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IMHO - you should keep working while you decide on 'phase 2'. I think 50 is too young to completely retire unless you have endless money and hobbies. If you have the assets to do so, you may want to consider a second career - a dream career, so to speak. Perhaps you have always wanted to work in a bookstore or own one. Or own a car repair shop. Or art store. But keep working until you make the decision and have a viable plan.
I think volunteer work is wonderful. If you can afford to live on savings, take on challenging volunteer positions. I think that would be very rewarding.
IMHO - you should keep working while you decide on 'phase 2'. I think 50 is too young to completely retire unless you have endless money and hobbies. If you have the assets to do so, you may want to consider a second career - a dream career, so to speak. Perhaps you have always wanted to work in a bookstore or own one. Or own a car repair shop. Or art store. But keep working until you make the decision and have a viable plan.
I think volunteer work is wonderful. If you can afford to live on savings, take on challenging volunteer positions. I think that would be very rewarding.
No matter what, have a plan. A direction. A goal.
I agree with the plan, direction, goal aspect.
However, "endless money" is often not needed to live well when one has all of their debts including mortgage taken care of and have interests and hobbies that don't require lots of $. I've found some of the most enjoyable things in life are not expensive and are often in a sense "free". While I like toys/buying things still, I think for many, including myself, there comes a point where material things aren't a priority anymore. It's all played out in a sense. Experiences are more important/much more enjoyable to us at this point but of course everyone's different and have to decide for themselves.
I didn't have the money to retire at 50, but I do now at 63. However, I also have the perfect "never retire" business. Appraisal orders come in from lenders daily and I can either accept or reject them in which case they go out to the next person on the list. I can dial it down to zero if I'm busy with something else or, if I'm bored, accept them all and make some more money. As long as I can walk around a house, I can stay in business. And, working keeps my mind sharp. I agree that you need a plan before you hang it up.
You could become a Master Gardener. Someone mentioned them above; the training is interesting and there are many volunteer opportunities in the program.
However, "endless money" is often not needed to live well when one has all of their debts including mortgage taken care of and have interests and hobbies that don't require lots of $. I've found some of the most enjoyable things in life are not expensive and are often in a sense "free". While I like toys/buying things still, I think for many, including myself, there comes a point where material things aren't a priority anymore. It's all played out in a sense. Experiences are more important/much more enjoyable to us at this point but of course everyone's different and have to decide for themselves.
It might not be "endless money" but how do you retire at age 50 and pay for health insurance, dental, run a car, pay property tax, pay homeowners insurance, eat, .... ?
You certainly can't assume ACA is going to survive the next Presidential election. Private health insurance at age 50-something or 60-something is wildly expensive if younger people aren't forced to subsidize it.
The people who retire at age 50 either have some kind of public sector job with a defined benefit pension or they have enough wealth to generate the passive income stream that will sustain for decades.
If you like your job and your work life and home life are balanced and you get to do things you want, I'd stay working for a couple more years. The exception (if money is no problem) being that if your spouse is older, say five years, I would then retire younger to spend quality time while you both are healthy.
I retired at 52 and found an enjoyable part-time job that suited me and I kept for a few years. My wife did much the same but was older than me. She died when I was 59 so we had a number of years together to do what we wanted. Had I waited for just a few more years we would not have had much time together.
Everyone's situation is different. I found that my wife and I became closer and better friends and developed joint interests that occupied our time. The couple across the street from me bought a smaller RV and travel for months at a time. My next door neighbor became a handyman for all the widows in the area and gets a call when something needs to be fixed....heck, I call him too.
It might not be "endless money" but how do you retire at age 50 and pay for health insurance, dental, run a car, pay property tax, pay homeowners insurance, eat, .... ?
You certainly can't assume ACA is going to survive the next Presidential election. Private health insurance at age 50-something or 60-something is wildly expensive if younger people aren't forced to subsidize it.
The people who retire at age 50 either have some kind of public sector job with a defined benefit pension or they have enough wealth to generate the passive income stream that will sustain for decades.
Of course.
We've been retired at 45/42, for almost 6 years now. My estimates for making money last are always on the high side(I've very conservative/use worst case scenarios) and with this run of retirement so far for almost 6 years, we are going to have trouble spending all our money if we live to a ripe age but that's fine. I'd rather miss on having some extra than running out. It's all doable from a financial angle if one starts very early prepping/saving/investing, even making an average middle income salary, and grabbing a small pension(maybe) down the line. Aside from this, I think the bigger question for many who have the $ angle set/did the $ calculations is what to do in retirement which I think is the topic here as the OP doesn't seem to have an issue with outliving their money retiring at 50.
