The accountant says we can retire early. Woohoo!!!

[gsganzer]

I turned 58 in July and my wife turned 55. We both worked hard all our lives and maximized our savings and investments. One kid is still in college, but we have her education fully funded. So, we finally sat down with a fiduciary to discuss our financial position and our retirement goals. I expected it to be the case, but he officially told us we can quit the daily grind.

As we start to disengage from the rat race, we'll start trying to finalize our plans for a retirement home/property and get that ball rolling.

I don't expect me to quit working outright, but I'll start getting choosier on the jobs I take in the coming year or so.

 

[gstrom99]

Good for you both. Health insurance is/was the big thing for me.

I retired a couple of months after I hit 65, debt free, 2020. Bought my retirement farmstead with cash (pulled $ from 401k), while I was still working. Got on Medicare and picked a good Advantage plan. Good 401k, and a fairly good pension. House, car credit cards PAID OFF. Sold the Illinois place and moved to the Iowa farmstead in 2021. 401k now switched to an IRA.

 

[BackRoad]

Good, good, good for you!

Saving money - early and consistently is key. I thought I had a better chance of seeing a Unicorn than of ever seeing retirement, but here we are!

You've now arrived. Take time for a major celebration...ours lasted nearly 4 months.

Then get up the next morning and figure out what you want to do next with your life...get a vision, find purpose - else they'll be trying to cover you with dirt...

Finding personally engaging activities to keep you busy - and most importantly physically active is important - for both you AND your wife.

 

[Eagle1]

Our goal was always to homestead and live disconnected. It real now and I see no end to things I want/need to do. Good thing I enjoy being outside, tractoring, etc. I figure I got another 10 years of real work in me. Maybe I'll be closer to done by then

 

[Duds13]

Congrats! I'm on track to retire at 58 as well. Having no kids and being cheap or "frugal" pays offs.

I've always read a couple shouldn't retire at the same time, so you and the wife need to decide who goes first. lol. I've already decided my wife retires after I do. HAHHA

 

[dodge man]

Interesting, I retired about a month before I turned 58 and my wife retired at the same time at 55. That was a little over 4 years ago. No regrets so far.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

@gsganzer Congratulations!!!! Hope the plans you have work out well for you and your wife!
May God richly bless you.

 

[grsthegreat]

we paid everything off many years ago, and the wife retired about 7 years ago. i held off just because i enjoyed what i was doing. i semi retired during covid, and now only really work 2 days a week servicing whole house generators. i shut down my electrical contracting business, but i missed working. been doing it so long, i really missed it.

i can easily work 2 days a week, and have plenty of time for retired stuff.

my problem is if both her and i are home at same time, shes always finding things for me to do. and its usually projects for her. i schedule the 2 days working in town with meeting friends for lunch at same time. works out great.

at least being retired, if a customer becomes a snot...i simply drop them.

 

[kenmac]

congrats ! I got out of the rat race in 2015 @ 57. I'll still do some small jobs when I want, but nothing regular... I just don't have time to work anymore ! LOL

I purchased a mini ex a few months ago so I make take on a few small jobs with the mini ex

 

[square1]

Congrats! I wish you the best
Next July for me. I had hoped for an early retirement but a major life event 4 1/2 years ago severely impacted my retirement savings. I've been able to recover pretty well since, but retirement won't be what it could have been prior to the financial hit.

Currently, and probably prematurely, I'm obsessing over where to invest the lumps sums that will materialize upon retirement to generate the disposable income / mad money they are budgeted to produce. Income producing real estate & dividend stocks have become so expensive. Interest rate cuts are great if you are in debt, not so much if you're looking for passive income.

I have no intention of touching this money until RMDs come into play, I'd like the returns on these funds, when added to other passive income investments already in place (some of which will eventually mature and need to be reinvested), to supply the 'enjoyable retirement" lifestyle beyond paying the bills.