Retired at 55. Did not have any one particular plan. Instead, spent about half a dozen years contemplating a host of scenarios, doing some number crunching and research, and saving a good chunk of our disposable income. Ultimately it all came together in a few ways. First, both DCs chose colleges that could be paid for out of the 529s and majors that were on the more practical and higher paying, with health insurance. This made us more comfortable knowing that we would just need to help with a bit of spending/travel/interview clothes money. And second, we fell in love with a house far out of the city and were able to use home equity to buy it outright and cover the costs of moving/new furniture, etc., with some money left over. DH is doing occasional contract work with his former employer, and that plus the leftover funds from our house sale will cover our expenses the next few years. Even without that we could swing it, but it gives us a reassuring cushion.

Anonymous wrote:My co-worker retired at 55. She has always been single, no kids. The world traveler type. She bought a condo I assume relatively young, and had minimal bills. She is living an amazing life; I told her I want to be her when I grow up!

Me too!! But I'll be 56 when I retire and have kids in college (paid for). I'm already plotting my travels and daydreaming about it.

OP, are you up for moving to an area with a lower cost of living? That solves a lot of problems

I’m 56 and retiring next year. Husband is as well. We could probably both quit now, but I think I need a little time to mentally transition first.

How? A mix of smart budgeting and living below our means, investing, taking advantage of above-average employer matches to retirement funds, and some good fortune as it relates to our home purchases and appreciation. We also have a financial advisor who has helped develop a plan that minimizes tax burden and accounts for our insurance needs until 65.

60, kids done with college and grad school, house paid off. Health care through former organization for all of us (heavily subsidized), tried to always save the maximums in 401k plans.

There's enough saved to live well from our point of view. That means we can travel to visit the kids a couple times per year, they both settled out of state in their college towns, take a couple short, weekend type trips ourselves, a large family vacation with all of us, and longer vacations just the 2 of us. We don't stay at the Ritz Carlton when we travel, or fly business class, and when it's all of us we try for AirBnBs, so we each have our own space and a kitchen. Just the 2 of us, we usually book a hotel that includes breakfast, and do inexpensive local lunches, and nicer dinners.

Health insurance being subsidized made it possible, even once we hit Medicare age of 65, we can keep the organization's insurance as secondary

Quit at 57. Sponged off DH. Got my small FERS annuity to pay for hair, nails, facials, clothes, gifts etc.

My co-worker retired at 55. She has always been single, no kids. The world traveler type. She bought a condo I assume relatively young, and had minimal bills. She is living an amazing life; I told her I want to be her when I grow up!

Haven’t done this but am planning to sometime in my 50s. Pension + continued health insurance + savings will make it possible. So it’s partially your last point of planning and saving for it, but also job benefits that make it possible.

Federal law enforcement, with retirement and lifetime healthcare benefits possible at age 50. That age allows for a transition to the private sector before age discrimination becomes much of a consideration.

My parents did (59, 66) because they both had pensions and they inherited what would be 600K today. They were also able to delay social security until 70 for both of them.

Anonymous wrote:Planning on 55 when last graduates from college. Don't like my job. I will be leaving a lot of $$ on the table but have plenty saved and we will get subsidized health care for life so going to pull the parachute then.

other than the subsidized healthcare, this is pretty much me.

I have always wanted to retire early (I'll be 56), so I saved a lot earlier on. I have a financial advisor who said we are in good shape.

Yes, even with ACA, we can still retire comfortably. And actually, my spouse is from the UK so we are thinking of moving there for a couple of years until I hit 65 when I qualify for medicare. Private care in the UK is still *a lot* cheaper than here with insurance. Crazy.

Planning on 55 when last graduates from college. Don't like my job. I will be leaving a lot of $$ on the table but have plenty saved and we will get subsidized health care for life so going to pull the parachute then.

Retired at 62.

Factors:
House was paid off.
Have a pension.
Husband still working; on husband's health insurance until Medicare.
I could have stayed longer but I was sick of it. I planned for a year to do this. Maxed out supplementary savings in the last year. I have not worked part-time but I think it could be enjoyable. I am happy to be retired.

The latter. We had a target amount to save based on our spreadsheets, and once we hit it, DH retired. We were never big spenders, and our kids are in college.I retired a couple of years earlier from the govt with pension and healthcare. We are both a little bored while dealing with temporary (orthopedic) health issues but happy not to be working and especially commuting.

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?