20K. You can do it if college is paid for (529/other savings). We plan to wait until the youngest is out of college. We will be 57/55. Then we will purchase insurance privately or spouse will "serve on the board" for some company and will manage to get us health care thru that (which would be slightly more cost effective--we currently only pay $3500/year for our excellent family plan)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if your money is tied up in retirement accounts what will you live in between ages 55-59.5? your child will also presumably be in college. How will they pay for health insurance?

Rule 55 is your friend here.

https://smartasset.com/retirement/401k-55-rule

[Anonymous]

I am still happily working at 62. In Covid was laid off and I was out of work for several months and it was horrible.

And no I have no hobbies because I have been working my whole life. Last hobbies I had was back in my 20s which was going to football games, skiing, working on classic cars. I have no interest in that now or anyone to do it with.

And playing golf with a bunch of 80 year old retired men or seeing plays with old people sounds boring.

[Anonymous]

Only boring people get bored.

[Anonymous]

“The Money Mustache Forum has a section for those who have accumulated $2m and beyond. As you head toward your second million, the earnings grow fast. You can go tot hat forum and get ideas from a non-DCUM crowd, which tends to think no amount is enough to retire.”

What section is this? I couldn’t find it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am still happily working at 62. In Covid was laid off and I was out of work for several months and it was horrible.

And no I have no hobbies because I have been working my whole life. Last hobbies I had was back in my 20s which was going to football games, skiing, working on classic cars. I have no interest in that now or anyone to do it with.

And playing golf with a bunch of 80 year old retired men or seeing plays with old people sounds boring.

Many 50-year-old men (and women) play golf on weekdays at our club. They are also gym-fit and enjoy a robust social life. I doubt they are bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only boring people get bored.

Such a stupid saying. You have to be interesting to be bored.