Recently I ran the numbers for all of my investments, pension, etc. and discovered that I am in a very good position to retire at 60. I’m 55 right now, so … five more years.
I had always planned to work until 65 and it was only a thought to retire earlier than that. Turns out, I will make just about as much in retirement as I do right now working, so why not?
After I keyed in my wife’s investments, etc. just like mine I found out we were even in a better place, so this is 100% a reality now vs. just a distant dream. We both plan to retire when I hit 60, and she will be 58, potentially working another couple years until 60. We will see when the time comes.
So tonight, I made a commitment to myself that once I am debt free minus the house, which is almost paid off anyway, I am going to retire. We had originally planned to have the house paid off when I turn 65 to give us some more room for retirement. Paying off all the other debt will take a few years, so the plan to retire at 60 is right in line with this.
With the research and planning that I did, I planned for a market that is performing “well below average” market for the next 40 years. I am also planning to live to 100, so this has to last that long. In planning for a well below average market, it can only get better if it performs average or better. This way if the market performs even below average or just average, we are just in that much better shape.
My advice to everyone is build your 401K, Roth IRA, TSP, 403B, whatever you have and START EARLY! These funds grow like crazy, and even if it’s only a few dollars a month, JUST DO IT! The best time to start if you haven’t already started is RIGHT NOW!
One more bit of “advice” from a novice … Typically, we get a small raise every year if you stay with the same company. I used the strategy of taking the raise percentage each year and redirecting it into my investment accounts since I was already budgeted for what I was already making. This helped out a lot.
Over the course of 20, 30 or hopefully 40 years if you start early enough, your money will multiply many times over.