What age did you retire?

[FIREseeker]

I'm looking to retire early. Has anyone else here done this? What exactly does it feel like? Everyone offline acts like I'm crazy when I talk about retiring in my 30's.

P.S. Please don't refer me to the MMM forums. They are so 'holier-than-thou' over there.

[mrpaseo]

I'm looking to retire early. Has anyone else here done this? What exactly does it feel like? Everyone offline acts like I'm crazy when I talk about retiring in my 30's.

P.S. Please don't refer me to the MMM forums. They are so 'holier-than-thou' over there.

I retired at the age of 39, my wife did not... 10 months later I went back to work. We decided it would be best is we retire at the same time.

I was lost, I planned well to be able to retire, but did not plan on what I would do in retirement. Had I planned well enough, I would have realized sitting at home waiting for my wife to have time off is not a good retirement.

A job presented itself to me so I jumped on it. Love the job, now we are talking about the wife giving up her job so we can move closer to my job (60 miles away). Funny how life changes.

[ronb]

I retired at the age of 39, my wife did not... 10 months later I went back to work. We decided it would be best is we retire at the same time.

I was lost, I planned well to be able to retire, but did not plan on what I would do in retirement. Had I planned well enough, I would have realized sitting at home waiting for my wife to have time off is not a good retirement.

A job presented itself to me so I jumped on it. Love the job, now we are talking about the wife giving up her job so we can move closer to my job (60 miles away). Funny how life changes.

Jeeshe, that is a big change. And that's awesome you were financially ready to retire at 39!!! So basically everyday you're just earning 100% 'extra' money since you're bills are all sorted?? Or have you inflated your lifestyle a bit?

[feh]

I'm looking to retire early. Has anyone else here done this? What exactly does it feel like? Everyone offline acts like I'm crazy when I talk about retiring in my 30's.

P.S. Please don't refer me to the MMM forums. They are so 'holier-than-thou' over there.

Might want to check out http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/

[riverwed070707]

I'm looking to retire early. Has anyone else here done this? What exactly does it feel like? Everyone offline acts like I'm crazy when I talk about retiring in my 30's.

P.S. Please don't refer me to the MMM forums. They are so 'holier-than-thou' over there.

I haven't retired yet but planning for it. Currently 29 and DH is 34. Within 5 years I plan to have enough cash flow from our rental properties to pay all our monthly expenses including continuing to put money away for retirement. In the mean time, we are living well below our means, saving or investing 50% of our income and paying down mortgages. DD won't graduate until I'm 40 so TBD on what happens in 5 years. I want to do some extended traveling (sell the house, travel until we're ready to settle down again) but unsure whether we'll do that while she's in high school or wait til she graduates.

[ua_guy]

I'm looking to retire early. Has anyone else here done this? What exactly does it feel like? Everyone offline acts like I'm crazy when I talk about retiring in my 30's.

P.S. Please don't refer me to the MMM forums. They are so 'holier-than-thou' over there.

Approach it with a plan. If you can retire in your 30's and can support your vision of the next 60 years or so (assuming you live until 90), then do it. This life is yours, and the things you do are about your happiness, and what you want out of life.

It also doesn't have to be such a black/white decision. Maybe you just want to take some time off. Or maybe live a lifestyle where you don't necessitate a 40hr++/week job. It's all possible.

[Like2Plan]

My DH retired from the military at age 44 for about a minute and then went back to work. (He believes he is going to retire-retire no later than age 63.)

I retired at age 55--coming up on 4 years in Nov. I haven't had any problems adjusting to retired life

[97guns]

i retired 3 months before turning 39. i actually got laid off and collected unemployment for 18 months but was planning to not work very soon because i had started my rental portfolio already.

im not retired in the traditional way where your retirement is in a pension, IRA or 401K. my retirement is in property that produces my income, essentially i made my own monthly pension check

[snafu]

Of course you understand the need to plan financially but do you understand you need a plan for what to do with that long expanse of time you'll have for 70 years going forward? Most of us are linked to our employment as an identifier and long list of psychological mentors. I had a period of serious illness, repeated surgery etc and ran out of sick leave. When they nicely asked me to quit, I did! I was so bored during recovery words fail to explain. When finally cleared to return to the workforce the thrill of being paid for work lasted for years.

I suggest your 1st take a year's leave-of-absence and see what it's like to do whatever you plan for your fully funded retirement. Meanwhile, I suggest you work towards developing skill sets that allow you to work part time or set hours or find the base to get all the job satisfaction you can handle.

[Drake3287]

Recently retired at 55, I loved my job so retiring much earlier wasn't a need. I'm financially secure for the rest of my life now and I'm constantly surrounded by friends and family that have no real expectation of retiring due to a lack of financial planning.

[FIREseeker]

Do you guys ever feel the desire to keep working so you can offer yourself families more of a legacy...?