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Retirement: When would you like to retire? Do you have a plan to get there?

I’d like to be done with what I’m doing by 55. According to our financial advisor we are well on track for that. I’ll never fully be retired though I don’t think. I’ll just be doing something I enjoy. I’ll be in my late 40s when the youngest graduates and that ship has sailed to have anymore kids so I’ll be really ratholing money the last 10 years.
Good you'll need something to spoil the grandkids with.
 
My job says I can retire in about 10 years at the age of 52. The monthly payout isn’t the same as my salary but it’s decent and won’t be touched by all my current deductions. My wife has to work at least 10 years longer than me. I’d really like to go on the first day I can and will probably look for a new job at that time but something with some flex and maybe 25 hrs a week max. My kid will be jr high age as well so being able to spend time with him outdoors with some freedom is a high priority for me
 
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Are most people assuming they’ll need about 75-80% of their peak years annual income to live comfortably and of similar lifestyle in retirement? That’s what the fininacial websites seem to state.
no. I shoot for 50%. We're already near that now, and both our sets of parents are under 50% of income at retirement.
 
The below is my projected retirement date. I’ll be 59. However, my wife and I are at a point where we are able to get up and go, pretty much when we want, so we don’t want to strap ourselves down.
My two boys paid their way through College and now have good jobs and homes. My daughter, who is also paying her own way through college, still lives at home and should be done in about 2 years.
According to our Edward Jones Advisor, the date listed will work out good and we should be able to continue with the same lifestyle.
I may stay another 3-6 months past June 1 though and tell a bunch of people what I think of them….the list is long. Who knows!

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I'm a force out come late '28. If politics don't pinch me, I'll bridge over until 62.

When I retire, wife has 10 years to slave the American dream .

We hope to have our intended house paid off by '28. No debt currently, aside from mortgage. Plan to buy some tropical five cabana setting to escape the majority of this white shit. My body's beyond the thrills of boarding, skiing, shoeing. Live with toes in the water, ass in the sand... then VRBO out the remainder while "home".

I'm limited to 20%(?) of my high three years pay for work w/o effecting retirement sooo, a few prospects to keep semi occupied. Wife will own the business and make the big $ while I make the fool's wage.

Looking forward to lots of fishing. Hopefully, I'll maintain well enough for lots of scuba and... with fishing pole and Coors Banquet Beer cooler at the end of our dock...

 
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Curious, for those of you with pensions, would you have accepted more vacation time through your working years in exchange for extending the retirement date? Might be hard to say for those that are approaching retirement and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the general acknowledgement on this thread that the future is uncertain, I wonder how many would take more free time today (younger, better health) in exchange for a longer career.
 
I’m almost 57 and will bow out March 1, 2032 at 65. I’ve been actively planning for about 3 years now. I’d probably be able to step away at 62 but my wife is younger would only be 55. She has MS so healthcare is a big deal and not sure we could bridge the gap to 59 1/2 so lll hang on another couple years. Our house is on track to be paid off around the same time or sooner so we’ll be debt free. The house we built is far too big and we were able to buy some adjoining property so we should be able to get a good bit more for it than what a smaller place will run. We have no children and no close relatives other than her parents. We intend to be snowbirds more or less and winter in southern Arizona and summer at our cabin in Alaska for as long as we can.
 
Curious, for those of you with pensions, would you have accepted more vacation time through your working years in exchange for extending the retirement date? Might be hard to say for those that are approaching retirement and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the general acknowledgement on this thread that the future is uncertain, I wonder how many would take more free time today (younger, better health) in exchange for a longer career.

it's definitely how i feel if i know that i can do more now. though doing more now also takes a fair amount of careful budgeting of the other currency: time.

i don't have a pension, but if i go back to the state i purposefully left money in my pension account there along with start date that lets me do the pension. sometimes i wonder if i should go back.

hell, i'm not even a guy that wants to chase promotions, like, at all. i very much enjoy being a lowly mid level non managing employee. promotions are a bad deal IMO. a little more money for a lot more responsibility, probably some people to manage, and orders of magnitude harder to take random pto days and more frequent vacation? another resounding #*^@#* that from me.

i think people can do both honestly. retire in a reasonable time frame and have a lot of fun along the way. takes good diligence and an honest assessment of priorities. but if only allowed one or the other... given the choices and a gun to my head, i'm choosing more fun now for more work later all day long.
 
