# Did anyone successfully navigate retiring before age 65 (as an American), and if so how did you do it **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580 "2026-10-04T21:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/41 "2026-10-07T13:29:23Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I can’t think of anyone working a normal job, with kids, who didn’t have an inheritance who pulled off retiring early. my spouse and I will soon do so without any of the points you mention. Both employed as professional W2 employees for the past 25 years. We have consistently lived by following the approximate formula. 1/3 of gross earnings are spent, 1/3 are paid in taxes, and 1/3 are saved (401k’s, IRA’s, HSA’s, brokerage accounts, etc) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/42 "2026-10-07T13:56:05Z")
I barely qualify for this thread, having stopped working at age 64.5, but then using 6 months worth of saved vacation/sabbatical from my government job to keep getting paid and on health insurance etc. until I was 65 and my wife was under 1 month short of it. Upon expiration of that saved time we hopped onto Medicare, with my unused sick time going to cover the Medigap payments. Pension kicked in, we activated Social Security and with our other savings growth added in, our money was working much harder and earning more than I had been. But I could NOT have pulled this off any earlier. Kudos to you who managed to leave the rat race sooner. Retirement has been very therapeutic. I love to sit and stare at the lake off my front deck, clear trails out in the woods portion of the farm, take occasional fancy vacations and midweek road trips with the Mrs, and hold lengthy conversations with the cat. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/43 "2026-10-07T14:42:08Z")
Oh yeah, you reminded me of another situation. 1. They were ex-military who’d worked most of a full career and were able to use the various reciprocal type agreements with other public service agencies to get full retirement after a 25 year career or thereabouts. I see a lot of those guys where I work- they get out of the military, work 5-10 years for us, then retire somewhere in their late 50s. My father retired three or four years early because he got credit for his military service toward his pension vesting, and also had disability due to Parkinson’s disease. But it wasn’t exactly his plan, more of a _“working is starting to **really** suck; let’s see how early I can retire.”_ type situation once his Parkinson’s and working started to not do well together. But yeah, generally speaking the system isn’t constructed to allow your normal person in normal circumstances to retire early, without some pretty extreme sacrifices on their part. Hell, I’d argue it’s not set up to allow people to even really retire these days. You’ve got to sock away a pretty sizeable percentage of your income in your 401k and other investments to ensure yourself that magical “million” (or whatever that number is) that they say you need for a comfortable retirement. And if you don’t, you’re looking at working to 70 or being a Wal-Mart greeter or something like that. Seems like I read that a lot of people’s retirement plan is basically some kind of windfall from when their parents die and they sell their house. Which seems like a horrendous plan to me, but I realize many don’t really have other options these days. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/44 "2026-10-07T15:02:30Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > My opinion is that for most people, without special situations, will absolutely need after tax money in savings or a brokerage account if they want to retire before 59.5, It’s 55, not 59.5, if you only draw from your most recent and active 401k at retirement. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/45 "2026-10-07T15:44:31Z")
After 30 years of Federal employment I was at the top of the pay scale for my job, and they had started offering me early retirement under the “we can pay somebody a lot less money to do his job” principle. Between dealing with my wife’s death and getting tired of spending what seemed like half my time fixing other employee’s mistakes I started seriously considered taking them up on it. Looking at the pension estimate I was given I figured out that by selling my house in Chicago and moving down to NC I could afford to pay off my debts and live reasonably well. One of the advantages of my Federal employment was it came with lifetime health coverage, so I also had that covered. So at 54 I was able to retire. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/46 "2026-10-07T17:51:46Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’s 55, not 59.5, if you only draw from your most recent and active 401k at retirement. Not necessarily. The age depends on your specific 401k. With regard to the rule of 55, the IRS _permits_ this penalty-free withdrawal exception by law, individual plan administrators are not legally _required_ to support it. So, YMMV essentially. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/47 "2026-10-07T18:01:31Z")
Ignorance fought. I was fortunate. I wonder how common it is for the specific plan not to allow it and what the reasoning would be. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/48 "2026-10-07T18:08:54Z")
I don’t want to derail this thread with esoteric details, but it’s actually even a little more complicated that how I presented it. My understanding (I am far from an expert) is that a 401k plan has to technically allow the IRS ‘Rule of 55’. But that Rule of 55 is really only useful when your plan also allows partial distributions by separated participants. That is, distributions less than the entire 401k balance. This allowance of partial distributions is the part the plan is NOT required to allow. And if partial distributions are not allowed, then the whole strategy really loses its appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/49 "2026-10-07T18:47:27Z")
