Early retirement....who's done it?

[scott s]

*** Caution: Long read ahead***
I started working on my 16th birthday. I turned 52 last July. I got my first "real" job when I was 20, working 60-70 hours a week and working my way up in that company. At 22, I went to work at the company where I'm currently employed.
I've swung shifts for 30 years; first the traditional "Southern Swing" (1st, 2nd and 3rd shift, 8 hours) and then went to 12 hour rotations. I work a ton of overtime (and turn down as much as I can) and I've worked nearly every single holiday for the past three decades. If there's a big football game, birthday party, Labor Day, Christmas, etc., I've probably been working.

I'm also lucky and blessed. I make very good money for a high school graduate with a year of tech school. I've been mostly employed continuously, except for a few short lay-offs and redesigns. I've worked hard, saved hard and been financially responsible.

The end goal has changed. I'm now a Chief Operator, but I was before. Then set back, laid off, redesigned, etc. I've had to work under people that knew half of what I know for a while. That is infuriating.
Our company has now been sold. In the long run, I think it will be good....for the younger guys. In the next year/year and a half, I see months of rebuilds, overtime, school, new job duties, overtime and, did I mention, overtime?

I'm about done with it. Night shift KILLS me now. Headaches, body aches, fatigue. It was much easier when I was younger. I don't know what my new job duties or position will be yet.

And then there's the money. I've come to the realization lately that I'm chasing an ever moving target. "They" say you need a million in the bank, then it's two million, then there's the 4% rule, etc, etc. My pension was frozen years ago.
I could work until I die and never get to the numbers "they" say I need.

I've been crunching the numbers a LOT lately. I think that I can do it. I'm trying to make it to 01/01/2021. That is my "55 Year" and I can start drawing my 401K without penalty. I may not make it, depending on how shitty things get during this upcoming rebuild/changeover. Sure, I'll make a lot less money than I make now, but I'll be in a lower tax bracket and I'll never work another weekend, holiday or night shift.
I have a very supportive partner and I can get on her benefits, so that's a HUGE plus. She actually likes her job and plans to be there for a while.
I would consider a part time job at some point, too. I would love a 20-25 hour a week job, mostly for spending money and to keep me from going crazy (or drinking too much beer).

Who's done it? Anyone said "Screw it...I'm done doing it your way"?

 

[Jim]

I quit at 62... but along with Social Security I have a military retirement and a veterans disability stipend.... So I'm probably not the best guy to answer.

 

[MaxPete]

I turned 60 in April but I’ve got around 2 years to go. We’re OK now for the most part, but with housing so expensive, I’m working now so that we can help our kids while we (and they) are still young enough to enjoy it. I’m fortunate in having a decent pension plus my spouse has one too and I sometimes can pick up consulting assignments which supports my bike hobby.

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Scott,
I used to design components for nuclear reactors until I was just shy of my 60th birthday then the bean-counting blockheads in head office
decided to close Saskatoon's small reactor design office and offered me a choice.
I could move to the Mississauga office at the same wages, be low man on the union totem pole and swallow an extra $100K on a Mississauga mortgage.
Or I could take a year's wages and quit. I discussed those options with my wife and boys and they said that unlike myself they'd lived in Mississauga
and they'd miss me if I moved there. I survived and so can you. Hang in there until you are 55 if you must but not at the expense of your health.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Scott, I've been retired, disabled, unemployed and unemployable after turning 48, 18 years ago. Fixed income, living in the woods. Can't spend much money out here. Gives you a chance to finally play with the toys accumulated over the years. There's a mindset most may not be aware of, which is consumerism. Takes awhile to withdraw from that "spending" lifestyle. It's actually quite possible to live happily on skimpy income, assuming everything's paid off and you have no bills.

A financial rule-of-thumb I use is based on the 12th root of 2, same as the chromatic scale. Which means that your money is devalued by 6% annually, things cost twice as much every 12 years. So, if your income is $2,000/month, and your total living expenses are $1,000/month, you've got 12 years before your income equals your expenses. If you saved that residual (income - expenses), it would stretch your financial life expectancy, but not as much as expected, due to the continual depreciation.

It's difficult math, since we're all conditioned to think in terms of increasing costs, but try to think in terms of a static-value currency, like precious metals, gold. Then, everything costs the same, year-to-year. It's your income that gets reduced by 6% annually.

Do a forum, and Google search on "boiling frog".

With this in mind, see if you can recalculate your retirement...

