Early Retirement

[catastrophe]

I don't love working or anything, but it's literally the only thing in my life that provides any structure at all. I've seen how dark it got when I was laid off for a year (not at all even related to money). Retirement scares me, I'll probably work until I die.

I’m definitely going to have some kind of post-retirement commitment to keep me grounded. I don’t do great without some kind of a schedule, but I’m confident I’ll have the discipline to do that without relying on it for income.

In my case it would likely be partnering with some organization to do pro bono work.  Maybe I’ll even have more ambition than that, but I think at a minimum I’d end up doing something that I’d spend a good 10ish hours a week on (other than the occasional 2-3 week vacay mixed in a few times a year).

[star seed 7]

About 6 - 9 years ago (a period of time between those years) I was in a super duper super dark place.  Like, as dark as it gets.  I am very happy to report that for the last almost-6-years it is not that way for me. One of many paradoxes for me has been that the better my mental/spiritual condition has gotten, the less I worry about existential stuff and give less of a eff about "death" and crap....yet, when I was most miserable and wanting to just die (and perhaps by my own hand), I actually was super afraid of death and stuff.

To sum up, I currently give zero fucks (in terms of worry) about retirement.  Like, it doesn't even bother me at all in the slightest.  I set the amount that I need to set aside in my savings, do that, and say eff it. I will sometimes day dream about maybe buying a lake house or something, but it's not this urgent need to accumulate things or FOMO. It's just some happy thing to say "sure, maybe someday something neat like that might work out."

Well said, and how I try to approach the world as well. You're a good egg Pete.

[catastrophe]

I do need to double down with some term life insurance though (work already provides some for free). Are there any gold standard providers out there I should just trust?

Update: Just got a nice 15 year policy from Haven.  Thanks to the advice from gE, I no longer need to worry about ending up in a Breaking Bad situation down the line.

[IPA4Me]

I need to add a 15 year policy before I turn 50. Carry me to retirement and a little beyond. My 20 year policy will be up in a few years.

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[catastrophe]

I do need to double down with some term life insurance though (work already provides some for free). Are there any gold standard providers out there I should just trust?

Update: Just got a nice 15 year policy from Haven.  Thanks to the advice from gE, I no longer need to worry about ending up in a Breaking Bad situation down the line.

Forgot to mention it includes a TWO YEAR “contestability period” (including due to suicide) which they say is the industry standard. Which makes SD’s story about the 1 year sales pitch thing all the more wtf.

[IPA4Me]

I need to add a 15 year policy before I turn 50. Carry me to retirement and a little beyond. My 20 year policy will be up in a few years.

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Added a 20 year 250K this morning for $34 a month. Give the kids and future Mrs IPA a little extra juice if I don't make it more than five years after retirement.

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[wetwillie]

Pays to be healthy nice job dude

[cfbandyman]

I don't love working or anything, but it's literally the only thing in my life that provides any structure at all. I've seen how dark it got when I was laid off for a year (not at all even related to money). Retirement scares me, I'll probably work until I die.

I’m definitely going to have some kind of post-retirement commitment to keep me grounded. I don’t do great without some kind of a schedule, but I’m confident I’ll have the discipline to do that without relying on it for income.

In my case it would likely be partnering with some organization to do pro bono work.  Maybe I’ll even have more ambition than that, but I think at a minimum I’d end up doing something that I’d spend a good 10ish hours a week on (other than the occasional 2-3 week vacay mixed in a few times a year).

That is more or less my goal but to me retiring still involves working, just at a much reduced rate, hours, and stress. My job is really wearing me down, I can't imagine doing it until I'm 65 or older, I am making some pretty damn good money but you sacrifice evenings, weekends, just life in general a lot. My goal would be right now is to take one more field gig next year, and after 1-1.5 years of that, come back, get my ducks in a row, and jump ship. My move would be to then go find a job that is fairly low stress, pays ok, and most importantly has flexibility.

My brother just got a managing job at a nursery, his starting salary is 50k, and while I really like that number, not sure if I'd want to deal with being a manager, but a job like that, that pays 40-50k, I could easily do and just only slightly save and let my current 401k and other savings just accrue and not touch them til a while later. It's not true retirement of course, but it'd allow me to do other pursuits like volunteering, hobbies, etc that has just never been a thing for the entirety of my employment.

I just want to ramp down as I go on, instead of ramping up, once again, I really can't imagine working more that I do right now, and I don't want to keep giving up more and more.

[slackcat]

Good thread.  I've lined up MSPI (Multiple Sources of Passive Income) and plan on hobby farming in two years. 

[Stupid Fitz]

I get people needing something to do as everyone has their own crap. I however, would be perfectly fine. I was thinking about this recently actually. We always take some time off around the holidays and i was worried about it because we would normally do stuff or go somewhere, but because of Covid we were stuck in the house. I woke up, fed the kids, made some coffee, ate some breakfast and before I knew it, it was 9am. I then went downstairs and worked out for about an hour, relaxed a few, took a shower, bam, lunchtime. Did some reading, played some games with kids, did some cooking, had some drinks, bam...bedtime. It was kind of depressing how fast the days went and we didn't even get to go anywhere or really be outside much because of winter.

Put me someplace warm and i'm good. 

[cfbandyman]

That's fair, I just think that I (and I'm sure others) would get to a point where that gets a bit, stale. For me work would give me some amount of purpose, and something to do. I just don't want to do a ton of it nor have high stress involved. As long as there are still plenty of free time to do things.

