I retired at the age of 50 with very little savings. Now nearly 17 years later I am still enjoying life and doing the things I like. In those 17 years I haven't needed or touched the little bit of savings which I have. One thing I will say however is that I am not as healthy now as I was 17 years ago when I retired at age 50. Therefore I am happy I retired early and have been able to travel, play golf, etc. before those less healthy years begin to settle in. It's been a wonderful 17 years of retirement. I also realize that I didn't need a million dollar savings account. In fact my savings are below the six figure mark and haven't ever used a penny of that. 

My advice to everyone is retire while you're still young enough and healthy enough to enjoy life. I'm glad I stopped chasing the almighty dollar and got out of the hectic rat race with all it's stress which can kill.

@9wood That's all fine and well but, where does the cash you're spending come from?  A pension?  Health care also covered from a pension?  Retired military?

My cash comes from my pension combined with my Social Security. Company provided health care under my retirement plan isn't worth a darn. But I have been accepted in Veterans Health Care which helps ease those costs. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying life.

That makes sense and sounds good.  No pension for me.

On 10/29/2015, 12:59:35, bkuehn1952 said:

Have you actually given your resignation?  Or is the date scheduled for the end of the year?

Best of luck in your plans.  When you run across an interesting situation/problem we will all benefit from your willingness to share your experiences.

The date is scheduled for the end of the year.   I was getting my house refinance b/c it will be hard to do when I don't have a job.   It took a while but the signing is in 2 days. 

I am also tidying things up here and there. 

On 10/29/2015, 1:26:39, kpaulhus said:

Is it bad that I am 28 and considering retiring? haha Congrats to you and good luck! Hopefully your best golf awaits is ahead. 

Save, and invest wisely.   At age 28, you can be aggressive in your investment choice.   The biggest finance mistake I've made was that I didn't have a sound investment strategy until I was in my late 30s.   I was investing too defensively when I was young, and too aggressively when market collapsed each time .   The only thing I did well was living below my mean and saving as much as I can.  

On 11/7/2015, 11:44:44, rkim291968 said:

 

Save, and invest wisely.   At age 28, you can be aggressive in your investment choice.   The biggest finance mistake I've made was that I didn't have a sound investment strategy until I was in my late 30s.   I was investing too defensively when I was young, and too aggressively when market collapsed each time .   The only thing I did well was living below my mean and saving as much as I can.  

So I have used several projections and calculators and whatnot on "how much I need to retire"....and I guess that comes down to what kind of lifestyle you want to live. Id love to be a member of a nice country club and travel with my wife, so I'm trying to factor on the high side of $6MM if I retire at 55. Who knows if I will be over saving or not, but if I croak before I get to enjoy it my future kids, or a foundation of my choice could put that extra money to use. 

Many of you mentioned health care concerns, which is very important.  You should also consider the recent rule changes to social security....I'm a financial adviser and I have several clients who may have to alter their retirement plans because file and suspend strategies are going away.  An article from Money magazine provides a nice overview of these changes: http://time.com/money/4105571/new-social-security-claiming-rules/

On 11/12/2015, 9:02:54, Ashley said:

Many of you mentioned health care concerns, which is very important.  You should also consider the recent rule changes to social security....I'm a financial adviser and I have several clients who may have to alter their retirement plans because file and suspend strategies are going away.  An article from Money magazine provides a nice overview of these changes: http://time.com/money/4105571/new-social-security-claiming-rules/

I never clearly understood the file & suspend strategy.  Now, I don't need to. 

My wife and are relatively healthy.  Checking to see if our doctors are in our ACA network.   Hope to keep them for continuity sake.

I worry about SS & ACA being means tested which will work against me. 

Lately, I have been pondering what would be my golf practice & rounds routine in retirement.  During weekdays, I will be busy with day trading until 1:00 pm PDT.   I am thinking to alternate between practice (2 hour session) and round during weekday afternoons.   I am not sure about the weekend.  I want to watch golf in the afternoon rather than playing.   I will probably turn this into the next blog entry but if any of you who retired before me has ideas, please comment or send me a PM.  

I retired when I was 50 and have no regrets. The best advice I can give anyone is to get out of the rat race while you're still young enough and healthy enough to enjoy life and fulfill your bucket list.

23 hours ago, 9wood said:

I retired when I was 50 and have no regrets. The best advice I can give anyone is to get out of the rat race while you're still young enough and healthy enough to enjoy life and fulfill your bucket list.

Absolutely.  

It is amazing how many people around me (in Silicon Valley, working for a Fortune 50 company) have enough money to retire but can't bring themselves to retire.   Some truly love their job.   For others, job IS their life.   Others worry about uncertainty of losing the income, especially, with children to support, send to college.  

18 minutes ago, iacas said:

I don't know that I'll ever truly "retire."

I like what I do.

Some of us are lucky that way.  

@iacas I tell my kids all the time, if you work at your hobby you'll rarely feel like you've worked a day in your life and the money will come because the passion you have for your work will be obvious to your managers or customers.

I am thankful I don't have to work, but I loved the business consulting and marketing aspects of my previous business so much I started a new business focused strictly on that.  I do what I love and I'm helping small businesses in my area be more successful, kind of my way of paying it forward.

It's tough to go from putting in long hours to none, but @rkim291968 seems to have plan on how he's going to spend his retirement so maybe he'll have better luck at staying retired than I did.

11 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

@iacas I tell my kids all the time, if you work at your hobby you'll rarely feel like you've worked a day in your life and the money will come because the passion you have for your work will be obvious to your managers or customers.

I am thankful I don't have to work, but I loved the business consulting and marketing aspects of my previous business so much I started a new business focused strictly on that.  I do what I love and I'm helping small businesses in my area be more successful, kind of my way of paying it forward.

It's tough to go from putting in long hours to none, but @rkim291968 seems to have plan on how he's going to spend his retirement so maybe he'll have better luck at staying retired than I did.

It takes certain personality (more on introvert side) to retire early and I believe I am one.   I am curious by nature and find many things interesting.  I also enjoy time alone.   I think I will be fine in retirement.   I am just afraid I don't have enough time to escape from playing bogey golf.

There were years I've enjoyed my work but as I got older and financially more independent, I lost tolerance to political BS and all the nastiness it brings out of people. 

4 hours ago, iacas said:

I don't know that I'll ever truly "retire."

I like what I do.

I know individuals who have said that. However they eventually retired when illness forced them to retire. They were never able to enjoy retirement.