 

[gggGary]

Yeah got out from 30 years of retail in 2002 worked part time at the post office for 7 years. 63 now took social security last year. Also have wife that has our health insurance. Got lucky with some older relative$. Made the choices risk, easier to stomach. Wife will probably retire early in the next year or so. What 2many sez; there's more to life than flashing your credit card at retail. Many, most things are DIY if you have the time and will. I like to tinker and fix nearly everything I own gets home fixed multiple times, before a replacement and that is often a CL buy. Lots to be said for a reassessment of what kind of life will make you most content. Well gotta go tow home this years wood hauling truck, I just bought to fix up.

 

[MaxPete]

Wise words.

 

[Ceed Klumper]

More recently inflation has been much lower than 6% but it is a factor to take into account. As I head towards retirement (I am 58) I've started to run the numbers as well. I am a CPA by the way. We still have our son in college and my wife is unable to work, so it's all on me and I've always resolved not to stop working no matter what until he is independent. Something else that has also really stuck with me over the years on this topic is something Big George Foreman once said, which is "never stop earning". Imagine that coming from someone that wealthy. So whether it 's a part time job, hobby that generates some income, consulting, I do plan to keep earning for as long as I am able to. Because there are a lot of unknowns and possible surprises down the road, no matter how well you plan, and a lot of 'silent poverty' as a result: unexpected health care costs, retreating government (how reliable are medicare and medicaid these days?), pension funds that suddenly go bankrupt because of bad investment decisions or even fraud, like with the Madoff scandal. A lot depends of course on your spending habits and that can be influenced to a high degree. At the end of the day it is all about numbers. But what also appeals to me about staying active in some job is the social contacts and the sense of being part of something interesting that appeals to me. Plus more financial 'buffer/safetymargin is always a good thing' So for all those reasons I wil most likely keep working for a lot longer than I would really have to, but always trying to get or stay in something I really enjoy. Best of luck with your decision, if I were you based on what I know I would look for another type position, company or organization that I would enjoy more, without the overtime, shifts etc. Easier said than done I'm sure, but you might be surprised at what you can find. I've made many major job switches over the years and generally it always worked out well.

 

[Downeaster]

I quit at 62... but along with Social Security I have a military retirement and a veterans disability stipend.... So I'm probably not the best guy to answer.

That's me, exactly. My Navy pension, my wife's SS and my SS enable us to live comfortably, but certainly not extravagantly. It helps that our kids (hell, even our grandkids) are grown and on their own and we have no mortgage.

After retiring from the Navy, I worked at a dozen or so different jobs. On one occasion, I quit a job that aggravated me to the point of health concerns and took a job at half the pay. Best decision I ever made.

I retired as soon as I was eligible for SS @ 62, from ANOTHER job that aggravated me to the point of health concerns. Not the job so much as the charming people I worked with. One in particular...

Now I dub around doing whatever strikes me as a good idea at the time and bring in a few bucks here and there working on small engines and doing light fabrication.

 

[MaxPete]

....and writing very well on this forum.

 

[motormike]

…. at 55 I was a auto mechcanic...work'n another great sunny Saturday …… my buddies are out and about enjoy'n summer. I got every 4th or 5th weekend off... which means summer for me was measured in hours.
Talk'd it over with the girl friend (now wife) and I gave my 2 weeks notice. She has a good job... the condo was paid off... no car payments.... just to keep busy.. I drove the short bus...( 6 yrs )….. kept me in gas money and supported my motorcycle hobby. Summers off... X Mas break.. spring break... teacher conference breaks... (gees, they took a lot of breaks)
At 62 I took S/Sec....(quit the bus job) you'll get a bit more if you wait until 65.. but.. the Gov't is hope'n you croak before then... at 65 I started to tap my small 401.... the S/Sec pretty much get's bank'd and I can humor myself with the small monthly 401. I also get a few $$$ when we have a pay'n client at Mark's 650's.
The wife is still punch'n the clock.. likes her work..... could retire, but doesn't want to. I think you can walk away from the grind but you need to keep busy and if busy provides a few coins the better.

 

[MaxPete]

Yup - agreed Mike. I think that is what the future will be like for a lot of people. I always say that I will likely never really retire in the tradition sense.
I will simply become increasingly selective about what tasks I take on and which ones I pass-up.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

I retired this year just a couple of months after my 55th b'day. It was a glorious moment when I told my boss to go to hades.
I'm fortunate to get a generous lifetime pension and since we always lived below our means I was able to save prodigiously. It also helps I was in on the biggest IPO at the time...
Get rid of consumer debt and live below your means. Moving to a low cost area is a good strategy as well but do your research first. Low cost in one area may not be low cost in another. I also don't hang out with people who are "wealth conscious". Keeping up with the Jones is a futile effort.