One of the things I think about and has been touched on by others to some degree is the different ways you can retire. I see 4 obvious ones:

1. Work your current job full time until THAT day and enjoy your retirement party. Ride off into the sunset. Live off your retirement savings. Lets say 60. This is the financial and free time baseline.

2. Work full time until THAT day, then go part time in that same job or similar (good pay). Supplement retirement savings with that part time check. Start this at age 60. Work part time an additional 3? years to age 63?. Above the financial baseline, but less free time.

3. Work full time, but go part time well before you would if you went with #2 in that same job or similar. Supplement retirement savings with that part time check. Lets say you start this at 56 and continue to 65. Probably similar to financial baseline (lots of variables to the $$ in this scenario), but lots of free time starting the earliest.

4. Work full time, but go part time in a fun job (gun store, bait shop, etc) that doesn't pay as well. Supplement retirement savings with that part time check. Lets say you start at 58 and do it until 68. Most fun, good amount of free time, but least in the way of financial freedom.

You can play with the numbers and ages to fit your ideal, but I have been thinking about these things. Health care and the stock market over the next 5-8 years will play a big role in this for me.
 
I'm 39 now and really just started thinking about this stuff a few years ago so I'm a touch behind in planning. I made near minimum wage until I was in my early 30s so there was little incentive to save at that time. Current salary is just shy of six figures, I'm eligible for full pension retirement at 61 and I got about 20 years to go. I'll be honest though - the thought of doing this for 20 years and becoming the guys that I see retiring now is absolutely daunting. I see some of them have saved nothing, so I save about 20-25% of my income to avoid a similar fate. The longer I keep on that path the better the outcome so I'm trying not to overthink investments at this stage. I could benefit from speaking to a professional though.

Then there's this slim possibility to inherit millions. Slim possibility. The wealth exists but I was removed from the wills when I refused to kowtow to various conspiracy theories. Stolen elections, baby eating cabals, and solar flare apocalypses. You know the kinds. Inheritance was never part of my plan anyway, but after reading about some of your experiences with the assisted living costs, I think I'll be able to dodge that bullet :LOL:
 
I dont plan on really retiring, definitely slow down.
Managing a few rental properties, and running a small cattle herd and maybe cutting and baling some hay.
I have to get there first.
I have a pretty similar plan. I'll never stop earning money as long as I'm physically able. But I also don't plan on working a 9-5 my whole life. Completely agree with @TOGIE though I'd rather do more while I'm younger and have to stay in the workforce longer. Seen to many guy's put the things they wanted to do or see off until retirement only to be to old to truly enjoy it or to set in their ways to even go. Life is short and tomorrow isn't guaranteed!
 
Curious, for those of you with pensions, would you have accepted more vacation time through your working years in exchange for extending the retirement date? Might be hard to say for those that are approaching retirement and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the general acknowledgement on this thread that the future is uncertain, I wonder how many would take more free time today (younger, better health) in exchange for a longer career.
Sorta. I buy an extra week each year because I can. I’d buy two if they let me.

I get 5 weeks vacation and 10 federal holidays.
 
I'm a force out come late '28. If politics don't pinch me, I'll bridge over until 62.

When I retire, wife has 10 years to slave the American dream .

We hope to have our intended house paid off by '28. No debt currently, aside from mortgage. Plan to buy some tropical five cabana setting to escape the majority of this white shit. My body's beyond the thrills of boarding, skiing, shoeing. Live with toes in the water, ass in the sand... then VRBO out the remainder while "home".

I'm limited to 20%(?) of my high three years pay for work w/o effecting retirement sooo, a few prospects to keep semi occupied. Wife will own the business and make the big $ while I make the fool's wage.

Looking forward to lots of fishing. Hopefully, I'll maintain well enough for lots of scuba and... with fishing pole and Coors Banquet Beer cooler at the end of our dock...

If you need a fishing partner while you’re waiting for your wife to finish up, I am available. Lol
 

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