Thoughts on Retiring Early to Play, Travel etc... (federal, coverage, respect)

[NewbieHere]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

Teachers, cops, mail carriers, I don't know any that were still working at 60.

I didn’t know teachers retire that young. The ones that were my kids’ teachers retired pretty old. Like 60 at least.

[StealthRabbit]

Thoughts on Retiring Early to Play, Travel etc...

Don't burn up a bunch of time over-thinking this...

"Retire Early, Retire Often..."

Staying home when the kids are around (Or ASAP) is a great idea. (traveling, teaching, exploring, growing a home business...) Kids will be gone soon enough, then you can go back to work (if you must).

I was out of the workforce (for the 3rd time) at age 49. (using a single income night shift factory job and supporting a family (including disabled parents))

Ideally... I would have had the sense to replace my wage income by about age 20, with an inflation protected and growth positioned income source.

Post 'retirement' we travel about 50 - 80% of the time (While we can.) Once we get to age 65, it will be even easier to pull up roots.

During working / home school years we often traveled 50%+ of the yr as a family. (some was work related travel / international assignments + Leave of absence + volunteer service.)

We stayed home more when farming and when helping our kids build their houses (age 14 - 15), but would follow each significant project / harvest with a 6-12 week trip.

Being a "Wage - Slave" is not a very bright idea. (Additive, Wages will not grow wealth (wages only enable wealth building strategies)... wealth building requires the use of multiplication)

Go NOW, Life will work out the minor details.
Don't lose a minute with your kids... Poof, they are GONE!

My kids didn't have any 'teachers', until they went to free FT college at age 16.
They mastered a lot of skills long before they left for college.
To get into college at age 16, they had to pass a college entrance exam at age 14 (That was not difficult). 10's of thousands of kids do it every year. (for last 30 yrs in our state).

Let's see...
1) spend your life / hours / energy selling your hours to a 'for profit' company that is only looking for lowest cost for most value (contribution to THEIR profits / shareholders)...

or...

2) invest your time in 'growing' your kids (or community) and opening up their minds and opportunities and equipping them for their future service to your community and service to others.....

Easy decision.
It's a No Brainer.

[Submariner]

The US navy booted me out onto pension when I was 42.

At the same time, our investments were enough to buy us a rural farm.

This year I turned 60, we have been living on my pension for 18 years.

[mike1003]

Originally Posted by beemee

Anyone have thoughts on Retiring Early so they can travel, play or just chill...while you are still healthy. If you find you need more money later, get a little Job to support yourself!!
It's suprising how much we can live on if we are happy and don't feel the need to fill our lives with material goods etc..

We traveled and played while working. We were both lucky to have jobs where we could take extra time off for longer or additional trips


You neglected to give us your age


There is a BIG difference between buying "material goods, etc" and having enough socked away for later in life.


BTW, we both retired at 70 and we still constantly travel

[trlhiker]

I plan to retire next year at age 56. Been working with the government for 33 years now and I am done. I have know so many people who waited to retire and either died before or shortly after they retired. There are guys I work with who are in the mid to late 60's and still working. I don't want that to happen to me. My wife is 62 and on disability so we want to have time together because you never know when the grim reaper will come calling.

[lottamoxie]

There are lots of people working at all ages whether one knows them personally or not. There are also lots of people retired before what others consider normal retirement age whether one knows them personally or not.

I happen to know people who fit in one or the other of those categories and there is no one right and only right choice, there is only what's right and best for the individual in *their* circumstances.

Ultimately it's no one else's business what some other random adult chooses to do with their life, time, and career.

[Beach Sportsfan]

Originally Posted by Submariner

The US navy booted me out onto pension when I was 42.

At the same time, our investments were enough to buy us a rural farm.

This year I turned 60, we have been living on my pension for 18 years.

Thanks for your service and glad you have been able to enjoy the time afterwards.

[dcfas]

Originally Posted by NewbieHere

I didn’t know teachers retire that young. The ones that were my kids’ teachers retired pretty old. Like 60 at least.

I’m a teacher and will not be able to retire before age 62 if I want a pension without a reduction. Where I am that means age 55 with 30 years at the earliest, or age 62. If you have 30 years you get 60% of FAS (final average salary). I started later, so I will be working later. As a side note many of my colleagues work summer jobs, and many continue doing that after retired from teaching.

[Bevv]

Originally Posted by Hefe

It's too late for me to retire "early", but I did make a real conscious effort to see & experience a lot of different things & travel a lot while I was healthy & still employed.

We also made sure we traveled before we retired. My husband retired 10 years before I did. When I was working I was earning 5 weeks of vacation a year and we took advantage of the time with at least one long trip a year along with several long weekends. Now that I am retired we continue to travel at least that much.

[turkeydance]

just an update:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...es-suddenly-62