 

[Downeaster]

I will simply become increasingly selective about what tasks I take on and which ones I pass-up.

....and writing very well on this forum.

First, Thank You for your compliment on my writing. I do enjoy my little efforts to turn an interesting phrase here and there. I kid myself that I could be a writer, but the audience for the one or two things I know a little about would be pretty limited. Possibly non-existent...

Second, "increasingly selective" is the secret. For a couple of years after I retired, I had an awful time uttering the "N" word. I'd take on jobs I didn't really have my heart in either because the money was attractive, or I felt indebted to the person asking. I've gotten better with practice.

I tried to turn down a couple of jobs by quoting prices that only a fool would pay. The fools paid me...

 

[Jim]

For a couple of years after I retired, I had an awful time uttering the "N" word. I'd take on jobs I didn't really have my heart in either because the money was attractive, or I felt indebted to the person asking. I've gotten better with practice.

Well put bro... that's an ongoing struggle.

 

[Mailman]

.

 

[MaxPete]

I tried to turn down a couple of jobs by quoting prices that only a fool would pay. The fools paid me...

DITTO - and I do hate it when that happens.

 

[Mailman]

I worked from childhood really. When I was a kid I worked for my dad who always seemed to have one small business or another and when I wasn’t working for him I was mowing lawns for the neighbors. At 16 , I got my first real job , by the time I was 18 , I was a certified welder doing heavy equipment repair for Arizona copper mines, that led 10 years of various welding construction jobs. For 5 of those 10 years I worked two back to back full time construction jobs ( 16-18 hrs per day ) I was killing myself ....literally. All it gained me was a double hernia and a bad back that has lasted my lifetime and also lifelong respiratory issues.

By the time I was 25 I realized I needed a life plan. That’s when I developed my five year plan, by the time I was 30 years old , I needed a good job with benefits. I decided that for a blue collar kid from a working class background, my best option was to try and find a job with a large utility company or government agency. Somewhere with contractual benefits, pay raises , sick leave The whole enchilada.

I just made it. I got hired by the Post Office when I was 29 1/2 years old! I got hired from a test I took when I was 25years old. A test I took with 13,000 other people at a convention center in Phoenix.

So to answer your original question, I retired at age 61 after 31 yrs of employment with the government. My wife and I lived frugally and invested in our 401K heavily. We lived a debt free lifestyle and paid off our house well before the end of the mortgage. We have made a lifestyle of living below our means. I too have read many of the financial gurus say you need a million dollars or more to survive retirement. Don’t believe it. As others have stated so far, it’s far more important to understand your income level and live a lifestyle that always stays below that.
Play good defense with what you have earned, don’t be frivolous. I wish schools would pay more attention to teaching kids common sense money management and help them understand the power of investing in their retirement as early as possible. It makes me sick to see young couples so heavily in debt and choosing a ” right now “ lifestyle over long term security.

 

[Downeaster]

Play good defense with what you have earned, don’t be frivolous. I wish schools would pay more attention to teaching kids common sense money management and help them understand the power of investing in their retirement as early as possible. It makes me sick to see young couples so heavily in debt and choosing a ” right now “ lifestyle over long term security.

That is the nub of the problem right there. I wish I could get my daughters to understand that.

The younger one is 52, up to her cute little derriere in debt, working two jobs just to cover the month-to-month bills, hasn't saved a nickel for retirement and STILL doesn't get it.

I'm proud of her for being a hard worker, but she'll be working the morning of her funeral...

 

[FLEA]

had a accident at 48 and out of the workforce , now 67 hadn't worked under a 70hr week before for so many yrs cant remember , im in a different country (aust) and on a pension which officially is under our poverty line , but the same things will still apply , at the start of retirement CUT your spending way back , give yourself something to do , I bought a old house (living in it) in a cheap area and been gradually renovating it for 17 yrs plus got back into my xs650s again . boredom will be the biggest killer after being use to working big hours , and I mean killer known blokes to just turn their toes up in first few yrs or turn to the booze/drugs , if you can find a part time job , grab it its not just the extra money and most of all get rid of any debt as soon as you can , as I said my pension is under our poverty line but compared to other pensioners i do fairly well because of no debt (if cant pay cash I just don't buy it) anyway good luck and enjoy yourself