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Personally I think you have more then enough to retire now aquatone. Yes I would sell the house. I retired at 58 and we have slightly less then what you have to retire on. We're doing fine and the money keeps coming in faster then we can spend it.
This last year and a half of freedom has been an amazing gift and we're both still young enough to enjoy it. Retire as soon as you can because age has a way of robbing you of what should be the best years of your life. Go have fun!
Personally I think you have more then enough to retire now aquatone. Yes I would sell the house. I retired at 58 and we have slightly less then what you have to retire on. We're doing fine and the money keeps coming in faster then we can spend it.
This last year and a half of freedom has been an amazing gift and we're both still young enough to enjoy it. Retire as soon as you can because age has a way of robbing you of what should be the best years of your life. Go have fun!
Somehow I doubt everyone would agree. I would much rather go to work than stay home. And exactly what type of fun would I be having at 58 with kids at home. When I am 58 my youngest will be 13. I will have a kid in HS and a kid in college.
Trust me I am in my 50s it is not the best years of your life. I waited till 35 to get married as I knew 21-35 were the best years. No school and a job with income you can spend 100% on yourself, vacations, fast cars and faster women.
...the answer is dependent on what level of income I need of course. My question is really to start getting a sense if other have made it work for them.
I was recently laid off my job in the tech industry at age 57 and though I am looking for new opportunities, a big part of me would really welcome a complete life change, more time for my own interests, and a reduction in expenses, and I have started wondering if I could retire early now.
I currently have just over $1.5M in retirement savings in diversified investments. (Including my 401K) I also own a desirable large house in the hyper-expensive SF Bay Area with around $1M in equity left if I were to sell and completely pay off the mortgage. So combined around $2.5M, though I would need to find a new place to live. I know the Bay Area is so expensive that moving to somewhere cheaper and more tex efficient almost certainly makes sense if I were to retire early - perhaps Arizona or New Mexico which I quite like.
All the retirement calculators I play with assume a retirement at age 66 and/or the same high salary I have been earning to date. If I did retire early I would need to bridge 8-years or so to when I can claim social security and medicare. I am not expecting $100K+ a year for the next 40 years. However, assuming a simpler and revised lifestyle in a cheaper area, have others made early retirement possible with this level of investment at my age?
Chris
Well Chris,
We are thinking of retiring about the same age, higher income, about 1m in house, about 1.5 saved... (so snap)
The way I see it , is that we currently save at least 30% of our income, maybe more so why would we need full income when we retire. The only increase in expenses would be healthcare , so we base our plans on retiring on 70% of income or less..
One thing I've discovered in my retire early retirement planning scenarios is the powerful impact that a legacy job has on stretching out your retirement nest-egg until SS kicks in. Play with your numbers to understand what I'm talking about.
I've used examples of being a bagger at Trader Joe's making as little as $12,000 a year (never seen a Trader Joe's employee who didn't seem happy and liking the work they do) and was surprised of the impact this pocket change job earnings had on the retirement planning math. Substitute your favorite version of that legacy job and do your own math.
To answer your question, you can absolutely do it at your age but take some time reading about those who have done it only to jump back on the work pony a few years later when they discovered that they still had more "umpf fire" in their belly and wanted a little more action familiar to them like their careers provided.
Good luck>
Although, if you are working at Trader Joe's, you are very likely living in a high cost of living area. But this is the same point I brought up about say working at Starbucks. And some people with long ago paid for houses (particularly in Cali) can live in a HCOLA while avoiding at least some of the high costs - frozen property taxes for example.
My younger sister is effectively retired at age 55, she works as a checker at a grocery store. This gives her spending money, avoids needing to draw down savings.
...the answer is dependent on what level of income I need of course. My question is really to start getting a sense if other have made it work for them.
I was recently laid off my job in the tech industry at age 57 and though I am looking for new opportunities, a big part of me would really welcome a complete life change, more time for my own interests, and a reduction in expenses, and I have started wondering if I could retire early now.