> [@bump](#): > > 1. Most were in public service and worked a 30-40 year career straight out of high school or college, so that when their pension was full, they were like 58 or something. Yep, that was basically me at 56.66 - started young and worked almost 35 years for the same agency in different capacities. I could have kept going, but relative to my retirement formula it would have meant I was working full-time for ever less actual improvement over my retirement state. I was maybe three years away from it being pennies, if that (overtime notwithstanding, which I ever more loath to do with each passing year). But when I pulled the cord I was very done with my job emotionally and didn’t need those extra dollars/mnth. Don’t regret it at all. > [@bump](#): > > I can’t think of anyone working a normal job Narrows eyes menacingly - just what are you calling “normal” junior 🧐? No, I get it 🙂. Very well-paid technician jobs with full pensions like mine are increasingly rare and me and all of my co-workers were abundantly aware of it. No matter how frustrated we got with normal on-the-job annoying bullshit we always mollified ourselves with the knowledge that we had a sweet gig. Even sweeter than the generation that came after in the same position, as pension benefits were cut back at a certain point for new hires. I was very lucky - which to a certain extent is often the American way when it comes to long-term financial stability. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/50 "2026-10-07T20:39:55Z")
I just meant “normal” in the sense of not extraordinarily high paid, not public sector, not self-employed. I mean, I haven’t actually worked anywhere but my public sector job where people have retired early without some sort of extenuating circumstance like inheriting some kind of windfall, or being an extraordinary cheapskate. Most people were assuming they’d retire at 65, but not really doing the math and figuring out how much they’d actually need to be saving to accomplish that. I tend to think that the 401k is one of the bigger scams ever perpetrated on the American public. All it does is foist the responsibility off onto the workers and off the company. Which sounds great, especially if you buy into all the “you also get the freedom to invest how _you_ choose” rhetoric. But in practice, it means that _you_ are exposed to the vicissitudes of the financial markets, _you_ are responsible for investing wisely, and _you_ are left holding the bag if you retire and there’s a 2008-style economic event. The old pension style put the company on the hook for all those things. I’m sure they _ **love** _ that, but it’s barely a viable thing for financially literate people, much less people with barely a high school education. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/51 "2026-10-07T22:26:44Z")
> [@bump](#): > > All it does is foist the responsibility off onto the workers and off the company. Don’t get me wrong - I’m very happy I had a pension and was able to retire when I wanted to but pre-401K only about 45% of private sector workers were covered by a pension. Articles about the change often make it sound like nearly everyone had a pension but they didn’t. Even a tiny business can set up a 401K. And pensions have some disadvantages as well , the biggest of which is the golden handcuff effect where people don’t change jobs because they will either give up their pension entirely or end up with a pension based on a few years of membership. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/52 "2026-10-07T22:34:09Z")
Or like me, their pension was looted back when that was legal (hint: it’s probably _de facto_ legal again if DoJ refuses to prosecute the company for some reason) Then wrecked a second time when the successful solvent company was allowed to declare bankruptcy for the stated purpose of jettisoning all the remaining pension obligations. Which “allowed” is fully settled code law, not anything requiring crooked courts or executive branch shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/53 "2026-10-07T22:38:16Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I tend to think that the 401k is one of the bigger scams ever perpetrated on the American public. All it does is foist the responsibility off onto the workers and off the company. Which sounds great, especially if you buy into all the “you also get the freedom to invest how _you_ choose” rhetoric. But in practice, it means that _you_ are exposed to the vicissitudes of the financial markets, _you_ are responsible for investing wisely, and _you_ are left holding the bag if you retire and there’s a 2008-style economic event. The old pension style put the company on the hook for all those things. I’m sure they _ **love** _ that, but it’s barely a viable thing for financially literate people, much less people with barely a high school education. This is cuckoo crazy delusional. A 401k/403b, especially with company matching, is a godsend. Unlike a pension, it can’t become insolvent. Unlike a regular investment account, you can’t treat it like day trading. The fact that it’s tax deferred is a gigantic boon. The typical scenario is to make payments into it with each paycheck over around 30 years. There is no single starting or ending year since the things were invented (assuming having it for 25 years or more) where it wouldn’t have been objectively a fantastic thing to do including retirement in 2009 or 2000 (the actual worst scenario). This is because you would still be way ahead of the game over the long course of time. Also it’s not like you’d be taking it all out at once. You’d be slowly drawing down and the principle would be increasing like crazy in the following years. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/54 "2026-10-07T23:10:10Z")
