Realistically, when do you think you can retire?

how many employees do you have

 

About 40 overall. I am only a part owner of a 20/80 split. On basically a 10 year plan of taking over more and more overtime. I worked for the guy for years when I started the trade some I had a good relationship with him

 

I’ve been kicking around the idea of opening a small business. My problem is, I’m a jack of all trades but a master of none. I do good work but I don’t know what I’d open it in.

 

Ya that's a big issue with many. Need confidence in it before you start. But lots of people just Bluff their way through its just how it is. The biggest thing you need is common sense and the ability to stick to using it. Sounds so simple but many cannot do it. In business there is always a right and wrong thing to do when you are dealing with stuff. Stick to it and you usually come out fine.
I'll say it's stressful but knowing I own part of something as big as a couple million dollars worth is just hilarious to think about when you are sitting there in pyjamas playing video games and eating cereal on the couch lol. Being an adult has been easy lol

 

Also one thing of advice I learned is usually if you have a specific idea and plan on a business, it's almost always easier to buy one than to start one. The profits come much faster buying. I'm not sure how the rules are when you live also but the tax/financing rules and way of buying businesses is usually very easy and extremely easy to understand. Getting the first small chunk of money is always the biggest hurtle to prove to the bank you can do it. Good luck

 

I'm 31 now, and could retire at 40. House will be paid off in a year, investments are doing very well, and I live frugally. Not having kids or a wife has helped it along.

Realistically, though, I will work to either 50 or 55. I can retire from work(railroad) with full benefits at 60. If I retire before then, and still have 30 years in, i get full benefits provided I don't go to work at another job. Ie, live off my investments. I will have 30 years in on my 50th bday.

 

Very near now!! I am always thinking I will retire "next year"......for the last five years.............I'm 61 now! Things like: The money from my regular job is just too good (still is!!). The wife doesn't want to retire and wants me to stay home and cook and clean (she wants the hell out of working finally!). Daughter still in college (degree and married now). Etc........all those things have resolved one way or another in my mind at least. I have saved and invested enough to have an income stream, plus the two businesses. Makes little sense to take early (62) SS with the business income for both us. We will both get a tiny pension at 65. Plan on moving to more rural, less taxes.

I have the vision but need to stop thinking I will ALWAYS have my arms around every bit of it. Need more autopilot, less analysis paralysis.

So January next year, I pull the plug. Wife will work until March to get next raise period. Then we be done with the working world!

 

I could have wrote this^. I'm thinking May next year.

 

Realistically, when I am 60. I'm 49 now. I've been working every other week since I was 37 though, so I feel as if I am semi-retired already. The biggest problem for me is my wife, and I don't mean that in a bad way. We both have to agree on what retirement will look like and what it will cost. She envisions a grander lifestyle than I do.
Not that I don't spend money on my hobbies, like flying and hunting, but I would also be happy to give it all up for a small cabin on the lake.

As far as retirement goes, my wife and I will both have military and federal civilian pensions, as well as whatever we have in 401K type accounts. If all I had was stocks, I'd be pretty nervous about retirement, but the federal pensions give us a lot of peace of mind. We also have a rent house we will sell in a few years and put the profit toward our retirement home.

We certainly could have been able to retire sooner if we had saved more and spent less, but I don't regret any of it. We have been around the world a lot, seen and done so many things, and have experienced life to the fullest. I never wanted to grow up and just work to save money. I wanted life to be an adventure, and it has, and still is. We got kids through college, even some overseas, med school, weddings, and all that as well. Personally for me, retiring early would have meant not doing some of the things we wanted to do.

We will both take SS at 62, if that's still the early age by then, as I see no reason to wait. I have no idea how long I will live, and more later won't matter for us. Might as well get it while I can.

 

I put my notice in May and am planning for end of September. 33+ years is enuf. Calling it quits. Just thankful I can do it at 55.

 

Ideally, 55. Been in my company 20 years now and I'm 46. My pension (which I don't have to or get a choice to pay into) can be obtained at age 55 and 20 years service time. They don't offer it anymore either. At that point I can get another job and they don't care. My wife will be 67 by then so the hope is we sell our house and move south, buy in cash and I can still get something while she can enjoy life.

