# Thoughts on Early Retirement **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944 "2020-01-04T21:05:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/21 "2020-01-05T02:19:20Z")
I retired at 54 with 30 years of Federal service. Sold my house in Chicago for just over five times what I had paid for it twenty years earlier, which allowed me to pay off the massive credit card debt I had built up, and moved to North Carolina. Had enough cash left to buy a house with a small mortgage which I paid off in less than ten years; I could have paid all cash but it would have left me with no cushion in case of emergencies. I’m widowed with no kids, and my pension is enough to live on and treat myself to a few luxuries. Between Medicare and my Federal health benefits my medical expenses are minimal, and I haven’t had to touch my IRA accounts yet. I’d occasionally thought of looking for part-time work just to have something to do, but I’m enjoying catching up on my reading and doing a bit of travelling. ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/22 "2020-01-05T02:21:49Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Oh you lucky non-Americans have no idea how horrible and evil our health care system is. > > $900 might be the price after subsidies too. Subsidies are for silver plans, but a gold or platinum plan costs more. Nine benjamins _a month_… wow, I’m just surprised, that’s all. It’s so far out of my reality. Anyway enjoy your retirement **hajario**. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/23 "2020-01-05T04:13:52Z")
> [@Pedro](#): > > Nine benjamins _a month_… wow, I’m just surprised, that’s all I’m American, 57, a cancer survivor (so far) and am sitting on about $2M in retirement savings. And feel I can’t retire because health care, so I need to get to Medicare age. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/24 "2020-01-05T05:20:42Z")
good for you, hajario! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/25 "2020-01-05T07:59:32Z")
My dad retired at 57. Now he’s 92, and he says he regrets it. He feels it made him go soft. He wishes he’d stayed in the game longer. But it looks to me like he’s still having fun. I don’t know if that helps you, but I figured it was a data point. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/26 "2020-01-05T09:46:08Z")
I retired at 55. Work had become a series of days filled with boredom and it was no easy decision to leave, but is was the right one. I was single with no mortgage, debt or kids. Financially, I began investing for retirement in my 20’s and my 401K did well in the 90’s stock market so I had no issues there. My company still offered a pension and health insurance for a nominal insurance premium so I had no serious worry. My main concern was, what will I do to occupy my days? Several months prior to retirement, I took 30 days vacation as a test retirement and this was more time than I had taken at once in my lifetime. I had always been interested in learning woodworking and spent those 30 days with various projects around the house and this rekindled my woodworking interest and desire to learn more. Upon returning to work, I gave notice and left 2 weeks later. For the next 10 years, I made furniture until I reached a point where I had more furniture orders than I had time or desire to fulfill and I realized my hobby had morphed back into a full time job, something I had no real desire to keep because I had created self imposed deadlines to complete projects. I slowing stopped taking on new projects and now complete limited work for friends and neighbors only. This activity combined with house chores, walking the dog in the neighborhood and interacting with those neighbors which, along with other activities, gives me purpose, contentment and satisfaction. When I’m asked how my retirement is going, I respond by saying I should have done this 50 years ago, but of course, that option simply wasn’t available until you have all your ducks in a row. For the first time in my life, I don’t believe I have ever been more at peace with my lifestyle. Bottom line - make sure you have the money and something to do once you leave. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/27 "2020-01-05T11:46:00Z")
No personal experience but my dad retired a few years ago at 54. Based on his experience, I’d suggest having a good plan on how you will spend your time and work on building and maintaining social outlets. My dad never really had hobbies and didn’t work to maintain friendships. I think my dad dreamed of travelling the U.S. in an RV with my mom but he never consulted her. She hates to leave the house, let alone travel. He doesn’t have other people to travel with and my mom hates to be left home alone. So, instead of travelling, he just hung the house and got old fast. He worked part-time as a limo driver for a little while but his poor diet, lack of exercise, and inattention to his health caught up to him. He had a stroke, developed diabetes, and suffers from some other age-related problems. He doesn’t have much of a social life. He hangs out at a club from time to time but his old friends there are dying off and he hasn’t made new friends. His big fun activities are pissing $30 - $40 away at the casino every other day and grocery shopping. He lives a pretty joyless existence from what I can tell. He has the money to maintain this slog for as long as he can bear it. Don’t let money be the only thing you worry about before you retire. It sounds like you’ve given more thought to the other things than my dad. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/28 "2020-01-05T13:35:45Z")
I’m 50 with an unexpected but delightful 3 year-old daughter. So I won’t be retiring anytime soon. But I will change from working for someone else, to working for myself, pretty soon. That will free up my time enormously - almost like a semi-retirement, I think. I’ve done most of the adventurous things I wanted to do in life, and I have a lot of hobbies. Working from home plus the pension that will kick-in in my 60s should be sufficient for us three. I have savings but I won’t ever touch them myself. They are for my baby plus our two properties that should be paid off by the time I die will mean she won’t ever have to work if she doesn’t want to. That’s my plan. And winning the lotto. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/29 "2020-01-05T17:18:02Z")
