You (Probably) Won't Retire Early 

Retirement isn't an age, it's an amount of money...I needed this...

My mom is 93 and still working by choice as a bookkeeper. She also does volunteer bookkeeping for charity. Retirement isn't for everyone. A sense of purpose is so important for our emotional well being.

For me, the hardest part of retiring early was learning how to spend. The focus and strategies that allowed me to retire early became habits that were hard to break.

I'm 55 and stopped work 4 years ago. We don't have to worry about health insurance here in the UK. I spend my time on 5-6 nature recovery projects in the region where i live, and i have three community projects in my town. Being able to allocate time exactly how i wish is the most important thing.

It's rough out there. I think people need to be realistic when it comes to retirement. This video is breath of fresh air for sure.

I've heard from numerous friends lately (aged 45 to 60) who tell me some version of, "I'll be working until I die." It bums me out, but they all tell me the same reasons. They didn't start investing early enough, they didn't put in enough to get the full 401k match, or they pulled money out of their 401k for big purchases/expenses. And they'll all likely admit that they are living a bit beyond their means in terms of spending money on fancier stuff, vacations, or bigger homes than necessary.

Planning is important, I planned to retire from the military even when I was 8 years old, did so and TRICARE takes care of my healthcare, I have my state pension, and SS, and savings...planning counts. I own what I have, I owe no one, anything. And, I pass my time watching ERIN TALKS MONEY .

I'm 56. For me, the entire idea of retirement isn't "I quit working." It's more like "I might work if I want to, but I don't have to." If I make it to retirement, then start working again, I want it to be by choice, not by necessity.

No one will say "I retried with too much money", but some do say "I wish I had retired earlier when my health was better or my loved ones were still alive". My goal is to have three options when I hit 60: retire, keep working/investing, or work enough to just pay the bills with lower stress. Then I can take it on a year by year basis. If my job gets crappy? I quit. If I still love my job or if the economy is bad? I can keep working. I just want options to do what's best for me and my family.

We retired at 52 and 55. We always planned to retire early, 55 and 58. A situation at my employer gave us a not so gentle push to retire sooner. No regrets. We feel bad for those who continually say "one more year. I'll work one more year." Today, there are so many revenue opportunities and investment opportunities. I hope you are reaching young people with your message.

We had to buy health insurance for my wife for one year. At 64 the premium has risen to $756/month and that has a maximum out of pocket of $9,100. That doesn't include eye care or dental. That one year of ACA cost us over $20,000. For a couple retiring early I would budget $25,000/year and pray for health!

I was forced to retire at 56 just as the pandemic shut everything down. Financially my family and I were ready with about 3.2 million in savings but were concerned about healthcare costs as I have a family of 4. Thanks to the ACA, I was able to find a subsidized bronze level plan for the 4 of us for just $398 per month that allowed us to see all the same doctors we were already seeing. Deductibles and copays are higher than the group plan I used to have from my employer, but we’re mostly healthy and so thankfully healthcare costs haven’t been a problem. The bigger challenge for me was not having something to retire to. Once you’ve done all the projects you can do on the house, then what? I go to the gym to stay in shape 3 times a week, but still I have lots of spare time. Not complaining, but I’m still looking for something fulfilling that doesn’t bring all the stresses of the daily grind. It’s an adjustment and not an easy one, much better if you have an idea of what you’re going to retire to if at all possible.

I retired at 55 and have loved it!

I retired from a corporate job two years ago (just before my 58th birthday). Finances are fine. My biggest adjustment was going from being with people (meetings, “hallway” conversations, lunches, etc) for 8 to 10 hours everyday to very little interaction on a daily basis. I compensated by picking up a once a week volunteer job as well as occasional lunches with my co-workers who are still working. No regrets on retirement, but it is a big change.

I did retire at age 61. Fortunately, I had the money to do it, way above what Fidelity recommends. I got health insurance from my former employer - 18 months of COBRA at the same price I was paying when working, plus two years of subsidized insurance at $750 a month. If you are retiring early, you should have a wide margin - I would recommend financial assets at least 20-25 times your final salary. This would allow you to live on the dividends and interest from your assets, and not have to sell stock.