I currently have just over $1.5M in retirement savings in diversified investments. (Including my 401K) I also own a desirable large house in the hyper-expensive SF Bay Area with around $1M in equity left if I were to sell and completely pay off the mortgage. So combined around $2.5M, though I would need to find a new place to live. I know the Bay Area is so expensive that moving to somewhere cheaper and more tex efficient almost certainly makes sense if I were to retire early - perhaps Arizona or New Mexico which I quite like.
All the retirement calculators I play with assume a retirement at age 66 and/or the same high salary I have been earning to date. If I did retire early I would need to bridge 8-years or so to when I can claim social security and medicare. I am not expecting $100K+ a year for the next 40 years. However, assuming a simpler and revised lifestyle in a cheaper area, have others made early retirement possible with this level of investment at my age?
Chris
If you can find yourself a tax free municipal bond or bond fund to pay you 3% a year you can take home over 6k a month and never touch the principal.
New Mexico is pretty but generally a sh!tehole for services and stuff but you could buy a cheap house there and never work.
Could you look to move a little further out in NoCal?
...the answer is dependent on what level of income I need of course. My question is really to start getting a sense if other have made it work for them.
I was recently laid off my job in the tech industry at age 57 and though I am looking for new opportunities, a big part of me would really welcome a complete life change, more time for my own interests, and a reduction in expenses, and I have started wondering if I could retire early now.
I currently have just over $1.5M in retirement savings in diversified investments. (Including my 401K) I also own a desirable large house in the hyper-expensive SF Bay Area with around $1M in equity left if I were to sell and completely pay off the mortgage. So combined around $2.5M, though I would need to find a new place to live. I know the Bay Area is so expensive that moving to somewhere cheaper and more tex efficient almost certainly makes sense if I were to retire early - perhaps Arizona or New Mexico which I quite like.
All the retirement calculators I play with assume a retirement at age 66 and/or the same high salary I have been earning to date. If I did retire early I would need to bridge 8-years or so to when I can claim social security and medicare. I am not expecting $100K+ a year for the next 40 years. However, assuming a simpler and revised lifestyle in a cheaper area, have others made early retirement possible with this level of investment at my age?
Chris
I thought I could. But I didn't try.
GOOD THING! Gall bladder went out, hernia, kidney stone. I have never smoked, didn't drink much, exercised and so forth. Those were the first time I have ever been sick. Wife's knee blew out, and then a hiatal hernia.
Now we find out that we are fairly typical - most of our retired couple friends have had worse things than us.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3 Mitch
Although, if you are working at Trader Joe's, you are very likely living in a high cost of living area. But this is the same point I brought up about say working at Starbucks. And some people with long ago paid for houses (particularly in Cali) can live in a HCOLA while avoiding at least some of the high costs - frozen property taxes for example.
My younger sister is effectively retired at age 55, she works as a checker at a grocery store. This gives her spending money, avoids needing to draw down savings.
Costco is a great job for seniors / early retirees. Benefits + you can work nights, so you still have EVERYDAY off!
Holiday season is upon us... UPS, FED-EX pay pretty well, and you have the Amazon ARMY!
That can be followed up with IRS work, and soon it is Spring-time !!! go spend your dough and enjoy your RV! When (if) you reach age 62, you can enjoy the National Parks for $10!
GOOD THING! Gall bladder went out, hernia, kidney stone. I have never smoked, didn't drink much, exercised and so forth. Those were the first time I have ever been sick. Wife's knee blew out, and then a hiatal hernia.
Now we find out that we are fairly typical - most of our retired couple friends have had worse things than us.
Thank God we didn't try.
And that's the whole point.
You can retire at 57 and think that your health is fine. Why worry?
And then at 62, all hell breaks lose. If you don't have good insurance, you're screwed.
when you say "all hell breaks loose" can you be more specific?
e.g. heart attack, cancer, stroke.
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