The prospect of retirement and especially early retirement conjures up all of the human insecurities of fear of the unknown, fear of loneliness, fear of being left out or abandonment, and fear of running out of money. So even people that have the money to retire normally succumb to staying in the workforce. Training to being dependent on the system for food shelter and a social life has been beat into us in public school and that same mental attitude continues through the working life of all but a few that have over come this training.
The people that do take the retirement have a more independent DNA and have come to grips with there fear and insecurities and can make the transition to the next phase of life that all of us have hopes of achieving at some point in their life.
Now on to the practical part of being retired, I retired at 47, but fell into the trap of thinking I had to work so I worked another 5 years for other employers and than one day realized that I was cheating myself and that my fear kept me from retiring. For the last 7 years I have been completely retired.
For the first few months of retirement you will be looking for something to do, but that vacuum will get filled with something. My whole day is filled with a schedule of things to do. Yes, some days I do nothing on purpose, but other days I'm busy from sun up to bed time. I now have no desire to ever go back to work for anyone. I now control my whole life from start to finish.
Retirement is the best part of living and only a few will retire at a young enough age to enjoy it. The majority of the people are forced to retire because of health reasons or there job forces them out. These people will always have some regret because it wasn't on their own terms. However, retiring because of your own decision will always leave you with a good taste in your mouth
The prospect of retirement and especially early retirement conjures up all of the human insecurities of fear of the unknown, fear of loneliness, fear of being left out or abandonment, and fear of running out of money. So even people that have the money to retire normally succumb to staying in the workforce. Training to being dependent on the system for food shelter and a social life has been beat into us in public school and that same mental attitude continues through the working life of all but a few that have over come this training.
The people that do take the retirement have a more independent DNA and have come to grips with there fear and insecurities and can make the transition to the next phase of life that all of us have hopes of achieving at some point in their life.
Now on to the practical part of being retired, I retired at 47, but fell into the trap of thinking I had to work so I worked another 5 years for other employers and than one day realized that I was cheating myself and that my fear kept me from retiring. For the last 7 years I have been completely retired.
For the first few months of retirement you will be looking for something to do, but that vacuum will get filled with something. My whole day is filled with a schedule of things to do. Yes, some days I do nothing on purpose, but other days I'm busy from sun up to bed time. I now have no desire to ever go back to work for anyone. I now control my whole life from start to finish.
Retirement is the best part of living and only a few will retire at a young enough age to enjoy it. The majority of the people are forced to retire because of health reasons or there job forces them out. These people will always have some regret because it wasn't on their own terms. However, retiring because of your own decision will always leave you with a good taste in your mouth
Well said on all angles Garthur. The fear angle is most unfortunate but I think it's a biggie for many on the topic of retirement, early or not.
We've been retired at 45/42, for almost 6 years now. My estimates for making money last are always on the high side(I've very conservative/use worst case scenarios) and with this run of retirement so far for almost 6 years, we are going to have trouble spending all our money if we live to a ripe age but that's fine. I'd rather miss on having some extra than running out. It's all doable from a financial angle if one starts very early prepping/saving/investing, even making an average middle income salary, and grabbing a small pension(maybe) down the line. Aside from this, I think the bigger question for many who have the $ angle set/did the $ calculations is what to do in retirement which I think is the topic here as the OP doesn't seem to have an issue with outliving their money retiring at 50.
Yep, I work in law enforcement so I have a pension and healthcare covered. I also maxed out my TSP (federal governments 401k program) for the past 20 years, so I think I have the money part covered. Like I said, I will have to downsize some aspects of life but financially I'll be ok. Don't get me wrong, I'm not rolling in dough and more money is always good but I think I will have enough to cover the necessities and a few luxuries here and there. I know that I am speaking in the first person "I" but this also includes the wife.
This is more about what to do with my time as opposed to what to do with my money. I do realize though that the two are interdependent upon each other.
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It's all doable from a financial angle if one starts very early prepping/saving/investing, even making an average middle income salary, and grabbing a small pension(maybe) down the line. Aside from this, I think the bigger question for many who have the $ angle set/did the $ calculations is what to do in retirement which I think is the topic here as the OP doesn't seem to have an issue with outliving their money retiring at 50.