Yeah. Not retiring early. Plan A was to retire at age 58. Around age 52 I figured that wasn't going to happen, and went to plan B, age 62. Around age 55, Covid hit, and I figured that wasn't going to happen so I went to modified plan B, where I'd work full-time to age 62, and then half-time from 62-67. Now I'm 58 and it's clear that I'm going to work full-time to 66 or 67. This makes sense as I can get Medicare at 65 and my Social Security benefit will be much better at age 67+. The extra years also allow me to save maybe another $200k instead of spending $300k, so the net positive is a half-million, or more, with a 4 year delay. That's huge.

Even if you retire, YOUR EXPENSES NEVER DO, one of the best lines I’ve ever heard! Thanks for the tough and true retirement talk. Five Year rule, interesting concept, most of us move the goalposts back a few years as we close in on our date. Yes I’m planning to retire before 65, and health care is expensive! Thanks Erin!

Someone said that work is a very socially acceptable way to not think about who you want to be when you grow up. The abyss you stare into when you don't have to work anymore and you're still young is the scariest part of retiring early. You do have to figure it out, however, and maybe it's better if you're forcing yourself to do it earlier rather than later.

I would estimate that many people that set their goal to retire early may actually mean something different from a total retirement from working a job. I think that they plan on becoming financially independent from a corporate job, but they may plan on working a new career, that earns them some income. Or they may spend some time each week on their investments and spending time doing "work" that they find satisfying and brings in some income.

I always loved the idea of early retirement for complete freedom. I feel like I'm on the path to retire early, but I am flexible. The financial independence aspect of FIRE is what I really want.

Thank you for calling out continued home maintenance. So many families lose paid-off multi-generational homes because no one could afford the upkeep, including the retirees 😞

I'm just now starting my third month of an early retirement at 41, and I am loving it. I acknowledge that I might eventually get bored and seek some work, but right now I'm surprised at how fast the day goes by that I don't have time to get bored. I'm busy being a house spouse, taking care of chores and errands so that when my wife and kid are home we get to focus on each other. I've barely had time to scratch any of my existing hobbies, let alone any of the hobbies I had hoped to pick up. I'm an introvert at heart, so I like not having to head to the office. Also, I'm involved with my church, which has more volunteer opportunities than I could handle even if I wanted to volunteer full time.

I don't want to crush dreams, BUT despite your best plans, most people won't retire early. The system is designed to keep you in the workforce until 65 or 67. I was probably better equipped for an early retirement than most. I planned to retire at 59 1/2 because that's the earliest age that you can take money from your 401K without any sort of penalty or restriction. However, I didn't realize that medical insurance would be horribly expensive (even more expensive in the several years prior to age 65). I also didn't realize (back then) that taking Social Security at 62 would result in a permanent reduction of about 30% of my benefits. There were other things I didn't know when I made my plans for an early retirement, so 59 1/2 didn't happen. Fortunately though, I did retire at 65. Medicare at 65 is great health insurance at a budget friendly price. I accepted a 9% permanent reduction to my Social Security benefit to begin taking it 18 months early (a good compromise), since the COLA for 2023 was 8.7%. My advice is #1 Make detailed plans, then #2 Make backup plans.

Charlie Munger seemed pretty happy without ever retiring. It's not always about the money. I think the goals should be to get to a point where you don't ever have to worry about money, and to be able to do what you enjoy. Health is a big part of that.

I want to retire from my corporate job at 62. I plan to pursue something part time or less stressful then.

Me and my wife save a large portion of our income and we expect to retire at about 35 or 40 at the latest. We’ll probably work part time after that by choice but we don’t want to spend most of our days at work and we want to be able to be both present with our kids.

In the late 50s and early 60s, we have a finite number of weeks to be healthy and active. That is the biggest motivator for me to take the plunge spend time with my wife and enjoy life. Motivation at work is not the same as in my 30s or 40s.

Thanks Erin excellent coverage of a difficult topic, Instead of focusing so much on early retirement maybe folks should look at changing careers/job fields that could fulfill them and make them happy, I left a management position 10 years ago I was done frustrated and stressed out and ready to retire, although I decided to pursue a job field that is less stressful and more rewarding, I work for a company now that values my contribution daily, great boss and co-workers, pay & benefits are good with plenty of PTO, and I still have plenty of time for hobbies, vacations and spending time with my family.

