Thinking about retiring early...

[OMCHamlin]

Okay, I've been pondering trying to retire next year (I'd be 56). My gal at Ameriprise thinks I (we) can do it. It's a scary thought though. I do have a Navy pension worth about $40k a year, and some IRAs and 401s and 403s. I owe about a buck forty on the house, but I'm double paying on it each month. We are loading our 401s at a rate of 30% (her) and 25% (me, company max). Both cars and truck are paid off and in decent shape, no credit card debt and I have Tricare retired + a Tricare supplement.
Who here has retired early, or thought hard about this, and what tools did you use to decide?
I might want to have a little part time job just to get up in the morning...
I asked this same question elsewhere, but I'm asking here as well to get the wisdom that S&W members can provide. For something as important as this, you can't have too many opinions.
So far, I know I want to pay my mortgage off, and also I plan on meeting a goal of living on what I can consider a post employment retirement budget for a period (6 months?) to both see if I can do it and also be saving that much more money for the real thing.
Advice? Opinions? Your experiences?

 

[Biggfoot44]

You certainly *can* do that . Do you WANT to do that ? How badly do you hate your current job, and how excited are you what you have planned to step into imeadately afterwards ? Are their health issues where you have severely reduced estimated time left ?

You have the advantage of $40k Mil pension, in a moderate cost of living area you could get by on that alone . The flip side is at the rates you and the wife are contributing to the 401 and 403 Plans, just a cpl more years of contributions would make a nice bump in annuity payouts. And retiring at 58 or 59 is still "early" by most standards.

 

[OMCHamlin]

How bad? Since the contract change, on Friday afternoon, I start dreading Monday morning...
My dream retirement gig would be counter help at a nice gun shop (I have some part time experience in this field already)
There might be health issues, I'm not saying that to be coy, I just don't know which way this bladder cancer is going to go.

 

[Breakaway500]

I've often thought about "retiring" and have decided it's not for me. I've gone into reserve standby mode (a few years back..I'm 59) and will remain there until my needs change or death.I'm self employed so I can make my own work load,which is a big difference compared to having a salaried job. I have seen far too many of my friends die on the job or "retire" and be just as worried about tomorrow as before they "retired". You can try and lessen you daily work load and semi-retire and then decide if full retirement is your final goal. Just don't wait too long..

 

[twodog max]

I retired early and while we struggled a little financially at first we figured it out and 4 years later I would not change a thing. It is a tossup between doing a list of ideas that take money and being healthy enough to do anything at all. We chose to maybe do a few less expensive things but being able to enjoy those we can afford. It is no secret that your health can go south on you anytime and the older you get the more likely it is.
No one ever laid on their death bed wishing they had went to work.

 

[5-Shot]

Wife and I both had very good but extremely high stress jobs. We worked so many hours on somewhat skewed schedules that we only met randomly passing in the hall. Money was pouring in but life was no fun.

My training was in finance and computer modeling so I wrote a program that allowed to look at future income and expenses under different economic conditions and predict how long we could live, financially.

It said we were good to go so at an age even younger than you we packed up moved from Memphis to the Cascade mountains. It was the best decision we ever made. There were adjustments; some expected and some not. Neither of us have had a single regret.

Ed

 

[Biggfoot44]

Ok, since the new contract makes you dislike working there, and you have reason to start living retirement to the fullest right away, pull the plug, and enjoy.

 

[Salty RI]

I was going to retire at 62 the company I worked for sold our division and I decided to retire at 58, I had to go four years living off of savings but I would do it again.

 

[Tenn2]

I retired at the age of 54. It has been good for me. I have a small farm (18 acres) that keeps me busy. We had been planning this for quite some time.

My wife works 3 days a week to keep her busy and the little extra income is nice.

The only thing that I always tell anyone is to have no debt on the house. To me that was the deciding factor.

After 11 years I have had no regrets.

Best of luck in whatever you decide.
Russ

 

[rond]

I retired at 551/2 and have had a great time. If your wife will still work then you will have her income, but your will have more fun if you retire together. Don't worry about leaving an estate, enjoy yourself.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Your trump card in this scenario is Tri-Care. I retired at 51 because I could keep my health insurance at the same rate I was paying when working, and the premium is deducted from my pension. Anyone considering "early" retirement can probably swing it when you don't have to worry about healthcare.

