How did you retire early?

Been a full time musician all my life. Workin' my a** off until last March. The Universe retired me. Thank God for Social Security. Maybe I'll come out of retirement next Summer or Fall, if you know what I mean.

 

I am 62 living in the UK and self employed and do not have a pension. I will get my state pension when I am 67. I have seen to many of my friends falling into bad health or worse and I have decided to stop working only to earn money to buy better things and to acquire more stuff. Now I do not work very much, just enough to keep me "safe", my mortgage is paid off so just have the running costs of my house and I keep my spending to as little as possible Its a struggle sometimes and I often feel "Guilty" for not working but now I have plenty of quality spare time to play guitar, paraglide and go off in my motohome....before its TO LATE!

 

I'm just going to work until I'm 80-85 or so , then die.
If that doesn't work out, the I'll rob a bank (with a squirt gun)....and get tossed in the big house for my remaining years.
Takes away all the pressure of trying to save for retirement.

 

Oddly, I like what I do, and will not retire early. I know that because I am past the so-called early retirement age...

 

Can you apply for disability?
I'm told it's best to hire a disability lawyer, and they only charge after you get approved for disability, might even consult for free and advise if you have a legit claim.

At least in the fields where the work is physical, business uses us up and throws us away like old broken tools.
Sure they often promise retirement income, but if we can barely walk when they allow us to retire, what exactly is the realization of the goal?
There are significant advantages to getting on disability before retirement, if we are in my condition and maybe yours.
For example free health insurance and tax free income.
We can work part time on disability, not sure how that works with taxes, probably just no "payroll tax" on the disability benefits?
I have unfinished rental property retirement plans, but again, can't now afford to finish construction, don't make enough to borrow that sum etc.

My problem is I can't afford to apply for disability, since I've worked for a solid 15 years in semi disabled condition, couldn't work full time but made pretty good money in high end carpentry with part time hours. Now can't do carpentry so moved down to maintenance.

Seems like you need to save a good year of living expenses to apply for disability, and generally get turned down the first and maybe second application. Then if approved, we get paid for the whole time after applying, and if we used a lawyer they take 1/3 of the lump sum. Many say the legal advocacy is worth the money.

Just a thought, as it's where I'm at now.
Can't work at all vs can't work enough to survive are sort of two sides of the same coin.
Flip it and see which side comes up?

Seems like in the trades we are not informed when at 20yo we jump at a big check, of the fact that we roll the dice on our ability to work till retirement. Then as injury and wear builds up, we accept that working and living in pain is a way of life.
Of course 200 years ago a working man died by age 50.
In elder care for my mother I was told by doctors that they do not know what to expect from old survivors of formerly deadly illnesses.
Use up our bodies before retirement?
Not a good strategy AFAIK!

 

Hell, we could start a club! The “TDPRI TBI Guys,” LOL!

T’was a TBI that ended my military career, along with other various and sundry damage. But that’s the primary one that got me sent home for good.

 

I love love love working!
Hell I'd do it for free!
My current job is more of a hobby/ vacation I get paid for.
Used to build and restore homes I could never afford, and now I take care of flower gardens at a 30 room seaside hotel I could never afford, hang out and talk to guests, fix stuff when it breaks, manage upset guests when office staff runs out of patience.
Never knew I loved growing flowers until I applied for this maintenance job a mile from home!
Guests and passers by often assume I'm the owner in my white button down shirts, snipping begonias and roses with obvious love.

But being in constant physical pain, and never knowing from one hour to the next how the pain will change; makes it a nightmare in many ways. Not the least of which is the financial strain of reduced income.

I have more than everything I need though, and I live by the sea in a destination town that many suffer unhappy corporate jobs 50 weeks a year, to be able to come here to recover. It's like I live in a healing spa year round.
Only heals the soul though, not the body.

I'm sort of like the three foot tall hungry diner facing a four foot high table of food.
Sooo close but I just can't reach what I need...

 

The decision I made after college to go to work for what was then a Public Trust, the Bell System. When I was hired by New York Telephone in 1972, I understood that I was working for what was then below-market wages for the future benefits of a a rock-solid pension plan. As the son of a Teamster shop steward, I was well aware of what happened to those who didn’t have good medical benefits and a pension plan, because my father had none of those before his shop was unionized. He had to go hat in hand to our Church for money to pay for my mother’s radical mastectomy. For her later surgeries, he had the dignity to be able, through his benefits, to pay for this himself.

I have never forgotten those lessons. I have never regretted my decision. I am able to maintain my modest standard of living thanks to that decision. Sadly, my children and their spouses have no such option available to them. They are forced to rely upon 401k accounts, which - in my experience AFTER my first retirement from NYNEX, the successor to New York Telephone - was, by my later employer, defunded by half and compromised by my own decision to look for higher-risk investments for my 401k for a higher rate of return. I learned the hard way that slow and steady wins the race. And that finance was not something this former engineer was likely to do better than professionals in that field. I’ve done better by “Letting go and letting them.”

 

Thank you for this thread. I had a $2600 guitar in my cart, and then removed it and put some money into savings for an emergency fund instead.

TDPRI: The cause AND solution to all my financial problems.

