I was talking to a friend today and she said she is retiring at 55. I was surprised, since that just seems so young. She has a great job with a nice pension, so i shouldn't be surprised, but it made me wonder what most people planned?
We're looking at 65-68, unless I get a job and have a 401k...but that's a different question.
We put money into an IRA for me, but that's 10k less a year than if I had a job.
Oh boy...is never an option? I guess 65, but I think I would still work part-time. I've always said that when I retire, I'll work at a grocery store bakery or a candy shop, writing messages on cakes with correct spelling and grammar or dipping tuxedo strawberries. Then my mom pointed out that I might have arthritic hands by then. Awesome, thanks mom!
The whole retirement thing is becoming an issue bc people are living so much longer than they expected and pensions aren't always there when expected. So good for her if she can at 55 but I hope she will be independently funded to the age 90 or 95 to be safe... I may retire anytime but my husband probably never entirely will. My dad did some sort of work until he was about 72. good work ethic vs really needed the money.
Ha! The day I die?
I am convinced my husband and I will work until the day we die. I just don't see how we can ever afford to retire. Unemployment wiped our savings account out. Our 401K had been loosing money. We don't have any money left to put aside. We have 3 kids to help through college if they choose. I've said I'll end up working as a Wal-Mart greater in order to afford cat food to live off of.
If you are one of the rare lucky ones with a pension it is more realistic. But fewer and fewer jobs offer you a pension. My dad was able to retire at an early age with a full pension.
Can you tell I have a bright outlook on the future as far as this is concerned?
Never really thought about it to be honest. Saving for it. Most likely 62...I don't feel old enough to retire 15 years.....
who knows!! My father retired at 64.
My father in law? Never planned on retiring. He could NEVER picture himself not working. He died this March at 76.
You don't have to work to contribute to a retirement savings - Roth IRAs or Standard IRAs can be contributed to even if you don't work. With as much money as you guys save, I am surprised you have NOT done that.
As soon as humanly possible! I want to go on a vacation and actually enjoy it, versus try to pretend to vacation while working at the same time. I want to have a real hobby; not a triangle of work, keeping house and caring for kids. Kudos to your friend and let us all strive to retire as early as possible. For me, hopefully 55 or 60. Just hope I have good health at that point!!
Good luck
My company officially lists my retirement as the end of year 2020. But I look at my 401k, where I have contributed 13.5% of my salary for the past 32 years, and it comes to only less than 10 times my annual salary, because of all of the recessions. I still have two boys that will need a college education, after in some years. If I were my only concern, I could survive (if there is 0 inflation) for 10 years, then I would be broke, and living off of SS, if it still exists (and that's doubtful). So I probably will never retire, unless my company stops me from working. Then I head for Wal-Mart.
Ha! Never!
My Mr says he will retire at 80. :)
Ten years, that would put me at 55 and Troy at 56. We may go longer but that is the point where we will be financially set.
My dad worked for the government and took early retirement at 50. Not like it is anything new to retire while you can still enjoy yourself.
Wow, what do people do to stay busy when they retire so young? I'm not in the workforce right now, as I'm home with the kids, and then will be caring for my in-laws, but I can't imagine having so much "free time" for so many years.
My husband is 35 and is planning to work for about 30 years before he "retires," but that version of retirement would just be going into a slightly different field, of his own choosing.
My in-laws are 70 and 72 and they are both still working. They have no retirement savings at all, as they immigrated to the US after they retired from their jobs in their country. My husband is their retirement plan--he'll be supporting them when they can no longer work.
My dad is 63 and just retired this year, as the stress of his job was causing him to have a mental breakdown. He was a government employee for 35 years, so he has a great pension.
My mom is almost 64 and I can't see her stopping work unless she is physically and mentally unable to do it any more. She loves her job and her co-workers, and works for my aunt's brokerage firm, so she's very committed to it. She started saving for retirement very late, as her priority was putting 5 of us through private school for K-12.