I retired earlier than expected. I had 38 years as a Fed. I have health care so that made the decision easy

So many great points Erin, after one year of retirement I found focusing on my health was a very cheap activity. So easy to go for walks, go to the club, and take time to prepare healthy meals. Not taking SS until 67.8 so it was very smart to stockpile funds to make the money side easy. Many think Medicare will be cheap when they retire I have revenue from a sold business and they hit my wife and me with over 500 each a month. I should have known that but I figure that's fair as I do get plenty. Enjoy your weekend.

I'm aiming to retire when I'm 54, 57 at the oldest. I invest 50% of my gross annual salary- about 30% into bridge accounts and 20% into age restricted accounts (pension and Roth IRA). I can collect my pension immediately if I stay with my employer until 57. I have to wait until 60 if I leave before then. I plan to move from South Florida to Tennessee when I retire. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Some great points in this episode, Erin. When I retired much earlier than most, I read that you need to have at least 4 or 5 hobbies/activities to keep you busy. You might love golf, but you can’t really do that all day everyday. Reading is great, but not all day long. Volunteering with your church or favorite charity is nice, but realistically how much time do you want to spend on that? Etc. Your point about your friends not retiring at the same age is spot-on; we definitely have weekday friends and weekends friends.

I wanted to retire early, but financially it did not make sense. I also am having a problem with my now 52 week vacation. With so much time, I tend to procrastinate more.

Great video, however, there is one thing I'll push back on. I DO know people who said they saved too much for retirement! They are the ones that didn't live life while working, because everything went towards retirement savings. Not necessarily their fault, as they heard all the people saying how much you need to have to retire, when generally, you can easily make it on far less! I personally intend to leave something to the kids, so if there's some left at the end, great! However, I did not save to the point where I couldn't enjoy life during my working years, and I'm still sitting very well!

I retired at 57, wife 55 and moved to more desirable area. Got bored after 3 months and found a fun job. I worked at a resort around the pools making sure everyone behaved. It was fun being a part of a younger group and guest that were generally in a good mood. I did this for a few years until I got adjusted.

Retiring from a high salary job in the very near future. I am too young to not work based upon a lot of what you just covered in this video. I have decided to continue working and am looking to get a position doing something with passion for purpose regardless of pay. If the position covers my living expenses and medical care at this point, this is all I need as the long-term planning paid off and my retirement will be fully funded...when I decide to completely leave the workforce. Great content as always!

This won't work for everyone, but lots of people go to Mexico or other countries and pay out of pocket for health care because it is affordable. And, of course, avoiding the crappy American diet of processed junk food really helps as well.

Erin, this is probably one of the most important and effective videos I've seen from you yet. Many have approached the concept of retirement from a financial perspective (which you have done well here), and *some* have touched on some of the other aspects, but you touched on many of them with a good, thought-provoking summary. One thing you might add in the future is the improving health of the aging population. In the not too distant past, many people retired due to health reasons, regardless of their position financially. Currently, not only are people living longer, but their quality of life is better, longer, allowing them to stay in the workforce longer. This is another reason I think "retirement age" numbers are increasing: not because the people *have* to delay retirement, but because they *want* to. Great video!!!

51 and I’m an engineer. Work expectations became too high. Thought this would happen but not until my mid 50s but am prepared financially. I could get a chance to work on some of my own ideas. However I’m not sure if being disconnected from a job I will be able to stay motivated and be creative if I don’t have the people and organization to work for anymore. The expectations are not just in my head as the work has changed over the years and it’s more political and more factory like. I have a lot of knowledge but hustle mentality is a big thing that is hard to compete with if work says I’m spending too much time on details. If I get let go in a few months I’ll have to make a decision if I want to get another job and roll the dice again or try to create something on my own. That and the pace of work over the years left me in a deficit socially that I could work on.

