Realistically, when do you think you can retire?

I'm never retiring, but like most I would like a part time job doing something meaningful and relatively stress free. I used to volunteer up in Maine and in the local city building houses, if i have enough money in 20 years i think i would do that a few times a week working for a non-profit and maybe fill some hours working at Home Depot or auto parts place.

More an idea, but decent money if you obtain a captains license and own a nice size boat you can do charters. A friend did it this past year and made about 25k. However he said its pretty stressful, and you run a lot of risk with your boat, people breaking things, getting hurt etc.

You know Carol Baskin had similar dreams in the 1990's which her husband did not see coming.

 

I think it is interesting how everyone has a different definition of retirement.

For me retiring just means I'm financially independent. I can live on my assets/investments and no longer need to work. It basically means I do what I want to do, when I want to do it.

Doesn't mean I won't work.

I plan on starting a business in retirement. I'll be working my ass off, I just won't HAVE to in order to live

 

Pretty much where I am on the spectrum. Our definitions are near spot on.

 

I'm never going to "retire" per say. I would rather get in a situation where I can scale back and work 2-3 days per week or something like that. Assuming I have enough funds saved up. I like staying busy and having productive things to do besides golf and driving out into the forest to shoot things.

 

That would be more like if I hit the lottery, b/c I would want to have all kinds of animals and hire a few close friends to work there.

 

I like how when I am working on my own stuff or even chores like today I don't get people/idiot tired like I used to at work. And at the end of the day now, it's a good tired, not a disturbed tired.

Maybe I just hate people............I don't - but dealing with others is taxing, I don't get energy from it as others do.

 

I've commented to my wife that working from home since the pandemic really picked up speed has been fine with me. My role is not one which requires interacting with others..most times in the office I have my headphones on and heavy metal blasting.

 

JFC ..... why the question
Enjoy life . It’s short . Then it’s over
Fuck me . Yes I may have had more then a few drinks

 

You lost me at “National well run...” lol

 

Same. Seems borderline political. Let's move on.

 

As someone looking to retire in the not to far future, I advise younger folks to not count on anyone but yourself. Save money out of every paycheck to a 401k or an IRA, or some other form of investment. After a while you won’t miss it. Save as much as you can, it will grow and give you a decent retirement and anything else you get like Social Security if it’s still viable is a bonus.
And if you’re older, it’s still not too late to start saving, you will be surprised how fast it can grow with smart investing.

 

My strategy all along. Not just Social Security, but Medicare as well.

I work in the insurance field and while things could be a bit better (could always be, I suppose) I have a pension I don't pay a dime into that's separate from my 401K. I hit 20 years service which guarantees the pension, I can't touch it until at least 55 years old. While they stopped putting money in this year, they are upping their contribution to the 401K.

They also are still going to subsidize my insurance and my wife's when I retire, even if I predecease her she can still keep it

 

I am retired. What it means is I go to bed when I want. Get up when I want. And when I’m up doing what I want.

Of course that is only the the full approval of my boss, er wife.

 

Thats the best definition I've heard and well said.

 

I am the same way. I love 99% of what I do - I am a band director - so I don't see myself retiring from teaching music. I WILL, however, retire from teachers meetings, waking up early ,and dress clothes at some point. I am getting to the point in my life where I want to travel more, expand on other hobbies, and set my own schedule.

My plan is to hang at my current job for maybe another 5 years, then see if I can retire to just doing private lessons and consulting. I have been at my job for 30+ years in the same place, and practically started and grew the program from scratch. It will be hard to let that go...

I just got my Tacoma to become our traveling headquarters as my wife and I would like to hit National/Provincial Parks in retirement. I think she will work for 15 more years as well...she is a pharmacy tech. She also likes her job for the most part.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what do you do?

 

I actually work in a low stress, low responsibility, low paying, but highly rewarding job for the state.
My husband is in marketing.

We make a decent living in a low cost of living state but we don’t make obscene amounts of money. Right now its about $113k/yr.

I only say that because people think you have to make a lot to retire early and in reality you just have to be incredibly intentional with what you have.

 

And have some luck.

I'm 37 and have never earned above high five figures as an annual income in my life. Even the best saving and investing methods in the world won't get you out of the workforce in your 30s on that income alone. The wife and I are retirement ready because:

- I went into a very secure medical field and didn't have to worry about job security.
- I graduated into the workforce December 2008, when the stock market was the lowest it had been in 80 years, inflation adjusted.
- I continued to live like a broke college student in a 1/1 apartment and saved 30-50% of my annual income for a decade.
- I invested that income from 2009 to 2019 using a Bogle passive philosophy during the greatest bull market of the past century.


Had I not graduated when I did into a secure 5-figure income and immediately begun investing like mad, it wouldn't have worked. Lots of people finished school when I did and couldn't get anything for work. Or they were in and out of the workforce every 6 months as the economy had seizures. You could do everything I did exactly but if you were 5 years earlier or later it wouldn't have worked. I happened to jump into the market at the lowest point it will likely be at forever more. That was luck.

Hard work is critical. You won't get there without it. But hard work alone will not get you there either.

 

Not entirely sure how to respond to this because a lot of what you stated like job choice, standard of living, and choosing to invest is not luck. Those are conscious decisions one makes in regards to reaching future financial goals.

I am 7-8 years behind you and I did it (on my way at least). And I didn't enter the market at an all time low, I didn't have a high demand job, I have never made over $50k as an individual at a single job, didn't make over $100k combined household income until 2017.

I think the biggest barrier to retiring early is people figuring out that is their goal early on, and having the knowledge to get started and become intentional with their money to reach those goals. Time is your best friend with investing, as is keeping that standard of living low so that you can be heavily investing. If you don't have that realization you want to retire at 40 until you are 35 and only make $50k a year, yeah probably going to be hard to achieve that goal in that period of time.

The vast majority of people who build wealth get there by living below their means and with time. They don't get there because of their freak investments in Tesla or Bit Coin. Are there people that have? Yes, but they aren't the majority.

The only luck I had is in my family and the people I've had around me inspiring me (which I do appreciate is quite a privilege) but if I hadn't done any of the work, I'd never be where I am now. Because those folks didn't work for me, they didn't go to school for me, they didn't budget for me, they didn't make my life choices for me, and they didn't save or pick my investments for me. That was just me grinding with a goal.

Now I'm also going to reiterate my definition of retirement is: Do what you want, when you want.

I cannot stop working forever, with no income, and live off my investments in my 30s (on what planet would anyone want to do that anyways?). I can just severely back off investing, let what is there do the growing, and I only need to work a job that can provide for my most basic needs.

Maybe that's where the difference lies. I am not leaving the "workforce". I just won't have to work for someone else if I don't want to.

 

*raises hand* I, for one, am not working one millisecond longer than I absolutely have to. If I can accomplish that in my 30's, hooray. I'll go fishing.