If you could retire early...

[CdnCarrie]

I have a good friend who is retiring early at 53 along with her spouse. I'm around the same age and so not ready for this (my kids are much younger...).
Since they are a really introverted couple and claim they can't travel much due to retiring early I don't really see what they will do with their time.

Would you have retired early if you were able to? Personally I wouldn't (even if I could) as I'm still liking the structure of a daily routine. I'm lucky to have lots of vacation time and love my job. I will retire between ages of 60-62. But 53 just seems so early. And they are moving to a retirement setting which to me I'm so not there yet but each to their own I guess. I support her either which way as long as she's happy.

 

[kymom99]

I already did at 51. But I still work a lot. I am a retired teacher. I spent a year being a full time mom to my senior son. Then I started doing long term sub jobs. So I guess I’m not fully retired yet but my situation allows me to decide when I want to work. I hope to scale back after this year but we will see. I feel like I’m finally making good money with my pension and extra pay.

 

[Disneylover99]

I will retire from full time teaching next year at 54.

Love the students, but afterr 31 years of report cards and other massive amounts of paper work, I’m ready to go. I will supply teach a few days a week whenever I want for the first few years. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[sam_gordon]

Five years ago (I'm about to turn 52), I would have said "no". Now, assuming I was financially able, I'm definitely a "yes". Unfortunately, I figure I have another 13 years.

 

[RamblingMad]

I could retire early, but I want to maximize my social security.

 

[pigletto]

My mother in law retired pretty early. Just after 50 I think. Father in law was 56. They are busy all the time and never stop. Renovations, volunteering, gardening, church activities, kayaking, fixing up the cottage, cooking and baking, hosting, travelling, spending time with family. You name it , my in-laws do it. They are self driven and provide their own structure. They also have a GM and a government pension so all those option were available to them.

I’m 48 and Dh is five years younger. I would love to retire early, rent out my house and travel in a van or small trailer for a year or two to all the National Parks. There is no way I could just retire and live how we are living. There’s too much left on the mortgage and we want to help our kids through post secondary and weddings. The cost of living is very high where we are. We aren’t opposed to selling and moving elsewhere to speed up the process but we aren’t there yet.

Short answer .. yes I would.

 

[Micca]

I retired at 58. Most days I wake up thinking "I don't have to do anything today." It's awesome!

 

[TippyThomas]

I'm not sure it can be called retirement because I've never actually had a job outside of the farm. I sold it when my parents passed and haven't worked since so I guess you could say I retired in my 40's.

 

[nw6675]

I sort of did already. I am in my late 40s and gave up a corporate career to stay at home to homeschool my daughter. DH is older than me, still works, plus military retirement and benefits. I may work part-time in a few years, but not a necessity as of now.

After 25 years in the rat race, I am thrilled to be home with DD. DH has a 3 day set schedule so we have tons of family time.

 

[Kennywood]

I had planned on retiring in 4 years. Unfortunately, the way some people are running things, it looks like that will be delayed an additional 1-2 years.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

I might retire early at 56 or 57. I'll have 35 years in at my current job, so yes, no problem, I could "retire". DH is significantly older and will be well past 67, so I'll want to retire together to enjoy what time we have left. But I think I might just take the opportunity to start a new part time career. Like can I get a part time job at Florida theme park selling t-shirts or maybe I could be a ride operator? A girl can dream.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

Absolutely I would. My husband is older than me and I want as many retirement years as I can get with him. However, being the responsible adult that I am , I will wait until the kids are done with college and I have health insurance covered.

 

[Skippy918]

I plan to retire in my early 50s, so 8-10 years from now. Healthcare is likely the only roadblock though. In 10 years, my younger one will still be in college though, so we’ll see. I really want to travel.

 

[elgerber]

almost 53, if I could possibly afford it, absolutely!!

 

[CGB]

Yep. My husband just retired at 63 a few months ago. I'll be eligible to retire in three years (at 55) and I'm seriously considering it.

 

[focusondisney]

After 44 years as an RN in an urban teaching hospital system, I retired in April. Private health care system & we get no health insurance as a retiree. I would have loved to retire early, but wasn’t about to pay those costs, so I had to wait to be Medicare age.

 

[Moliphino]

If I had the money to live comfortably for the rest of my life (and travel a lot) I'd retire right now. Unfortunately I do not (I'm 35, so not actually anywhere near normal retirement age).

 

[LYSE]

I work so that I can obtain money to live life and have fun...if I didn't need to work anymore I wouldn't.

Unfortunately all the things I want to do require a significant amount of money, so short of winning the lottery I'll continue to work for the foreseeable future.

 

[jrmasm]

Hell yes!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I have a good friend who is retiring early at 53 along with her spouse. I'm around the same age and so not ready for this (my kids are much younger...).
Since they are a really introverted couple and claim they can't travel much due to retiring early I don't really see what they will do with their time.

Would you have retired early if you were able to? Personally I wouldn't (even if I could) as I'm still liking the structure of a daily routine. I'm lucky to have lots of vacation time and love my job. I will retire between ages of 60-62. But 53 just seems so early. And they are moving to a retirement setting which to me I'm so not there yet but each to their own I guess. I support her either which way as long as she's happy.

I think office space answered that question best.

They'll do nothing. And it will be everything they thought it could be.

I work to live. I don't live to work. Although technically because I own the company, It may be quite a bit of work but it's not really working like those that have a regular job do. I really don't think I could ever go back to working for someone else.