 

[HoleCarder]

I retired at 42.

Work is an escape from freedom.

 

[OMCHamlin]

I retired at 551/2 and have had a great time. If your wife will still work then you will have her income, but your will have more fun if you retire together. Don't worry about leaving an estate, enjoy yourself.

Yep, I have no kids, and my relatives are flaming liberals, so absolutely zero concern with leaving an estate, maybe leave it (if any) to the NRA...

 

[Maddog 521]

Early retirement is a big decision, for sure. Some of the pension money is taxed very different when it's taken before 59 1/2 years old. Research everything and make it work for you. Good luck.

 

[Narrowback]

I retired at 59 1/2 last November. I have a 401k and will withdraw from that until another benefit kicks in at 61, then SS at 62. Like others I was planning to work until 62, but there were a lot of things going on with my job, discussions of mergers, etc. Plus I was needed at home for family health reasons. If you haven't already, I'd recommend having a financial advisor plug numbers in and show where you are at with taxes, etc.

Luckily this was a free service for me and it really helped show where we were at. I changed my investments and am still gaining on principle even with giving myself a raise. So for me it was stressful doing it earlier than expected, but now I realize we will be fine.

We do have very little debt, no mortgage and plan to look at getting rid of all debt this year.

 

[old bear]

OMCH, Pay attention to response number two. In my experience 56, in most cases, is a few years to young to fully retire. I retired, the first time, at 52. Enjoyed the first 18 or so months. Became bored to tears found a great part time job with the D.P.S. with a local university. Stayed there for 9 years, then I was really ready to pull the pin.

Keep adding to the retirement funds, think compounding interest. Retirement is not much fun if you can't afford to enjoy it.

Wishing you the very best...

 

[walkinghorse]

As has been already stated, healthcare is a big thing!
Health and paying for it, even just routine care can be daunting. It is very open ended, and can turn monumental in an instant!
Based upon what you put in your OP sounds like you have a good handle on preparation for retirement. Only you can make the decision, and your mental state is an important factor for the decision. Life is finite and how you want to spend your last part of your life is the deciding factor!
For me retiring early is easy, getting in my recliner, and letting nature take its course!

 

[Farmer17]

I always thought it would be great to retire and travel all over the place. My wife went back to school a few years ago to get her accounting degree and she was still working full time and it was quite a load. Several times she would be crying at 3:00 am because she had more schoolwork to do but she was exhausted and had to go to work at 8:00 am but she made it through and graduated. She got a huge raise at work and to catch up on vacations we have been traveling a lot. In the last 1-1/2 years we have been to the Bahamas, Cancun, New Orleans, Maui/Oahu, Denver, Durango, Miami/South Beach/Key West and Branson. We got back from our last vacation and I found a cheap deal to Jamaica and I told my wife and she said "book it". I thought about it for a minute and I said "I don't really want to go anywhere yet, its the same old sand, ocean, and fish." But we will go there in a few months I just wanted to stay home for a while and not miss any hunting season. We want to go to Europe and a have a few other places on our bucket list, but I'm actually happy when the trip is over and am anxious to go back to work. I'm 57 and am self employed and I hope to keep working and traveling a lot for as long as I can. If I had the money to just quit work and travel all the time I think I would get bored with it, I also need to feel productive to be happy but that may change in another 10-15 years.

 

[OMCHamlin]

For me retiring early is easy, getting in my recliner, and letting nature take its course!

Yeah, in THAT sense, I retire early every night!
Seriously, I DO plan on doing something, but it's going to be something that I WANT to do. The couple of times I have part timed at a gun shop were the best times in my working life. AND they paid me for it, too!
I think my biggest trick is going to be figuring out how to pay the house off first.

 

[walkin jack]

I retired early and don't regret it a bit. Sure I'd have more money today if I'd stayed on the job longer but as you age you reach a point where you realize that time is more important that a few extra dollars. Time to travel. Timed to spend with your family and friends. Alone time with your spouse. I retired in 2000 and it's been the best 17 years of my life.

Miss Pam and I are both home all the time and free to go where we will or stay home. I know that all marriages aren't great for that kind of life style but ours is and I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.

GO FOR IT!