Realistically, when do you think you can retire?

Probably lower the limit as soon as I retire lol.

 

next tuesday

 

It's a balancing act. Saving for retirement doesn't mean giving up everything today. It's not all or nothing. 10-15% of your income in retirement to prepare for tomorrow shouldn't result in you not being able to life a fulfilling life. It also doesn't mean having to work to death. You chose where you work and you chose to work a job that you don't like.

My husband and I are similar to you in we have big fitness/outdoor goals and want to see many places (Rim to Rim to Rim is on our list too!) which is the big push for retire early or maybe take 1-2 years off here in the next couple years, lets see how things go.

Life should be about both and why it's even more important 20 somethings start putting away something. The earlier you start the better.

 

PA does not tax IRA withdrawals at all. They also do not give a tax deduction for it when you are working.

 

Everyone had to define “retire” these days. The wife and I could easily scrape by on bare minimum and retire today but we like our professions and would like to do a lot of things for our families / etc. so we live in such a way that we can enjoy what we do or change what we do anytime we don’t and it’s basically retirement while working ha

 

Retired December 22, 2023, at 58 years of age. It’s now been a couple months of, “Every day is Saturday!”

Wake naturally most days, ease through breakfast, chores around the house, and exercise daily. The pace is nice.

Pursuing some hobbies and clubs, and have a small teardrop trailer for travel behind the Tacoma. Did Phoenix to Guadalupe Mtns NP, Big Bend NP, and South Padre Island last month. I found I like Texas a lot. Looking to Utah in April/May. Gonna take a year before thinking about another job. We’ll see…

Moderation and stability over 30+ years got me to a comfortable place at present. Not perfect, but comfortable. I also know things can change.

 

I can remember being young and thinking I would be able to retire at 48. Then came kids, college tuition for the kids and one bad financial investment. Now looks like I will have to work till 67 in some compacity. I hope to get out of the current job and slow down a bit at 60.

 

I cant speak for everyone here (obviously) but I would choose to what you're doing in a heartbeat...I've just never been able to afford it.
Born poor, raised poor...not too many rungs above that now, but its 100% my fault for never having the ambition to do more than just pay my bills and have a little bit left over afterwards to piss away on things that I want.
My kid is the exact opposite of me; he knew what he wanted when he was in jr. high and is on his way to accomplishing it.

I'm truly glad that you are financially able to do the things that you want to do, and nothing but the best of wishes in all your travels.

 

My wife is 7 years older than me and has no desire to retire.

She said she'd wait on me.....I said 'I wouldn't wait on you'.

 

My only regret is not exercising more after retiring.

Company supplied us with on the clock exercise equipment. I used it.

I don't like exercising as much not getting paid for it.

Gotta turn that around.

Dedicate some time to exercise.

 

Dammit, I knew those moderator jobs were where the real money was at! I shoulda got in on the ground floor of one of these websites I waste so much time on .

 

Great perc. for certain parents

 

Big one no matter what the particular is. My sister and I were in the market for a house 20 years ago. I'll qualify by saying our parents are very frugal people and neither of us kids were good about saving money as kids but I've improved as an adult and she has not, credit being her big pitfall.

Anyway..my parents drilled into me play with a mortgage calculator, rate, cost, etc..and DON'T LOOK AT THE NUMBER THE BANK WILL LEND YOU, DO THOSE CALCULATIONS AND FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD!!! Both to pay each month on the mortgage, pay a little extra to principal each month (at least), pay bills, save for the unexpected, blah blah.

We bought what we could afford, my sister and her husband bought what they wanted. I do have some expensive hobbies but they don't constantly cost money though, my wife is very minimalist and isn't a shopaholic. My sister refuses to give up dining out regularly, hitting the mall, buying the new iPhone right when it comes out, etc.. One of us got foreclosed 9 yrs ago and I'm sure you know which one!

Building on that it's also the amount of use the item and the mod get. I'm sure some can call me a fool for doing the stereo system in my truck but I use it every time I drive the truck.

Ageism is a thing big time. My dad retired at 54 from his primary career (got a buyout that equalled what he'd make the next 10 years if he stayed). He had a few different jobs after and was declined interviews or offers for many more, always got the idea it was the age thing. He ended up in the local transit system for 15 years, and said to me that they really mean it about being equal opportunity. He worked with people quite a bit older to people almost his grandchild's age and everyone was treated well no matter what. At 50 in my career for 24 yrs I'm a tweener in that regard and seeing the younger generation get into management, tending to promote their own versus someone like myself with much more knowledge because I'm seen as the old fart.

That meld you mentioned sounds pretty darn good

 

Tough to tell anyone what to prioritize in life, absolutely. You're in a unique position to many being single and childless both. I am married with cats I do get a lot of freedom for a married man for sure.

Traveling while you can is wise, if you aren't going into crushing debt (which it doesn't sound you are doing). I kept nudging my folks after I moved out to go and do the things they wanted to in that regard...the rare trip they took was to something like Disney which wasn't for them, it was for me and my sister. They didn't, and now aren't able to as my mom is on dialysis.

 

I was tracking being able to retire at 35, but the housing market slowdown the last few years and having a kid definitely slowed that down. My wife doesn't have any intentions of retiring soon, so hopefully I can be out of the workforce at 40.

 

Wow 35-40 that's young !

 

Yeah, my wife and I both have decent careers (engineer and architect), but we've never made more than $200k put together. We live pretty frugally and have saved and invested for retirement aggressively. We have also bought and remodeled several homes over the last 8 years (starting when we were 24), which has probably made us more than our W2 incomes. It would be a pretty frugal retirement at around a $2-3M net worth. That still allows us at least $50k annually to live off without touching principal.