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

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

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.

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/

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.