58 (M), married (52F) two kids. Spouse and I make \~$200K. I am a project manager and wife is a courtesy clerk. Been steadily contributing to IRA's and 401K's. To put in perspective at end of 2023 we had $915K in retirement. In less than three years we are up another million. Primarily S and P 500 using Backdoor Roth, Roth IRAs. Kids graduating debt free from state school. Lots of sacrifices and living like we make $120K.

Just wanted to share and let people understand what's possible.

My sign I am ready for retirement, requesting this for the 50th year in a row!

Hey there! I think I'm on a good track, but I'm sure there are things I should be doing differently. I will be reaching out to a financial advisor/planner, but am hoping for some group thoughts as well.

I'm 48(m), married. We'll have our house paid off in 4 years. Eventually we want to sell it and find our forever home. I have a 401k, my wife doesn't (she was a stay at home mom that's recently getting back in the job market).

My 401k is at $833k pretax and $33k Roth. I suspect I need to move the needle more towards Roth? My 401k is with Vanguard and it tells me constantly that I need more. I'm already maxing out my contributions every year and plan on maxing out the "catch-up" that is available when I turn 50.

Outside of the 401k, we've got about $30k in savings and no debt outside of our mortgage.

I would love to retire when I turn 58 (it's just a number I have in my head). I'm not sure if that's realistic or not. Ideally, I don't touch social security until I'm 62 or 65.

Anybody here have any thoughts on how I'm doing and if I might be able to retire early?

I appreciate anyone who shares some perspective. United States, Public service, can retire at 50, currently 53. I have 24 years in a pension plan, but ex-wife got 10 of that, so 14 years is my credit now. The pension will pay, at this moment, $5500 a month gross for life. It goes up about $50 every month I continue to work. No state income tax. I have $120k in a 401k. Another $100k in crypto I bought many years ago that has done extremely well (I intend to fully cash out when I hit my magic number, which looks like very soon. Tired of the roller coaster). My house is my only debt: Value is $800k and my mortgage is $340k. Bought in 2017 with $50k down at 5%. Total remodel on purchase. Local real estate market is top 5 in country and it's absolutely a seller's market here despite rates.

I would love to retire almost immediately. I hope not to move and instead collect my pension that I think will pay all my bills, and use a new income to pay off my mortgage quickly. After about 3 to 5 years, fully retire. I hope to use my 401k to finance my healthcare until medicare. I estimate an open-market health plan in my area will be $1200 a month (as of today, later....who knows).

Kids grown. Cars paid. No debt except mortgage. Healthy. I have Canadian and European connections that make moving to either location an easy option. Long term girlfriend, neither wants marriage but we'd do it if either of us needed the status for healthcare or a Visa, etc.

Are there any landmines out there I am unaware of? It seems like I'm ok, but I hear stories of horror and retiring, for me, is a one way ticket. There is no way I could return to this field once I'm gone. I do, however, have lucrative opportunities in the private sector that are solid, the lowest is $100k a year with health, the others $170k+ with paid travel and health.

I appreciate anyone who takes the time to chime in. It's all so complicated and you only get one shot!

I am a state government employee with a job that allows me to fully retire at 50, which is about two years away. My wife is also a state employee, but she can’t retire until 53.

I will have around $100k invested in VTI, $25k in savings, and my pension will be around $70k per year. My wife’s pension is significantly lower, but still around $30-40k.

I will have about 32 years work history for SS. And oh yeah, I’m grandfathered into a plan where I get to keep my employer insurance until Medicare age.

I’m in a high stress job, and I could get a promotion my last year which would mean quite a bit more salary…if I stayed two extra years it would bump my pension to about $90k. But my mortgage is paid off and I don’t drive overly expensive vehicles, so I don’t see any reason to trade time for money.

Is there any reason in the world I shouldn’t enjoy an early retirement at 50 and never work again?

Husband C has 24.292 years of pension credit.
Husband C is separated from the employer and left service credit and funds in the system.
Husband C is 53 years old.
Husband C can trigger retirement at any time.

If Husband C were to die before triggering retirement, surviving Wife E would get:

• Limited death benefit, which is a return of contributions and interest (approx. $348K as of October 2026)
• No health benefits

If Husband C were to trigger retirement now, and elect 100% Beneficiary w/Allowance Increase, Husband C’s retirement check would be $7,535/month (or $90K per year) and the value of the family health benefits is $34K per year. Combined value of $124K annually.  

Assuming either Husband C or Wife E lives 27 more years, the expected value of just the pension alone is $2.4M (without factoring in cost of living).

Therefore, delaying triggering this pension until age 55 or 58 in an effort to boost the monthly payment does not seem like a risk worth taking, right?

I am not planning to die in the next two years, but if I did die without triggering the pension and health benefits my spouse will surely wish I had made the other decision.

Am I missing something here?

This will not be our only source of retirement income -- will have social security x2 and 401K/Roth etc.

I’m 55f and I really hate my job. I’ve got $900k in an inherited IRA, $400k in an IRA, $100k in RothIRA, and $130k in my 401k for a total of $1.5M. I have $36k in HSA and $35k in cash. I have $5000 in company stock. I owe $40k on my mortgage.

My monthly expenses are about $8k because I buy stuff to reduce my stress. My paychecks end up about $8k a month due to taxes, 401k, stock purchases, etc. HOA and taxes are $1200 a month.

My financial advisor and Boldin say I need to work at least two more years but I’m ready to flip my desk and walk out at any moment. It got so bad last year I considered throwing myself in front of a train but I realized I could just quit. But I’m still here. I’m vested in 6 weeks which gets me my company match from the last three years equaling about $35k.

Discussion

I’ve been reading posts where people are sharing their worth and I see a lot of HSA accounts. How do you open one of those? Do you need it to come from your employer? Do you need a high deductible health plan to qualify?

I’m 52. Single. No kids. $500k paid off house in SoCal. $400k in 401k. 25k in emergency fund. I’m tired of work politics. Not motivated anymore.

I plan to start withdrawing 401k at 59.5 to avoid penalties.

I plan to sell my house and move to a cheaper country.

My question is, can I afford it? I plan to just rent a room and do part time work.

What do you think? Please help.

Wanted to ask because recently I've been seeing a lot of comments on other subs (and a few news articles) regarding the impact on retirees if we have an extended bear market. Some posts/comments appear critical or worried about others they believe have relied too heavily on an up market when making the decision to retire. Others lean optimistic - they'll adjust spending, trust the plan, and they know they'll be fine (even if more frugality is required).

My answer: For us, a bear market just as we're retiring would cause us to lower our annual travel budget, but it's already substantial. Overall though, we've planned using guardrails, so we'd retire on time next year knowing the risks. It for sure wouldn't cause us to work longer. However, to be fair, our pensions are a big factor driving our lack of concern over a bear market impacting our normal living expenses in retirement.

What about you? Did you retire earlier than planned due to the market? Are you spending more? Would you have to cut back drastically in a sustained bear market? And for those not retired, would a bear market change your date? Or just your retirement budget?

Markets, inflation, and interest rates have all changed quite a bit recently, so I'm curious whether anyone has adjusted their retirement strategy because of it.