 

When to retire? How much is enough? The question for the ages and scares the bejebus out of me. My plan was always 55. The great recession and a divorce in 2010 but a damper on that.
I just turned 57 last month. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had surgery in April. Recovery went well and I am still somewhat suffering from the, hopefully, short term complications from the procedure.
How long will I live? Wish I had a crystal ball to look at my future. That unto itself is probably the biggest factor in deciding when enough is enough.
No male on my fathers side had made it past their 60's for 3 generations. My dad was the first to live into his mid 70's but died living his last few years in horrible pain as a long term result of lupus. He passed from myelodysplasia, likely a result of all the years of immunosuppressive meds he was on.
I sold my business last June because I had enough of working 50+ hour weeks. In at 9 out at 8-9 every night. Working 5-6 days a week. I was the income. If I didn't work, no money came in.
I payed my business off (construction and startup costs/divorce-community property state) in 2017 after 20 yrs of ownership. My house was payed off around 2016 (had to pay for half the equity to the ex). I have no debt (well except for the travel trailer I recently purchased which I will pay off soon- interest rates are crazy). I have remained single with no kids, but have a live in girlfriend who is 9 yrs younger and does not make a lot of money. She does not contribute to the household expenses as she has accumulated a lot of school debt. She still has a dream of going to nursing school.
I live somewhat frugally. When I was married my ex and I liked to take 6 week long vacations travelling the world and would spend a ton of money on breeding/showing horses. She really didn't plan for our retirement so not a lot had gone into IRA'a and other investments over the years. She always looked at the sale of the business as our retirement...very short sited and was a major factor, to me, in the demise of our marriage. I have only traveled overseas 2X in the last 10 yrs. Vacations are primarily visiting friends and family for long weekends...well at least before covid hit.
So here I am with the money from the business that I sold, but still owning the real estate, and will be collecting rent for 3-5 yrs (option to buy after 3 and price has been set) which will bring me to 59.
I work 2-3 days a week to fill in at my old business and I work 1 day a week at another to help out. Between the rent and the work, I have managed to maintain the same salary I was paying myself before I "semi- retired".
When the real estate sells in the next 3-5 yrs, I will have a large chunk of money to invest.
My biggest concern, as I am sure it is with many others here that want to retire early, is the cost of health insurance until I hit 65. Now that I do not have employees, my options for decent policies have become limited. Luckily this year I chose wisely given my cancer diagnosis and surgery. My plan is to try to save as much of the rent money as I can and put it toward a "healthcare fund" to pay for my policies until I can qualify for medicare (presuming it is still around and not gutted).
So back to the age old question...how much is enough?

 

January 8 I am so out of there!

 

Wife and i both retired at 58. I worked at UPS for 40 years and get a nice pension. She inherited a boatload from her parents.

 

Liking because you're on the upswing from your surgery..hope things keep on the positive route, brother

 

20 days if all goes as planned. My position is somewhat vital, so I don't know if I have to hang around to train my replacement.

My only hope is I actually am only a nomber to the head office.

I'll be 53 in October.

 

Thank you, I appreciate it

 

#kissmytaco, I wish you the best.

I was lucky in the retirement part, I knew at 26, I had to retire in 30 years, federal law. A divorce hurt me also, but I did have a crystal ball about when.

 

My last day at work was last Thursday 7/16 so this is my 1st actual week as a retiree. I spent 30 with my previous employer (plus I was able to buy 5 years of service credit so 35 in total) and I’m very grateful for the financial stability that the job provided. Changes in business model and complete assholes for a new leadership team made it intolerable to work there any longer. I also had a vital position and gave them 1 months notice. They’ll just have to figure it out. So far this week my wife has kept me really busy doing a facelift on her classroom even though it looks like kids will not be there to start the year. It’s actually been fun and I think I’ll make an excellent neighborhood handyman. Also I’ve got a standing offer from a friend to do some part time consulting work for his company and it’s $75/hour so that’ll make up for not getting a full income from my pension. Oh yeah I’m 52.25 years young.