Realistically, when do you think you can retire?

I always planned on retiring at 55 from my then employer for 20 years who had an amazing 401K. A very cash rich company and generous to their employees but was also susceptible to several hostile takeover attempts which they fought off and their stock value soared and so did my 401K. In 2004 they were finally taken over and during the process I lost my job along with any hope of retiring at 55. I didn't touch the money from my 401K and moved it into low risk mutual funds where it continued to perform nicely. I retired from full time at 60 and will be retiring from part time in June at 65. My part time employer is a local university offering full paid medical benefits. How often does that happen? I had to stay with it until now just for the benefits. Cant wait to move onto my next venture. I am a track photographer and write for drag racing publications covering my region. Ill be doing a lot more of that now.
Honestly I am concerned for most people out there today including most of my family who never thought about retiring early on. I watch my brother in law who is 60 working in a factory and never prepared for this. He will be there until he dies or they get rid of him. Both of my brothers are in the same situation along with several others. The days of retiring like our parents and grandparents did is just a pipedream for most people now. If you are young start saving or investing for that day. A shiny new Tacoma TRD for $48000 is nice but a $32000 Tacoma would let you save $16000 for when that day comes and makes more sense.

 

Too, true.

No one in my family will be able to retire early...if they can retire at all.

The cars is probably one of the reasons we were able to aggressively save. We drive our vehicle for 10-15 years. 10 years of no car payments allowed all that money to be funneled into the retirement accounts.

 

Well said, cars aka transportation is just that. It can be a leach on ur paycheck if u let it.

 

Knowing the difference between needs and wants

 

I kind of depressed me reading some of the threads on this site at times. All the money spent on modifications to an item that will absolutely NOT increase in value.

We should be able treat ourselves to something we want on occasion, I agree, but please make sure the retirement account was funded 1st!

 

Yeah that wont happen for us I don’t forsee. Roth pulls go against MAGI which impacts ACA and we want to travel and do enough the income is going to be too high.

Im hoping the nation is in a different place in 20 years so it won’t matter but that may be wishful thinking.

 

Unfortunately, ACA is based on MAGI which Roth income does count against you.

 

I forgot the song but Neil Peart from Rush wrote a line " we are immortal for a limited time" When you are young you don't think about that. Your immortal. The next mod on your truck is more important than what is coming at you someday.

 

Im 55 and will be retiring at 62 whether I can afford it or not.
I've worked in factories my entire life so I'm not the richest person in the world, but we've both put decent chunks in our 401k's for many years and my kid is a certified financial planner and manages all of our IRA's so we've not doing too miserable.
I currently put 16% in my 401k and the company matches 5%....they nixed our pension in 2017, so instead of a pension they started putting an extra 4% in 401k. So with my 16%, their match of 5% and the extra 4%...thats 25%. Its still not alot (because I dont make alot), but its gonna have to be good enough.
My dad died one year after he retired (he retired at 56), I'm hoping to get longer than he did.

Too any young folks:

Start contributing the very first day its available, you'll never miss the few extra bucks each week but you'll damn sure appreciate it later.

 

Good advice

 

That's my plan once my full time position takes effect at the beginning of March

 

Now I called PA insurance and asked if a Roth counts towards income guidelines and they said no. As well as my financial advisor. Not sure about MAGI.

 

Just the fact that you're 21 and you're in this thread says alot. You gotta take care of yourself first.

 

I'm going against the grain here. I'll financially probably never be able to retire unless my parents leave me substantial money, which is possible. I'm extremely active and in my early 40's. All of my hobbies are outside. Hiking, climbing, camping, etc. I don't want to be one of those people who saved a ton of money and then died the following year after retirement. I want to experience the world while I'm still mentally and physically able to, and with an autoimmune disorder and prior military service that was hard on my body, I don't know how long that will last. Most of my adult life has been spent making good money, but I chose (whether right or wrong) to use it on things that are meaningful to me. Sometimes I just hop in my car with the dogs and hit the road for 2 weeks. You may find me on the beach in southern california or at 14,000+ft on a mountain top in Colorado. I refuse to buy into working my brain and body into the ground and then retiring. I understand that my mindset is not that of the collective. My goals are, and have always been, short term. Hiking the grand canyon rim to rim. Watching the sunrise from a beach in Oregon. Metal detecting for treasures on a beach in south Florida. I've never been married and don't have children other than my dogs. The things that make my heart happy are seeing all this world has to offer while I'm still young enough to do it. With all that said, I'll probably live to be 104.

 

It’s about compromise, being smart

 

I retired at the end of 2017 when I was 65 plus a few months. I took a slight hit on social security by not waiting until my full retirement age, but it was worth it. Living within your means during life is key. I purchased my first vehicle when I was 17 and my fifth when I was 67. Only the fifth and current one was new. Toyota trucks were a huge part of that. I bought the first one in 1982 and have driven nothing for personal use ever since and I'm only on my third one.

Begin saving for retirement as soon as possible.
Live within your means.
Retire debt free.

These are three key areas to even have the possibility to retire.

 

I get that, and it's certainly smart advice to people looking for it.

 

I retired at 56 (58 now)from UPS. $4000 a month pension minus $400 a month for health care for myself and wife. Got a part time job at Lion Country Safari as a courier 3 days a week just to keep me busy. Will fully retire at 62 and start drawing from my 401K. Truck is paid for, owe 10 payments on the wife’s 4Runner and $8000 on my house(worth $460,000). Wife is still working(started her career later)she’ll also fully retire at 62 also.

 

I hope it works out for you. I'm being sincere.

I will say working when you're older is much more difficult than working when you are young. I've done both. I'm talking both physically (I had desk job) and mentally. The age discrimination is also rough mentally. And yes, it's there. You're often dismissed as "the old guy" and you get the smirks when you try and contribute.

My advice (old guy chiming in ) would be to make sure you are "the boss" by the time you reach 60 and you can avoid the pitfalls I mentioned above. Start your own business and you can maybe have both your current lifestyle and a decent retirement.

BTW, that age discrimination I mention is very American thing. My job with Toyota took me to Japan many times. They truly value and seek the wisdom of their elders, both at work and in their personal lives. I always felt very respected when travelling there in my 50's. Their culture is definitely not perfect. But if we could blend the "American spirit and freedoms" with some of their post WWII Japanese tolerance/societal harmony, we'd have ourselves something here!

 

Yeah state plans may be different. But I would never qualify for a state plan, the income threshold is $22k for a household.

My Roth conversions annually may be over that.

I think the goal is zero traditional funds once I hit RMD age.

Im shocked PA has a high income limit.