Erin - As usual ex excellent video - big hurdles you identified. A vast vast vast majority will not be able to retire earlhy with the possible exception of those that have a defined pension benefit. Even if they do - similar to SS the value of the pension increases withh number of years worked. I retired at 60 but was with a big multi national company with defined pension and retiree medical benefits. The big uncertainity of retirement is what you have detailed - sequence of returns. Therefore one really needs to stress test their portofolio. I have been retired for ten yyears and it's been the best due to solid financial foundation, good health, and a strong relationship with my spouse. The other hurdle I see is couples having children later. We had two children and done at 29. Therefore, when I hit my prime earning years in my 50s both were almost out of college and on their own. I hade years where I saved over 50% of my compensation.

Retired at 48. No kids, no debt, house paid off, $1M net worth plus a military pension/VA healthcare. To your point at @7:00 you need to fill your time. I am a "professional volunteer" so I get the same social returns of a job while working for free (they pay lodging and food when I travel as a volunteer). When I'm home my hobby is woodworking and I have begun making money by selling my crafts; a hobby that pays for itself and might become a source of income down the road.

So much great info! Thanks Erin

GREAT video.. FIRE is not really viable for most. Accelerating into retirement will set you up far better than trying to do it when you hit your bottom goals.. The expenses keep climbing.. We ran a bunch of scenarios back in the early 2000s on this.. spinning the wheel at your level into standard retirement at 62 - 70 produced the most margin for most.. fwiw.. and not hitting it in the first few years as much is key.. nice vid Erin..

I've been in information technology forever and work doesn't seem like work most days. I'd advise anyone who loves something to consider making that passion into a career.

I'm past the age for early retirement but I'd like to work a few years more but my company forced me out and I'm concerned that a new company won't pick me up due to my age. So I have to shift gears and generate my own income and make do on that for a bit longer. Next year I'll get on Medicare, pay off my mortgage and can then start supplementing with portfolio money until 70 at which time I'll start SS. That's a perfect world but I have put some planning into it. It was the job loss blindside that threw a wrench in the works.

They can if they avoid getting married to the wrong person. This alone can kill your plans no matter what you do.

Great video. Thank to the presenter for sharing.

"5-Year Rule" so smart -- great idea!

Great series.

We could have retired early, but enjoyed what we do. We own a small company and only work on the projects we find interesting and on our schedule.

Got Cobra Coverage until 65, then onto Medicare. Very lucky for the health coverage.

Early retirement has been really fun for me these past 3 years. I think what most of us really want is more control/autonomy over our time and what we decide to do with it.

I'm about to hit 30 and have 2X my salary invested in retirement accounts. I currently have ~30% savings rate and am still able to live comfortably. I plan to continue the aggressive savings at least until age 40 when I will probably dial it back and coast to retirement between 50 and 55. Obviously I have a lot of life to live in between and when/if I have kids will play a big impact. More than anything, I want to be able to retire on my own terms. I like having projects and staying busy so if I enjoy my job at the time I may keep working a few more years or try and cut back on hours.

my kind of Retirement is transitioning into a Part-time little to no stress job that I enjoy doing while keeping me Physically and mentally active 😊😊😊.

You forgot to mention volunteering as a way to fill the 40 - 50 hour traditional work week.

My goal is to retire between 55 and 58 and a half. Just depends on market returns. I save 40 percent of my gross income in Roth accounts to help me get there.

Before even watching the video: OH YES I WILL 😂

My financial independence happened Jan 1st 2023, the year I turned 55. I will retire May 2024, I have more than I need but not more than I want. Will be comfortable even if the market goes sideways, will be first class if the market does historical averages.

I hope people understand how good you are Erin. That’s great content. Financial planner here.

Great video Erin! Wisdom! Not retired yet but have multiple plan B’s !

My wife is a hospice Rn and buys her own health insurance. It was 400 a month last year… we are planning on returning in Spain just because of the health care system in the US is completely broken

Through my experience now that I am retired at 61 we found it most beneficial for our retirement dollars was to put our child in the best position to succeed so hopefully he wouldn’t need financial help in our retirement .

