Plan retirement early (55, pension, social security, federal)

[Gaffer]

I see several retirees or soon to be retirees questioning if they will have enough to live on. By that time it's too late to think about it. It is what it is.
Planning for retirement needs to start no later than age 50, assuming age 65 as your retirement target. Your social security office will give you an estimate of anticipated ss retirement and many human resources will do the same for your companies retirement plan.
In my case the company I was working for at age 50 did not have an adequate retirement plan so I found an employer that did and would pay a portion of my health insurance for life.
Once I knew my anticipated retirement income from the retirement plan and ss combined I started reducing expenses and increasing savings. I planned to be living off the equivalent of my retirement income by age 60.
The result was I was living on less than my retirement income well before age 65 and my savings/investments, which I had gradually increased over the years to 25% of wages, had grown substantially.
The result was when I retired at age 66 my retirement income was $400 - $500 a month greater than what I had been living on. This has left me financially comfortable with a fair amount of financial freedom without having touched my 401k in the 6 years since I retired.
Just a few thoughts for those 'thinking about retirement'. Don't think about it, do something about it!

[Retired Law 08]

never too early to plan...have a goal and a plan...

[mathjak107]

you'all know my stance on that! retirement should be the reward for working your entire life, for feasting on the fruits of a lifetime of your labor.. you should be living better in retirement then before..

but it takes lots of saving, planning and luck.

i always teach our kids your financial life is like fighting a war..you have all these different fronts going on... you need money for now, money for the future, money for a house... you cant neglect any front or you may win a battle but loose the war

[GreenGene]

In a way, I started planning for retirement at age 21.

My father worked for the federal government, had a good career, was able to provide a solid middle class life for the family, and retired at age 56. I figured that what worked for my dad would work for me, and so far, it has.

I found a job with the federal government that led to a very satisfying and rewarding career. I declined to switch from CSRS to FERS when that option became available, so my annuity is significantly better (i.e., does not depend on either Social Security or the stock market). I retired last year at age 55, the goal I had set when I first started working. And since I participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program for the last five years of my employment (in fact, over my entire career), I carried that coverage into retirement with me.

My wife is also a CSRS federal retiree. We were making a fair amount of money when working - now that we're retired, and with reduced expenses, there's nothing we could afford while working that we can't afford in retirement.

We made sure that we went into retirement without a car payment (and I'm setting aside money each month into savings for car repair/replacement costs). We didn't pay off our house - we didn't buy our first home soon enough, and that's something I regret - but we refinanced our mortgage to 4.25%, and the monthly payment is well within our means to pay.

We did little things while working, like taking lunch to work instead of going out to lunch, or hitting yard sales (especially while the kids were young), and most importantly, we lived within our means. And now, we're reaping the benefits.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Gaffer

I see several retirees or soon to be retirees questioning if they will have enough to live on. By that time it's too late to think about it. It is what it is.

I agree

... Planning for retirement needs to start no later than age 50, assuming age 65 as your retirement target.

Waiting until your 50 is too late.

[texdav]

I agree waiting until 50 is way too late. People should start in there mid 20's. That is becasuse there should only be a difference between 50 and 65 in case s the unexpected happens. Don't count on SS disabilty because pweople can lose their profession without being unable to work by their terms which is unable to do no meaningful work.

[mathjak107]

unfourtunatly for most their retirement planning amounts to "work until you cant"

[Retired Law 08]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

unfourtunatly for most their retirement planning amounts to "work until you cant"

hey...hope to see you retired in nepa soon....I know you got a good plan......

[susancruzs]

I hope the younger generation takes heed, because they need to plan, plan, and plan some more!

I finally got smart in my 30's, thank goodness, and was fortunate to work 33 yrs. where there was a private pension as well as a 401K plan. By the time I was 40, I put the maximum % allowed in my 401K.

I harped at the younger people I worked with that never put in the 401K plan. Going back recently for a visit, 7 yrs. later some still don't get it. They said, see if we did 401K plan, we would have lost alot of money this year. No, if you had a handle on it, not that much compared to what you would have made the last ten years. Geesh, they don't get it!

[mathjak107]

im counting the minutes,,, hopefully if the markets recover faster we can speed up our time table but thankfully our plan will allow us to pull the plug for early retirement .... the markets coming back will allow us just that much earlier