 

I'm , as one former co-worker calls it, "Provisionally retired". That means I'd come back for the right job, and screw taking a job just for the money. I was laid off last January as the result of a private equity sell off of the company I worked for.

So how did I do it?

#1. Married a much younger woman with a great career and income. Mrs. raito has 2 BS degrees and an MBA and works in a field that's not going away. She'll be working long after I would have retired even after a normal age.

#2 Put money away in the company plans and left it there.Even though I wasn't able to seriously start saving until my mid-30's, I could survive on nothing but my retirement savings without any further growth until I'm likely to die. But adding in my wife's salary, SS when it becomes available, and any growth of my own funds, we'll be just fine.

#3 Had a good career doing what I loved making good money. I still do that stuff, but for my own enjoyment.

Change anything?

Not really. It's been a good ride.

 

I was fortunate to have worked for the federal government I had enough years in to retire with a strong package, and I got out in time before every thing changed and still left with 25 years in at age 59, once out I worked for for minimum wage just to stay busy and pay for all my food requirements ( but had a an employee perc of 10% off all my food and needs ) plus a further instore savings program, right now I have about 400.00 worth of free groceries if and when i need them
I retired from there on Dec 31 2020.

when you are told you leave with a reduced pension , its a missnoner , if you have (htpothetically) invested 100,000 in your pension and you retire early you still have 100,000 in your fund , it is spread out over a longer time , so the monthly pension is less due to the extended time but is fully intact

 

Turning 64 next month- I never thought I'd make it this far... My full Social Security pension starts at 66 1/2. I intend on getting there as long as my health holds out. Otherwise, one more year and I'll be Medicare eligible and can retire any time after that. The only thing is, I like what I do - I'm fortunate to have options and that flexibility.

 

If you have made it through these pages, what you see is people planned ahead. They thought out how to save enough money to achieve their goals. Some of us can be more frugal than others, and that is fine. But, you have to have a plan that includes budgets on how much you will spend every month, how much you will save. But stay on plan.
By the way, be sure to include fun times in your plans if you can afford it. I think you need to do some things earlier in life when you have youth and health on your side. So don't feel like every penny you save has to go towards retirement. Enjoy your life because you don't know when it may end or when health issues may strike.
Pay yourself first, meaning, save your money into your 401k if you have one. Make your contribution level hurt a bit. The earlier you start this process, the faster you will get to your goal. Let compound interest and time work to your advantage. Study investing. Learn how to manage your money, don't pay people for that advice.
So, set a budget that is realistic and includes saving money and you will get where you need to be when you need to be there.
Retirement is more than great, by the way!

 

Actually your Required Minimum Distribution for your 401-(k) doesn't start until age 72. You can look it up under the new SECURE act.

 

sorry to hear , are you doing OK? glad you are here!

 

I strongly believe in real estate being the only reliable long term investment.
Not saying I'm correct, it's just me belief.
Of course relying on year round renters can be shaky, as can short term vacation renters in times like 2020.
Plus foolish investments at the top of a market can be a weak strategy.
But as a long term strategy there's no reason to buy at the top of a market.

I got lots of Dave Ramsey advice from a coworker who explained how they were paying down their debt at record speed, which meant their little kids had to go without extra curricular activities like dance lessons etc. Husband 70 hours a week and wife 50 hours.
My feeling is of course, why did (you/ they) go so far into debt if you can live without buying all that stuff on credit, well enough to pay down the debt while meeting expenses?

I did learn some stuff about working the coupon system and eating mass quantities of pasta from Wal Mart though.
My food costs are off the charts what with all the fresh meats fruits and vegetables etc etc.

Smart shoppers put their money into weekly Amazon life enhancing buys, while eating cheap starchy refined foods!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!
How did I get here???

I'm sure I'm a total nut and nobody should follow my lead.
Just not impressed with today's value system where shopping and comfort food are seemingly the driving force for so many.
I think a mass swindle has society hooked one an addictive mindset that fails to truly fulfill.
Marketing marketing marketing!

 

Retire?!? From what?!? I love my job!

 

You also need an emergency guitar.

 

Thanks.

I'm as ok as I can be. I lost 60% hearing in my left ear, replaced with Tinnitus. The hearing aid masks it. My eyes require a prism in one lens due to one eye on a different axis. Can't do yoga anymore. When my head tilts for too long I get vertigo and puke. Delightful. The collapsed lung was reinflated but now is susceptible to seasonal allergies and asthma. The 13 broken bones healed but my right wrist and shoulder will hurt until I die.. Short term memory is compromised. As the band learns new songs, I can't remember the names. The keyboard player gives me a few notes and I'm good.
Rip roaring fun!

In ICU the doctors told my family the first day it was do serious i might die and to be ready. Second day I had made it but my brain was swelling so they considered opening my skull. Third day the swelling subsided but my bladder was not functioning. Doctors said it might be catheter or diapers long-term. By the end of the week I was out of bed and walking with a therapist through the hospital hallways. I remember the looks on staff faces.
They couldn't believe that the guy who was supposed to be dead on Friday was walking the next Thursday.

I took 7 months off from teaching, had cognitive, physical, and occupational therapy. I lasted 3 more years in the classroom, exhausted at the end of each day, no longer able to control the class, grade papers, and I was in fear.