Right now I’m 50 but with a couple of young kids in kinder and 2nd grade (I started late). I was thinking perhaps 55 to 57 and felt like the kids would still be living in the house and young enough to where much of my time would be dedicated to them and by the time they actually got out of the house I’d then be at traditional retirement age. As far as health care I could still be covered by my spouse and I’m eligible for my companies retirement health care coverage. My spouse has a 6 figure salary in a lower stress job than mine and currently plans to keep working until 65.

I am Retired from law enforcement as most law enforcement we retire at a young age Your statement about what you're gonna do with your time is very true. I ended up going back to do another whole type of work in a career. Because when you retire at a young age, your friends Are still working so you do find your self Hanging out with people that are a lot older than you and they do not have the same interest as you so you get bored a.lot of.my old work partner had the same problem and Most of us ended up going to find some kind of job that we were interested in just to pass the time And give us some extra money in all pockets But we don't have the need to work. So when things come up, we wanna do. We just don't work for that. And we find that to be great

Excellent video Erin. You seem to do a better job than most financial/retirement youtubers at coming up with new content instead of just re-hashing content that others have already covered. And thanks also for including the chapters and time stamps! I'm recently retired a little bit early based on your over/under 60 rule. One month into retirement I had to replace one of the HVAC systems for my house, proving your point about the expenses never retiring.

I retired from the USN days before I was 45 years old, but healthcare is inexpensive for me, I receive a pension and my wife has a career in public high school education. I was able to almost never have to move out of the area, which allowed us to own two houses and sell the first one.

My current plan is to retire at 60 with 2.5 million :). Still got aways to go.

Retired late 40ties after 30 plus serving on AD. Pension, health care, no debt, check, check & check and trust me when I say I have traveled more than most who’ll read this. After a go-go life -style, retirement got kinda boring after about a year. Sooooo, I went back to work. I’ll try it again in a few years.

I am paying cash for my lease payoff in a few months. I aim to be retired young & affluent. Doing the work.

Good to hear some "push back" in the FIRE plan, additional things to consider that aren't usually talked about. Also, all the good data to consider, statistics are very informative. Generally it's good you look at things holistically, since we're are all just human and subject to wishful thinking or error

I don't like the concept of early retirement. I think it's good to work as long as possible. But I do realize that some are forced into early retirement and it's good to be prepared for the worst!

I've been planning for retirement for a few years now. I believe I've hit coast FI for a retirement age of 50, but I continue to save 20-25% of my income so hopefully that provides a good buffer.

5:45 I know it's good to plan for the what-if, but according to the CDC, most of us will not see much need beyond a 20 year retirement. With Females having an life expectancy of 80.1 years and men at just 74.9 years of age, the trend to plan to 95 or 100 seems a little overkill, especially for those with SS and an pension income. Of the sub-groups, Asian Females had the best outlook at just under 23 additional years which still projects to only 88 years old.

A great video as always. I've worried that the FIRE types will prioritize the accumulation of money for the dream of an early retirement over living their lives when they are in their 20s and 30s. Once those years are gone, you will never get them back regardless of how much money you have accumulated.

Plan for mini retirements throughout your life. Take a year off from working every 5 or 10 years and go travel or do something that you wont be able to do when you are older. I have done this 2x already, and those were some of the happiest years of my life.

10:13 Plan to step out 5 years early. I like this and would suggest for someone that starting to save later in life, you could plan to possibly add on up to 5 years beyond that golden 65 mark. This my be in part-time or full-time employment. If your health is good, you might just to fill some time (it beats watching re-runs for 5 years).

Retirement for me would be to still work but know that I can quit at any point.

I am Pre-tired. I left the workforce to become a stay at home dad a few years back and have unfortunately priced myself out of any job less than 60k/yr due to a simplified lifestyle(reduced living expenses). I figure I have about 6 more years before my kids become independent enough for me to return to the workforce full time. It can be frustrating and lonely some days but I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.

At age 55 I'm at my FI number but due to having a job I find rewarding and the need to retain health insurance, with two sons in college, I plan to work to 59 or 60 then reevaluate. I will likely cut my hours at that point to phase into semi-retirement and maintain healthcare insurance through work until I can get Medicare.