I’d love to retire as soon as my pension kicks in at 60. The wild card is health insurance, though. I may work part time until 65 just for the insurance. Our house will be paid for around that time, and there’s the option of selling and moving somewhere with a lower cost of living. A new Metro stop a block away will probably push our modest home toward the half million dollar mark, which is crazy. I dream of selling peanuts or beer at the ballpark wherever we are living. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/30 "2020-01-05T17:53:34Z")
I retired a month shy of 63 (that was 20 years ago; I will be 83 later this month). There were three parts to my job. Teaching, which I liked well enough until marking time, which I loathed. Sitting on committees which was boring, boring, boring. Research which I loved and continue to love. So even after retirement, I continued to do research and even got research grants until about 5 years ago. And the only reason I stopped applying for grants was that they required student training as part of the proposal and I could no longer maintain that part of it. Anyway, that is why I am not bored after 20 years of retirement. TSD is another reason, to be sure. Medical care is not an issue, but it is what is keeping me from moving to the US where all my children live. And my wife and I are still not spending all that get from our pensions, government pensions and a small amount of US social security. So I will be happy to keep this up until I go gaga. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/31 "2020-01-05T18:37:34Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > My dad retired at 57. Now he’s 92, and he says he regrets it. He feels it made him go soft. He wishes he’d stayed in the game longer. But it looks to me like he’s still having fun. I don’t know if that helps you, but I figured it was a data point. Good luck! > [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > No personal experience but my dad retired a few years ago at 54. Based on his experience, I’d suggest having a good plan on how you will spend your time and work on building and maintaining social outlets… My dad was an extreme workaholic. Eighty hours a week was typical when he was my age and he was very successful and highly credentialed. He loved work the way I love live music and sex. He was also a very difficult person to say the least. He had alienated most of his friends by the end of his life. When he was a bit older than I am, he volunteered for a huge corporate buy out. He never had to work again. He talked about doing the things that he used to love like sailing, going to Laker games, reading the big stack of books by his bed side and spending more time with family including the new grandkids. Within a month or two he had two new jobs plus consulting on the side. By the time that he dropped dead just before his 80th birthday, he was down to only 40 hours a week. Clearly, I am not him. I have a super active social life with live music, particularly jam bands but also blues, blue grass, Americana in general and, recently, funk. If I go to a jam band concert, I’ll have a silly amount of friends there ranging in age from teenagers to late 70s. I have a number of non music friends as well and a few friends with benefits. I am blessed and privileged to have a very full life. I plan to take on some limited charity work too but I am not sure exactly what yet. One thing that appeals to me is helping with dogs at the local shelter. I lost my dog a few years ago. I don’t want the responsibility of having another dog but I can take shelter dogs for walks to get my doggie fix and to get some exercise. > [@Isamu](#): > > I’m 50 with an unexpected but delightful 3 year-old daughter. I got a vasectomy over ten years ago. 😃 Congrats on the little one though. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/32 "2020-01-05T18:39:34Z")
I am 56 and planning to retire within a year or two (certainly before 60). **How did you do it?** I have a pension,which I became eligible to collect since I reached 55 and had 30 years of service. I also have a 457 deferred comp plan which I can withdraw from as soon as I start collecting my pension. **What about health insurance?** I will still have health insurance from my employer after I retire- it will cost me about $300 a month for family coverage. ( It will cost my employer a lot more) **What will you do?** I’m not sure yet, but I’ll find some way to occupy my time. Once my husband also retires, I expect we will be traveling more. I have no intention of getting another job , but might decide to do something like being an usher at Citifield , more to be there for events than for the money. **Are you afraid that you’ll run out of money?** Nope, between the pension, the deferred comp and eventual Social Security, I’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/33 "2020-01-05T19:01:39Z")
Getting your employer to pay for most of the health insurance premiums post-retirement is a good gig. Is that a union thing? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/34 "2020-01-05T19:42:36Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Getting your employer to pay for most of the health insurance premiums post-retirement is a good gig. Is that a union thing? Yes and no. I’m not in a union-represented job, but I’m sure that the only reason I have the benefits I have is because the unions that represent the other employees negotiated them. It’s hard to get someone to take a promotion into management if they have to give up all the benefits they used to have. Plus, although I didn’t go into the details, part of the reason I will only pay about $300/mo is due to a credit I will get for unused sick leave- if it wasn’t for that, I would pay the approximately $500/mo I currently pay. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/35 "2020-01-05T19:51:50Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > I retired recently, but at 62. While not exactly early like the FIRE people, it’s earlier than most and earlier than any of my relatives. > > My (anecdotal) observations. Like you, fairly frugal, especially on housing. Been contributing to 401Ks whenever available, and the missus and I kept up with our personal retirement savings that we started back in '81. There are a lot of things we could have done smarter about personal investing, but starting ~40 years ago compensates for a lot of amateur mistakes. > > After 6 months, I’m not spending what I’d projected. I just don’t have that many expenses, nor that many things I want to buy. As a result, we’ve reduced withdrawal amounts and spent the excess that was piling up on bucket list stuff. I never thought I’d say this, but for the first time in my life I have more money than I need. Any worries about outliving my income have evaporated. Engineers tend to “overdesign” if decisions are left to them. And that’s what I did with retirement savings. I think now I should have retired several years ago. But better to err in this direction. > > I also discovered that work, and work related/prep tasks take up far more time than you\* realize. I have so much free time now it’s actually difficult some weeks to fill it. > > I didn’t consider my job stressful, and it was a lot of fun. But removal of pressures and schedules has been far more relaxing that I expected. If your job is stressful, your life will probably improve more than you expect. \*\*It dawned on me after a few weeks, that I had been subject to schedule pressures driving me from my bed in the mornings since I was 5 years old. \*\* The grind was so normal I didn’t feel it. Now, I have the freedom you can only have when your income is not based on your behavior. No matter what I do, the checks arrive on schedule. This feeling is hard to describe. > > I hope you don’t mind hearing from a not-so-early retiree. Best of luck, and I hope your retirement is as amazing as it’s been for me. > \*Well, more than I realized. Maybe you’re aware of it, but it surprised me. I retired 6 years ago at 62. One of the biggest impacts I felt was not having to get up at an insane hour, which necessitated going to bed at what felt like too early an hour. I have a dog, so I can’t go completely schedule-less, but that sense of freedom is probably what I appreciate the most. I’m never bored. I still have stacks of books to read, and the dvr is always at 40% or so. And the dog walking means I make lots of social contacts in the neighborhood. Many of my fellow doggy people have become real friends. I worked for a company that was working on shedding its pension liabilites, though I was grandfathered and could have taken my pension. Since I had a money guy I trusted, I opted for the lump sum payout and combined with my 401k gave me about 1.75M. I have few expenses. Condo’s paid off. Car’s paid off. I have to stop spending money on frivolous things, but that’s about it. Also, my company has a retiree medical plan. Until I hit 65, I could still pay for company medical – and it was _cheap_. I pay just a smidge over $100 a month (and that covers dental and vision). That’s what truly allowed me to escape early. I know I’m lucky. I wasn’t in a union, but most of those benefits were negotiated by the unions and passed on to us “management” employees. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/36 "2020-01-05T19:52:59Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Yes and no. I’m not in a union-represented job, but I’m sure that the only reason I have the benefits I have is because the unions that represent the other employees negotiated them. It’s hard to get someone to take a promotion into management if they have to give up all the benefits they used to have. Plus, although I didn’t go into the details, part of the reason I will only pay about $300/mo is due to a credit I will get for unused sick leave- if it wasn’t for that, I would pay the approximately $500/mo I currently pay. You posted this while I was editing. Yeah, same for my company. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/37 "2020-01-05T20:15:07Z")
Following along with interest. I’m 51, in the same area as you, and am looking for a 55-56 retirement. My financial guy thinks it’s possible, at least in theory, and I spend a lot of time poking at various calculators trying to imagine all scenarios. Biggest open question is what happens with health care between now and then. My wife is worried I won’t have enough to do, but my problem always has been having more hobbies than time. I took more or less the last three weeks off and hand shortage of ways to occupy my time. Of course I know three weeks is not the same as years, but with volunteering opportunities and all the things I’ve got on the back burner, I estimate I can stay busy until 130 at least. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/38 "2020-01-05T21:27:55Z")
I retired at 56, ten years ago. How did you do it? I have no dependents. I’ve never paid any credit card interest. I don’t smoke or drink. I saved up to buy my house. I took jobs with excellent pension schemes.\* What about health insurance? I live in the UK, so don’t need it. We have the NHS.\*\* What will you do? I’ve always been a professional chess teacher. After I retired, my bridge club asked if I would do some teaching … and I now have 14 students. I’ve travelled a lot (one cruise and six visits to Las Vegas. 🆒 ) I still roleplay (40 years after starting), play board games and postal games. Are you afraid that you’ll run out of money? I’ve got my house, index-linked pensions, State Pension (came in at 65) and the interest on my savings. I worked out a yearly budget before retiring. \*I asked at job interviews what the pension scheme was like (that’s planning ahead!) \*\*after I turned 60, I’ve had gallstones removed and been cured of liver sepsis. The diagnosis and treatments included blood tests, MRIs, ultrasound scans, ambulance trips and stays in hospital. Under the NHS, this didn’t cost me anything (I’d paid my taxes over the years.) ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/39 "2020-01-05T21:33:13Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I retired at 56, ten years ago. > > I don’t smoke or drink. I don’t drink either for no other reason that I never cared for the taste or effects of alcohol. It’s astounding how much money people pay for booze. I feel so fortunate not to like the stuff. I smoke a little weed but I’d be surprised if that cost me much more than $100/year. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944/40 "2020-01-05T21:35:36Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Following along with interest. I’m 51, in the same area as you, and am looking for a 55-56 retirement. My financial guy thinks it’s possible, at least in theory, and I spend a lot of time poking at various calculators trying to imagine all scenarios. Biggest open question is what happens with health care between now and then. Hey fellow Barbarian. When the time comes, hit me up and I’ll fill you in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-early-retirement/845944.md?page=3)