if you were able to retire early (55-62) how did you do it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Side question....Is age 62 considered "early retirement"? I always thought early retirement was in the 50s but due to less favorable economics, is early 60s the new "early retirement" zone? Just curious what others are thinking?

I agree, reading this thread and seeing people say they retired "early" at 62 is kind of depressing. Unless social security is going to be your primary source of income, i would expect retiring at 62 vs 65 isn't really a big financial difference. LIke, if you're going to be good to retire at 65, you're presumably set up with a good enough cushion to retire at 62 instead.

I don't think of it as really "early retirement" but retiring on the earlier end of the typical age span (DH and I plan to retire at 60). However, it is not super common: "Just 32% of Americans aged 60 to 64 were retired between 2016 and 2022, according to Gallup. That drops to 11% for those aged 55 to 59 and below 10% for younger Americans."

https://www.fool.com/research/average-retirement-age/

[Anonymous]

What # did people hit to decide they were ok to retire before 60 - asssume to cover two people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in my early 50s and in a job I like overall, but it's a very draining role, the commute isn't great, I'm getting bored with the work and the options for moving up the chain and seeing more significant raises are limited. I could stick it out for another five years, ideally more like 8-10, but it's getting to be a lot. Over the past year, a few of my older colleagues resigned before hitting 60. One retired early out of nowhere and management didn't throw him a retirement party, so I didn't have a chance to ask him what's next. Another left early after being with the org for about 15 years and was vested in the pension but still left earlier than most in the plan.

So, for those who've done it, how do you get to the point of making it happen? Did you assess your finances and accept a lower-paying or part time job for peace of mind and being ok with giving up the good salary? Or did you methodically plan for retiring early and sock away a lot of money since your first job?

I'm in my 50s. Spouse and I knew we wanted to retire earlier than most from the time we got married, and I plan to in the next six months. Sacrificed a lot in our early years: rarely went out to eat, bought a house that was a bit of a stretch at the time and got a roommate, have never had a car payment because we saved up to purchase used cars in cash, etc. We have never moved from that house. It's definitely consistency over time. Keeping spending low also gave spouse and I flexibility to take family-friendly jobs that did not require crazy hours and weekends. We now spend a ton on travel and enjoy what we have saved, so while it was a sacrifice early in our marriage, there is a lot of freedom now.

We do everything you did except buy a house early — did you do a low down payment? We cant retire till 60s sadly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 56 and still working. DH is 62 and retired at 60 (technically laid off and chose to retire because we were able to do that financially). I plan to retire at 60.

House will be paid off then and last kid out of college - she's a junior, kid 1 graduated this year and is working full time and living on his own. We still live in the Arlington house DH bought in the late 90s although we did a significant renovation 12 years ago. DH saved a lot in the first 10 yrs of his career while i was later to saving. So, a lot of our good place with retirement $$ is because of that foundation.

No pensions or retiree healthcare. I'll have to figure out health insurance to bridge from 60-65. Possibly an ACA plan, although I want to investigate more the idea of taking a class per semester at GMU to get student health insurance.

So, basically, early savings, house that never had a payment that was a large % of our income, kids went to reasonably priced colleges (one in-state, one OOS with merit, both <$30k/yr), my parents paid for one year of college per kid. Buy modest cars and drive them for a long time. Generally live within our means.

The 90s house is really the master key to prosperity for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in my early 50s and in a job I like overall, but it's a very draining role, the commute isn't great, I'm getting bored with the work and the options for moving up the chain and seeing more significant raises are limited. I could stick it out for another five years, ideally more like 8-10, but it's getting to be a lot. Over the past year, a few of my older colleagues resigned before hitting 60. One retired early out of nowhere and management didn't throw him a retirement party, so I didn't have a chance to ask him what's next. Another left early after being with the org for about 15 years and was vested in the pension but still left earlier than most in the plan.

So, for those who've done it, how do you get to the point of making it happen? Did you assess your finances and accept a lower-paying or part time job for peace of mind and being ok with giving up the good salary? Or did you methodically plan for retiring early and sock away a lot of money since your first job?

Lived within our means (mostly). Incurred only "good debt" (mortgage; and didn't buy in the range we were approved for). Saved like crazy, invested, aggressively funded 529. We still had a lot of luxury (mostly vacations) but did not do fancy cars, fancy clothes (basic stuff no Prada, Gucci, Chanel, etc.), don't buy a lot of jewelry. Those just aren't important to us.

We also had some luck, honestly, buying our home in 2002 before prices skyrocketed. Also our starter home became our forever home and we remodeled. So we paid it off in about 20 years.

Having said that, I have money insecurities having grown up poor. So I'm still working, it's just for myself whenever I want. I'm 53.

How did you buy a house in DMV at 29??

I bought a house at the same time when I was 28.

The house was $300,000. I saved 60,000 to put down on the house because I didn’t go to fancy dinners or Europe.

I cooked at home and packed my lunch.

My house is now worth 750,000.