Retirement is simply freeing your time to do what you enjoy rather than what you’re asked

Not retired- just tired 😮‍💨

When my oldest son told my wife that he thought he would never own a house, I knew that I would not retire early and probably not before 70 because I won't leave $1.5 million in additional salary as well as additional pension, social security, 457B, and IRA money on the table when my kids need their educations paid for and down payments on their homes before I pass.

I retired at 42 (from the Air Force). Now work in a job I enjoy, mostly from home, but still full-time. Like a hobbit at breakfast, working now toward Second Retirement!

One of your best and thorough videos. Thank you for the great content!

This concept that by being an employee you have no freedom and no autonomy, I never understood. If you make your job your own, the goals of the company become yours and you become en entrepreneur being an employee.

Healthcare seems like a non-issue if you're reasonably prepared since the ACA became a thing. Here's what I'm seeing when I put my numbers into the KFF calculator for next year as a 35 year old expecting to earn $30k/year (which is more than I'd typically spend). - Estimated financial help: $384 per month ($4,610 per year) as a premium tax credit. This covers 87% of the monthly costs. - Your cost for a silver plan: $56 per month ($669 per year) in premiums (which equals 2.23% of your household income). - The most you have to pay for a silver plan: 2.23% of income for the second-lowest cost silver plan - Without financial help, your silver plan would cost: $440 per month ($5,279 per year) And those cost estimates don't change too much when I plug in older ages.

The system wants me to work until 68. My plan is to work full time to 60, then 80 % to 62 and 50% to 64 and then retire. By that time I should be half way to my FIRE number (I started investing at 50) so I will be well off since I should be able to live off my pension and having my FIRE money for travel and so on.

I’m leaving the corporate world next year. I’ll have just turned 57 when it happens. I’m not going to stop working per se, but I will be changing what I work on to my own “job.” I’m retiring to something, not just from something. It also helps that my closest friends are retiring at the same time.

I can't stop looking at the thumbnail! 😆I think we will be working for a long time since we don't even own a home yet, so there's potentially another 30+ years of counting down until Fridays. 😬

The best hack to retiring early: build a huge passive income stream. When your day job is less than half your total income and you won't need to rely on savings or social security, you might just be ready to fire your boss!

Retired at 61.5 bec of medical issues. Was ok w aca until medicare kicked in. Dont regret it. Can survive w no debt and living on a budget

Starting my 70% pension at 56. Giddy up.

I plan to retire around 57. Will have a full pension (about 34% of income) plus around $2-3 million in retirement (in today’s dollars). We started investing at a good age but still not early enough. I started at 24, wife at 26. I knew about investing since 18 but we just didn’t make enough to start that early (at least not anything significant). We did buy a home at 21 yo, and now built our first home at 27 yo with 20 acres of land we may split the land and sell eventually which would pay off the mortgage or give a big boost to our investments.

Leaving the corporate plantation is one thing but not working at all is another? Who wants to sit around for decades looking for time to kill? There's only so many latte's you can drink and walks around the patrk you can do on a given day? Seems like people in their 20's are already looking at retirement before they've even started to do any work?. Hard work builds character, im not saying be a slave, and i strongly advocate financial independence. But Young adults claiming to be burned out in their 20's? Is a worry for society in general.

Great thumbnail! Must be comforting to know that you'll look MORE like Helen Hunt as you get older. ;)

My Mom retired at 62, my Dad at 70. They did well within that context, but it was an open secret my Mom realllly wanted my Dad to retire. My parents are happy people, but I did observe the polite tension there. Talk with your spouse about retirement, and be willing to work longer or retire earlier if needed to maintain a good marriage. Retiring into an imbalance with a perpetually miffed spouse would stink.

I am aiming for an early retirement and will likely have that ability at the current rate. However, I likely won't actually "retire" in a traditional sense but do more with side projects and businesses. Just ease up on my working hours to say coach little league.

Healthcare is absolutely the #1 challenge to retiring early because of escalating costs and the absolute uncertainty of how much you’ll end up paying.

Forced into retirement at 58 . Worked P.T. and saved enough to ease my way through with being added onto my wife's health insurance.

If you want something bad enough, you'll accomplish it. Most people have no idea how much stress they are under, til they aren't. Retire as soon as possible. Time is more valuable than money.