Hope to retire? Around (edited) 65. Not going to happen. Plan to retire? Probably not until we die, the way things are going now. We shall see. Kind of scary, eh?
66-68 if my health holds up. And I may work part time after that. I like to work and be productive. And making money is good, too.
I would retire now if I could. I have been working since age 14 and I am tired of it. My husband wants to work as long as he physically can. I don't think 55 is young. I think my dad was 57. After he "retired", he got a dog, worked part time at a college and driving rich elderly people around. He kept busy. Now that he is a bit older, he plays cards and exercises, and my parents travel a lot and help with the grandchildren.
I think anyone in my age group or younger (I'm 65) who thinks retirement is in their future is living in Lala Land. Others here have listed the economic issues that will surely preclude 'not' working at some level.
Beyond economics, unless there is some kind of physical limitation or illness, the standard 65 seems entirely too young to me to be unproductive. Certainly, that does not necessarily mean employment, yet some kind of active and productive lifestyle surely fits our time considering age expectancies.
One of my pet peeves right now is the (growing) number of husbands I see at the grocery store with their wives. If this doesn't mimic child care or babysitting, I don't know what does! Get out and do something!
Updated
Next week, after I win the lottery.
Probably between 60 and 65, we'll have to see how things go. I know though that being "retired" doesn't always mean you don't work at all or can't find something else. My mom retired but sometimes went back to work part-time on a temporary basis if they needed her. She didn't need it for the money but it did give her a chance to get out of the house (it was shortly after my dad suddenly passed away so it was somewhat therapeutic for her). My friend's parents retired (he worked for GM and she was a dental hygienist) and moved to a new home in a rural area with a lot of property and started raising and breeding alpacas. My husband and I joke that when we retire from our "real jobs", we'll move to Florida and work at Disney World just for fun!
we are 44 and 45, our kids are just starting jr high and high school, so just getting them out of college will be another 11 yrs, so right there that is 44 and 56. Then we will have weddings to fund. OMG, we are talking lots of money between college and weddings, so we are at least another 5 yrs from then, right there that gets us to 60 and 61. I did not want to be working that long, but I also know the reality of life. The earliest we will retire is when we can take the social security benefits I guess. Hubby has a 401 K which has recently come back to the pre 2008 levels so hopefully we will be able to retire by 70. My grandparents died in their mid 70s, my dad is mid 70s now and if he dies at that age I am tempted to make my 70 to 80 year old years really wonderful just in case.
I'm retired. I FINALLY got to retire at 59. I wanted to retire at 30. That was my goal ever since I was in High School. I wasn't even close at 30. But it was a goal.
Retirement was/is everything I thought it would be, except the money.
My wife said she doesn't want to retire, but she has changed her mind. If could double my 401k (Roth IRA), I think she'd retire tomorrow. I have my Roth and her Roth invested in some good stocks paying a 10% plus dividend and we are making good progress. Of course, income from a ROTH is tax free, so it goes a lot farther. If I hadn't lost so much money in the 2000 stock market crash, we'd both be retired now. But we are about halfway back. When we get all the way back, we will both retire.
I have seen too many people become physically unable to follow their dreams when they FINALLY get to retire so I have been working and saving and learning how to live frugally all my life to prepare for retirement. That part has worked fine.
I go to the gym and exercise for 90 minutes at least 4 times each week. I hit 40,000 lbs each time I go (lifting weights. 40 reps of 25 lbs is 1000 lbs) When I was a police officer I was doing 100,000 lbs twice each week. My wife is going to the gym too. We go because we like cruising and want to visit all our kids and grand kids (27. 28 and 29 are anticipated next year) on a regular basis.
BTW: If I had 10 times my salary invested in stock yielding a 10% dividend, I would have my annual salary coming in every year . . . forever.
Retirement can be yours, IF you prepare for it. Good luck to you and yours.
I was planning on 58 but that's because I have a 401K and a pension. It depends when my children is done with college too, which might be around 60.