I live in Darnestown, Maryland. I’ve never commuted more than 30 minutes to work.

You probably would never want to live here. But I’m retired @ 57.

OMFG. You bought your house in 1997. Thats why you made it.

$300k when younger GenX or Millennials were that age gets you MAYBE a crappy condo, and long term that is almost always a financial liability.

Fancy dinners? Europe? Too bad retirement didnt make you a kinder or reflective person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Side question....Is age 62 considered "early retirement"? I always thought early retirement was in the 50s but due to less favorable economics, is early 60s the new "early retirement" zone? Just curious what others are thinking?

I agree, reading this thread and seeing people say they retired "early" at 62 is kind of depressing. Unless social security is going to be your primary source of income, i would expect retiring at 62 vs 65 isn't really a big financial difference. LIke, if you're going to be good to retire at 65, you're presumably set up with a good enough cushion to retire at 62 instead.

Most people need reasonable health insurance which doesnt come until medicare at 65. Once you wait to 65 might as well wait to 67 to get full SS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Side question....Is age 62 considered "early retirement"? I always thought early retirement was in the 50s but due to less favorable economics, is early 60s the new "early retirement" zone? Just curious what others are thinking?

One metric to look at is what Social Security considers to be your Full Retirement Age. https://www.ssa.gov/retirement/full-retirement-age

Anything less can reasonably be defined as "early retirement", because for SS purposes you'd be either ineligible for benefits (i.e., before age 62) or would be accepting permanently reduced benefits for your lifetime.

Another metric could be eligibility for Medicare, which typically becomes available at age 65. https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/sign-up/when-can-i-sign-up-for-medicare

Those ineligible for Medicare because they are not yet age 65 could reasonably be considered to be taking early retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Side question....Is age 62 considered "early retirement"? I always thought early retirement was in the 50s but due to less favorable economics, is early 60s the new "early retirement" zone? Just curious what others are thinking?

I agree, reading this thread and seeing people say they retired "early" at 62 is kind of depressing. Unless social security is going to be your primary source of income, i would expect retiring at 62 vs 65 isn't really a big financial difference. LIke, if you're going to be good to retire at 65, you're presumably set up with a good enough cushion to retire at 62 instead.

Most people need reasonable health insurance which doesnt come until medicare at 65. Once you wait to 65 might as well wait to 67 to get full SS.

Waiting until age 70 is even better, for those who can afford it, unless you have good reason to expect an actuarially reduced lifespan. SS benefits increase 8% annually up to age 70 for those who defer beyond their Full Retirement Age of 66 or 67; that is effectively a form of longevity insurance. That is, if you live longer than expected you'll not only collect benefits for a longer period of time but those benefits will be larger than they would have been if you had claimed them earlier than age 70. https://www.alerus.com/exclusive-content/3-reasons-to-wait-until-70-to-claim-social-security-benefits/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 56 and still working. DH is 62 and retired at 60 (technically laid off and chose to retire because we were able to do that financially). I plan to retire at 60.

House will be paid off then and last kid out of college - she's a junior, kid 1 graduated this year and is working full time and living on his own. We still live in the Arlington house DH bought in the late 90s although we did a significant renovation 12 years ago. DH saved a lot in the first 10 yrs of his career while i was later to saving. So, a lot of our good place with retirement $$ is because of that foundation.

No pensions or retiree healthcare. I'll have to figure out health insurance to bridge from 60-65. Possibly an ACA plan, although I want to investigate more the idea of taking a class per semester at GMU to get student health insurance.

So, basically, early savings, house that never had a payment that was a large % of our income, kids went to reasonably priced colleges (one in-state, one OOS with merit, both <$30k/yr), my parents paid for one year of college per kid. Buy modest cars and drive them for a long time. Generally live within our means.

The 90s house is really the master key to prosperity for you.

Yes, but also that we chose to stay in the mostly-unimproved 1940s house and gradually DIY stuff for a long time before finally investing in a good renovation. A lot of my friends said they couldn't believe I lived with that kitchen for so long. But, now we are in a better place for retirement than they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Side question....Is age 62 considered "early retirement"? I always thought early retirement was in the 50s but due to less favorable economics, is early 60s the new "early retirement" zone? Just curious what others are thinking?

I agree, reading this thread and seeing people say they retired "early" at 62 is kind of depressing. Unless social security is going to be your primary source of income, i would expect retiring at 62 vs 65 isn't really a big financial difference. LIke, if you're going to be good to retire at 65, you're presumably set up with a good enough cushion to retire at 62 instead.

Most people need reasonable health insurance which doesnt come until medicare at 65. Once you wait to 65 might as well wait to 67 to get full SS.

