Posted on 07/20/2020 9:47:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
In seven weeks I will retire at 65. The only thing “early” about it is that the government wants me to wait another fourteen months.
Our house is paid off. Our two cars are also free and clear, we haven’t had a car loan in 20 years.
We both have hobbies and plans to take many “one tank trips.” We’ll never be rich, but our income exceeds our expenses. I can’t wait!
I retired at 60. It was like Heaven, and still is 12 years later. Hubby retired at 62. We still love Sunday nights when we say, “We don’t have to go to work tomorrow!”
We lived waaay within our means for most of our marriage, and saved saved saved. Now we’re able to enjoy these years debt free.
There are various aches and pains — but that’s another story for another day.
“The Lord is in control. It’ll be fine, no matter how this temporary life turns out.”
Amen.
I feel bad for those who think money makes for a great retirement
too a certain extent; at one apt complex i lived near the dumpster, it was heartbreaking to see how many senior citizens were diving for cans.
“They are people in their 30s that have a nest egg and income coming in and few expenses and live a gypsy lifestyle in an RV so no property tax or mortgage or expenses for child care / college. Great. Weird anecdotal case but good for them.”
Yea, I’ve seen articles/videos with them. They claim to be ‘retired’ but seem to be spending all their time creating videos and/or blogs (not exactly my definition of ‘retired’ either). Some of them simply don’t pencil-out, so I figure they hit it in the market or inherited a trust fund.
Lots of BS out there when it comes to defining ‘retirement’ or about ‘living on the road’...but then it is the Internet.
I always tell the young people that I work with that the single, BEST, decision you can make if you don’t want to be working until age 70 is to HAVE KIDS EARLY, even if you don’t yet have that luxury home and SUV - parents would be surprised as to how little it matters to kids if you don’t keep up with the Jones’s. The second best thing you can do (really, tied for first) is accelerate the learning of your kids - this has the dual benefit actually teaching them correctly (i.e., phonics and math without calculators), and can save a ton of money if they go to college, and also get them through college much earlier. Of course doing so entails not trusting the public schools, so I doubt very many FReepers would ever go there.
Anyway, do either one and it helps a ton, do both and your kids will be off the books by the time you’re 50, easily.
That was your call, not his.
Kids are yours until they are 22 or so unless you introduce them to the nice Army recruiter down the street. That'll pay for college too.
Young people who already have money and means to make more (as they do) and are healthy with no mortgage, rent, or children can pull this off ... for a while. Everyone else needs a better plan.
Financial analysts tend to think of nest eggs as the big money but ignore annuities and pensions in the mix. Our nest egg wasn't huge but my retirement check pushed us until social security cut in.
Pay off the mortgage, get the kids on their own then check status. Most people will be surprised what they have after those milestones.
One big mistake many make is they suddenly see themselves as world travelers and spend their money on cruises and land-ship type RVs. We have seen more than a few friends and family park the RV after the first year but they are still paying for it.
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