Early Retirement

[catastrophe]

Is a recent passion of mine (though I'm nowhere near). It seems to be turning into a pretty popular topic of discussion.  I've enjoyed reading the popular posts on this blog: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

Anyone done it successfully?

[pissclams]

I'm only 13 but my plan is to become a savvy tech investor and never work a day in my life.  there's a saying "it's not work if you love what you do"

anyone here like pandas?  i might move to China to get closer to them

[wetwillie]

Unless your spouse has the same mindset you are going to be utterly miserable

[Phil Titola]

Toyed around with the idea until decided it is a pretty miserable way to live saving up for retiring.

[Pete]

I'm only 13 but my plan is to become a savvy tech investor and never work a day in my life.  there's a saying "it's not work if you love what you do"

anyone here like pandas?  i might move to China to get closer to them

I once saw a video of pandas going down slippery slides.  This was surprising to me, because it seemed to be different than the behavior of wild pandas.  Basically, it looks like there a jobs in China where you focus your career entirely on training pandas to do various tricks.  I suspect it's a plan to increase tourism, which is brilliant. 

Would anyone ever want to quit hanging out with expertly trained pandas?  Doubt it.  This whole idea about a panda related career probably belongs in a thread about the horrors of forced retirement and not early retirement.

[catastrophe]

I don't think you have to be miserable, and I'd consider just about anything short of 55 as "early retirement."  I mean, student loans aside most people start out at a living wage and get raises from there.  Instead of buying a bigger house, why not put that money to work and start growing it?

I don't know if this is an actual rule, but I'm pretty sure if you're invested in a good ETF and reinvesting dividends, you should be able to double your money every 10-11 years, so the more you can pump in on the front end the better.

[wetwillie]

are you going to bike everywhere, drive less than 1000 miles a year, and cut your own hair?

[Rage Against the McKee]

I'm hoping to have enough money to retire at 55, but work until I'm 70 and just take some really cool vacations when I'm older instead of staying home all the time for the last 25 years of my life.

[catastrophe]

are you going to bike everywhere, drive less than 1000 miles a year, and cut your own hair?

No, no, and Great Clips quarterly.

[sys]

Is a recent passion of mine (though I'm nowhere near). It seems to be turning into a pretty popular topic of discussion.  I've enjoyed reading the popular posts on this blog: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

Anyone done it successfully?

i am very interested.  i've been working (real jobish) for about 4.5 years and i figure i'm about 3-7 years away from being able to retire, if things go average to better than average.

interesting that we are both intp-a logicians and interested in early retirement.  probably means that it is the most logical life plan.

[sys]

i don't think it's that hard.  people just don't live logically.

[catastrophe]

I'm hoping to have enough money to retire at 55, but work until I'm 70 and just take some really cool vacations when I'm older instead of staying home all the time for the last 25 years of my life.

This is pretty close to my goals.  Have enough to retire at 50-55, and then just do some jobs entirely at my own pace for money to waste.  However, I'd want to do at least one cool vacation every year during retirement instead of waiting to the point where I'm too old to travel without suffering.

[wetwillie]

are you going to bike everywhere, drive less than 1000 miles a year, and cut your own hair?

No, no, and Great Clips quarterly.

Cut cable?  Pay as you go cell phone?  Buying in bulk from Costco?

[catastrophe]

are you going to bike everywhere, drive less than 1000 miles a year, and cut your own hair?

No, no, and Great Clips quarterly.

Cut cable?  Pay as you go cell phone?  Buying in bulk from Costco?

Yes (but cycling through HBO Now, Netflix, and Hulu Plus), no (company pays), no (too much hassle).

[wetwillie]

Mustachians are really extreme, I think www.financialsamurai.com is more your speed.

[catastrophe]

Yea, the advice is extreme, but the writing is good and the main articles (saving for retirement, investing, etc.) are applicable to everyone.  I hadn't heard of financialsamurai, so I will definitely check it out.

[Skipper44]

Mustachians are really extreme, I think www.financialsamurai.com is more your speed.

I am very interested to see just how mumped Mr. Mustache's kid ends up

[Rage Against the McKee]

I'm hoping to have enough money to retire at 55, but work until I'm 70 and just take some really cool vacations when I'm older instead of staying home all the time for the last 25 years of my life.

This is pretty close to my goals.  Have enough to retire at 50-55, and then just do some jobs entirely at my own pace for money to waste.  However, I'd want to do at least one cool vacation every year during retirement instead of waiting to the point where I'm too old to travel without suffering.

I would just keep the same job that I have and burn my leave for weeks at a time. Should have a lot more money than I'd have working odd jobs and if my employer doesn't like it at that point, who cares? I could just retire if they let me go.

[catastrophe]

Is a recent passion of mine (though I'm nowhere near). It seems to be turning into a pretty popular topic of discussion.  I've enjoyed reading the popular posts on this blog: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

Anyone done it successfully?

i am very interested.  i've been working (real jobish) for about 4.5 years and i figure i'm about 3-7 years away from being able to retire, if things go average to better than average.

interesting that we are both intp-a logicians and interested in early retirement.  probably means that it is the most logical life plan.

I definitely think it is most logical. Get accustomed to a baseline standard of living, and put all income above that level towards retirement so that you can be financially independent at an age where you can still do fun stuff (which doesn't even mean you have to stop working entirely).

[catastrophe]

I'm hoping to have enough money to retire at 55, but work until I'm 70 and just take some really cool vacations when I'm older instead of staying home all the time for the last 25 years of my life.

This is pretty close to my goals.  Have enough to retire at 50-55, and then just do some jobs entirely at my own pace for money to waste.  However, I'd want to do at least one cool vacation every year during retirement instead of waiting to the point where I'm too old to travel without suffering.

I would just keep the same job that I have and burn my leave for weeks at a time. Should have a lot more money than I'd have working odd jobs and if my employer doesn't like it at that point, who cares? I could just retire if they let me go.

Probably depends on your actual career at that point.  I might never have an actual job with formal leave, but my career does make it pretty easy to work only sporadically if I wanted.

[Rage Against the McKee]

I think health insurance will be what makes it hard for you to quit working. I'd plan on needing $30-40k per year for healthcare until you can draw Medicare, assuming you are 30ish now and plan on working to 55.

[KITNfury]

I'm 35, decent job but nothing crazy, don't have a huge nest egg either. I'm hoping to be semi retired within 10 years. I'm in the process of putting my money towards investments that hopefully return well enough that I can roll it towards more and more. We'll see I guess.

[Kat Kid]

Hi guys.  30 years old and 3 kids here.  See you guys at my funeral.

[chum1]

My grandparents retired early, got an airstream trailer, and spent years and years touring Florida, moving around from campsite to campsite. Up until then, they worked at their own business seven days a week and, according to my grandmother, were pretty miserable.

[catastrophe]

I think health insurance will be what makes it hard for you to quit working. I'd plan on needing $30-40k per year for healthcare until you can draw Medicare, assuming you are 30ish now and plan on working to 55.

Is this for real?  Like even Obamacare?