> **hidden by What Exit?** > > That’s all _ **if** _ you’re financially literate and have a clue what you’re doing, along with understanding the time value of money. > > For most workers, that’s not the case. Most don’t save enough, and many don’t choose the right funds or whatever when they get the chance. I’m not convinced it’s a better overall thing for the workforce. > > I mean, my 401k is doing right by me, but I know lots of people who weren’t as doggedly putting money in when they were younger, and now are playing catch-up. > > Defined benefit pensions, at least the ones I’ve seen were pretty good deals. Work somewhere long enough, and get the majority of your salary paid as pension for the rest of your life, along with continued access to the health care plan. The gotcha is that yes, sometimes companies underfund them or otherwise have issues causing them to be insolvent. There really ought to be better guidelines for that kind of thing- like funding requirements, and actual criminal liability for poor investment choices (like what happened in the Dallas police pension). > > But the fact of the matter is that corporate America got away from defined benefit pensions because they were a big liability, not because they were doing right by their workers. They did it to shift the risk onto workers instead of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/55 "2026-10-07T23:37:53Z")
_If_ you work somewhere long enough. I never worked anywhere long enough. Here is what happened to the places that I worked as a professional. Bankrupt (8.5 years) Wanted me to relocate 250 miles away to a shithole and soon after went out of business (1.5 years) Closed down the location where I worked and laid off all of us and soon after they went out of business (2 years) Layoff of the my entire department (1 year) Needed to quit because I got divorced and the health insurance was crappy (2 years) Worked there for 14.5 years and retired Through all of that I funded a 401k. I would never have gotten a pension. People who don’t save, well they get what happens. It’s difficult to totally screw up your investments in the 401k because you are generally limited to safe or safer choices. I completely agree with you that corporations aren’t doing this to be altruistic but they need to have a good plan to attract good people. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/56 "2026-10-08T00:04:16Z")
I retired at 55 with a 70% pension. It comes with healthcare which is quality but no means free. I recently became eligible to get paid my Army pension which helps but since it’s a reserve component pension it’s not as good as a full time pension. I could survive off of that but to supplement I’ve recently started working part time at my old agency. I should be able to do that for a few years. I have some flexibility others don’t have. I can continue with my current healthcare but I’m also eligible for VA and Tricare. By January we will have to make a decision. I have an ok amount in my retirement accounts but not enough to feel really comfortable about. I haven’t had to touch you at all so far. My wife is 11 years younger than me so she will be working for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/57 "2026-10-08T00:07:00Z")
I retired at 56.5 but was just plain lucky having a great job and the ability to defer a lot of income. I’m 63 now and that income still runs through next year, and then I’ll have a modest pension plus whatever Soc Sec we draw. All that said, it still requires a lot of math and confidence to ensure you’ve planned healthcare right (at least in the US)…I had a few big spreadsheets and a lot of conservative assumptions. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/58 "2026-10-08T00:22:58Z")
**Moderating** This is really a hijack of the thread and just a oddly place rant. Drop complaints of 401ks from this thread. > [@bump](#): > > I tend to think that the 401k is one of the bigger scams ever perpetrated on the American public. All it does is foist the responsibility off onto the workers and off the company. Which sounds great, especially if you buy into all the “you also get the freedom to invest how _you_ choose” rhetoric. But in practice, it means that _you_ are exposed to the vicissitudes of the financial markets, _you_ are responsible for investing wisely, and _you_ are left holding the bag if you retire and there’s a 2008-style economic event. The old pension style put the company on the hook for all those things. I’m sure they _ **love** _ that, but it’s barely a viable thing for financially literate people, much less people with barely a high school education. If you want to expound on this start a new thread. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/59 "2026-10-08T00:41:21Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I just meant “normal” in the sense of not extraordinarily high paid, not public sector, not self-employed. The FI/RE movement has a lot of tech workers who want to retire in their 30s or 40s. The goal is work a job making 100-200k a year, live frugally and invest most of your money. Then after a decade or two of saving and investing, have enough left over to fund your lifestyle for the rest of your life. Social security and medicare kick in during your 60s, but making sure you have enough liquid assets and have health care before then can be difficult. Again my impression is having a lot of money on brokerage accounts, paid off mortgage to lower expenses, roth conversion ladders, and ACA subsidies are a big part of how people manage to retire around the 40-55 age group. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580/60 "2026-10-08T00:47:22Z")
The mortgage part is dependent on your mortgage rate. If it is low, let’s say under 5%, a mortgage isn’t hurting at all. Mine is under 3%, so I’m better off not paying it off. Careful investing and frugal living early are keys to early retirement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-successfully-navigate-retiring-before-age-65-as-an-american-and-if-so-how-did-you-do-it/1033580.md?page=4)