Waiting until age 70 is even better, for those who can afford it, unless you have good reason to expect an actuarially reduced lifespan. SS benefits increase 8% annually up to age 70 for those who defer beyond their Full Retirement Age of 66 or 67; that is effectively a form of longevity insurance. That is, if you live longer than expected you'll not only collect benefits for a longer period of time but those benefits will be larger than they would have been if you had claimed them earlier than age 70. https://www.alerus.com/exclusive-content/3-reasons-to-wait-until-70-to-claim-social-security-benefits/

For a couple, it can often make sense for one spouse to claim early and the other to wait until 70. DH and I will have similar benefits. He wanted to claim at 62 because he has some health issues and doesn't expect to live long enough to make it worth waiting. I'm younger, in excellent health, with multiple relatives who lived into their 90s. I'll wait until 70 to get the longevity insurance of the maximum benefit. Whoever lives longest will get the larger wait-til-70 benefit for the rest of their life. If DH's benefit were substantially larger than mine, I'd have argued for him to wait to maximize that long-term survivor benefit.

[Anonymous]

Retriring early at 59 vs. even 63 can be a HUGE difference in retirement accounts. The super catch ups between 60-63 are huge.

Last year I put $34,750 in my 401k with super catch up. I also have a 457B I put in $11,750 in 457b 100 percent matched so $23,500.Plus a 401k match of $15,000.

So $73,250. And some folks have ESOPs, RSUs, LTI, Pensions and you are peak salary so that is also adding up. If laid off sometimes if vests early or a change of control provision.

Makes more sense to never retire once you are over 60 just wait for the day you get the perp walk out the door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 56 and still working. DH is 62 and retired at 60 (technically laid off and chose to retire because we were able to do that financially). I plan to retire at 60.

House will be paid off then and last kid out of college - she's a junior, kid 1 graduated this year and is working full time and living on his own. We still live in the Arlington house DH bought in the late 90s although we did a significant renovation 12 years ago. DH saved a lot in the first 10 yrs of his career while i was later to saving. So, a lot of our good place with retirement $$ is because of that foundation.

No pensions or retiree healthcare. I'll have to figure out health insurance to bridge from 60-65. Possibly an ACA plan, although I want to investigate more the idea of taking a class per semester at GMU to get student health insurance.

So, basically, early savings, house that never had a payment that was a large % of our income, kids went to reasonably priced colleges (one in-state, one OOS with merit, both <$30k/yr), my parents paid for one year of college per kid. Buy modest cars and drive them for a long time. Generally live within our means.

The 90s house is really the master key to prosperity for you.

Yes, but also that we chose to stay in the mostly-unimproved 1940s house and gradually DIY stuff for a long time before finally investing in a good renovation. A lot of my friends said they couldn't believe I lived with that kitchen for so long. But, now we are in a better place for retirement than they are.

You are so out of touch. Renovating a kitchen is peanuts compared to how much houses escalated in price soon after you bought. DIY has NOTHING to do with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in my early 50s and in a job I like overall, but it's a very draining role, the commute isn't great, I'm getting bored with the work and the options for moving up the chain and seeing more significant raises are limited. I could stick it out for another five years, ideally more like 8-10, but it's getting to be a lot. Over the past year, a few of my older colleagues resigned before hitting 60. One retired early out of nowhere and management didn't throw him a retirement party, so I didn't have a chance to ask him what's next. Another left early after being with the org for about 15 years and was vested in the pension but still left earlier than most in the plan.

So, for those who've done it, how do you get to the point of making it happen? Did you assess your finances and accept a lower-paying or part time job for peace of mind and being ok with giving up the good salary? Or did you methodically plan for retiring early and sock away a lot of money since your first job?

I'm in my 50s. Spouse and I knew we wanted to retire earlier than most from the time we got married, and I plan to in the next six months. Sacrificed a lot in our early years: rarely went out to eat, bought a house that was a bit of a stretch at the time and got a roommate, have never had a car payment because we saved up to purchase used cars in cash, etc. We have never moved from that house. It's definitely consistency over time. Keeping spending low also gave spouse and I flexibility to take family-friendly jobs that did not require crazy hours and weekends. We now spend a ton on travel and enjoy what we have saved, so while it was a sacrifice early in our marriage, there is a lot of freedom now.

We do everything you did except buy a house early — did you do a low down payment? We cant retire till 60s sadly

I think our down payment was relatively low - and we have refinanced a couple of times so our interest rate is ridiculously low. We also only have one child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What # did people hit to decide they were ok to retire before 60 - asssume to cover two people?

$5M here. That's our magic number to allow us to maintain our lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

I'm Gen-X and bought a home at 30 in DC. It was a special program for homeowners-- 5% down and around 6% mortgage rate.

I'm 55 and took VERA option. I have $2 million in TSP.

I haven't actually received the pension yet, so I guess some would say I'm not really retired, but OPM seems to have the wheels in motion to make that happen in 6 months or so.

I am currently very busy supporting my kids as they start college, start jobs after college, move across country, etc. So I'm not bored/not wanting to find a new job.

My personality is very much of the "Easily Amused" type, so I don't expect I'll be wanting to do expensive travel. Road tripping to visit friends and family in Canada and US sounds great to me.

But if you are the type of person that really loves to travel, you may need to wait and not do early retirement.