I guess part of it also was I got sold throughout school and into college that once I started working, that "homework" and all the extras of that would be done, you did your work, and once it was done, that was your day, and boy, has that not even come close to fruition, and I was the "good kid" who did all the assignments, went to class, etc, throughout all school, all it did was train me to keep doing it, which I guess that's one me. I just want to have my time be mine, or at least for things not named work.

[KITNfury]

Good thread.  I've lined up MSPI (Multiple Sources of Passive Income) and plan on hobby farming in two years. 

Sweet, congrats!

[KITNfury]

I get people needing something to do as everyone has their own crap. I however, would be perfectly fine. I was thinking about this recently actually. We always take some time off around the holidays and i was worried about it because we would normally do stuff or go somewhere, but because of Covid we were stuck in the house. I woke up, fed the kids, made some coffee, ate some breakfast and before I knew it, it was 9am. I then went downstairs and worked out for about an hour, relaxed a few, took a shower, bam, lunchtime. Did some reading, played some games with kids, did some cooking, had some drinks, bam...bedtime. It was kind of depressing how fast the days went and we didn't even get to go anywhere or really be outside much because of winter.

Put me someplace warm and i'm good. 

That's what I've found in my retirement so far, it's amazing how fast the day still goes by.

[KITNfury]

That's fair, I just think that I (and I'm sure others) would get to a point where that gets a bit, stale. For me work would give me some amount of purpose, and something to do. I just don't want to do a ton of it nor have high stress involved. As long as there are still plenty of free time to do things.

This is also true, it's starting to be stale (although still way better than work). I'm working through some ideas that can still be exciting, give purpose, make money, etc.

[Kat Kid]

AS of now, I plan to retire at 55, back of the envelope says I am on track to do that.  May have to wait until 60.  One thing I've learned is retirement isn't guaranteed for anyone so I will try to get my years while I'm healthy.

[IPA4Me]

If you want to retire early, don't get divorced. Seriously derailed my plans. I make a great living but not enough to overcome splitting my 401K at 47 and giving her $1750 a month for four years.

[Kat Kid]

If you want to retire early, don't get divorced. Seriously derailed my plans. I make a great living but not enough to overcome splitting my 401K at 47 and giving her $1750 a month for four years.

Obviously very few go in to marriage planning to get divorced, but I don't plan on it.

[mocat]

If you want to retire early, don't get divorced. Seriously derailed my plans. I make a great living but not enough to overcome splitting my 401K at 47 and giving her $1750 a month for four years.

Obviously very few go in to marriage planning to get divorced, but I don't plan on it.

yeah the only one that comes to mind is Adrien Brody in Darjeeling Limited

[Stupid Fitz]

AS of now, I plan to retire at 55, back of the envelope says I am on track to do that.  May have to wait until 60.  One thing I've learned is retirement isn't guaranteed for anyone so I will try to get my years while I'm healthy.

Agree with this and is my current plan as well. I would really like to be at a point where Mrs. SF could drop at 50. If I have to stick it out a couple more years so she can do that, whatevs.

[Kat Kid]

If you want to retire early, don't get divorced. Seriously derailed my plans. I make a great living but not enough to overcome splitting my 401K at 47 and giving her $1750 a month for four years.

Obviously very few go in to marriage planning to get divorced, but I don't plan on it.

Larry King had 8 wives. I'm guessing at least 1 or 2 he knew weren't going to be long term going in.

[Pete]

AS of now, I plan to retire at 55, back of the envelope says I am on track to do that.  May have to wait until 60.  One thing I've learned is retirement isn't guaranteed for anyone so I will try to get my years while I'm healthy.

Agree with this and is my current plan as well. I would really like to be at a point where Mrs. SF could drop at 50. If I have to stick it out a couple more years so she can do that, whatevs.

What are you guys planning on for level of income in retirement, as expressed as percent of income before retirement?

[Pete]

Separate, but similar question....how much retirement income do you think you will need to be happy (in today's dollars)?  Also, in what part of the country do you intend to live. 

[ben ji]

Separate, but similar question....how much retirement income do you think you will need to be happy (in today's dollars)?  Also, in what part of the country do you intend to live.

Depends on alot of things. Kids? Is your house paid off? Healthcare? etc etc.

When I was a couple of years out of college I was making around 50k and came to a realization that I lived a comfortable life with that amount and could probably always find a job that pays around this amount (adjusted for inflation) so I set that as my baseline. Over the last 10 years my income has grown but I've stuck to that baseline for my spending and saved the difference.

So I would say around 50k is my baseline, probably less once my house is paid off in 6 years. (KC)

I'm not married and don't have kids but think I would enjoy that one day so things will change and I will adapt. Its hard to know what your exact "number" will be in 10/20/30 years but if you keep saving now you give yourself the option to determine that number a lot sooner. 

[catastrophe]

Compared to right now my retirement income would be a relatively low percentage of my current income, but kinda like CFB, I’ll most likely transition to a less demanding, lower paying job well before then.

My goal is retirement income of roughly 110% of what we actually spend in a year. So health permitting, quality of life should basically be the same, maybe just with an upgrade on vacations.

[Stupid Fitz]

Separate, but similar question....how much retirement income do you think you will need to be happy (in today's dollars)?  Also, in what part of the country do you intend to live.

Don't have a plan drawn out by the numbers. I just know my current balances, savings rate, projected investment return etc will hopefully allow me to do this. Rough napkin math says most likely. The house is the one thing since I've just refinanced so that bill will be out there for a while. I can't justify paying it down at 2.8% or whatever, but having that bill during retirement years will be a bummer. If my kids bail off to college somewhere awesome, i'd love to sell and downsize somewhere warm, but who knows. I know this isn't answering any of your questions directly, but we are just cramming away and investing as much as possible so if things go right, we should be good. Lots of things can obviously derail.