How early is "early" on this forum?

[Escort Rider]

I am new here as of today (Aug. 12, 2010). Early retirement can mean different things to different people. To my parents' generation, normal retirement age usually meant their full Social Security retirement age (65), and anything before that was "early". However, I retired with a pension at age 61 and a half after 34 years with the same employer. Not sure if I belong here - it's O.K. if not; I will not be offended.

 

[REWahoo]

Early is whatever you think it is. Welcome to the forum!

(For what it's worth I only beat you to "early" retirement by three years...)

 

[Darryl]

Welcome and congratulations!

 

[GoodSense]

Welcome! I don't think there is a definition of "early." We have the whole spectrum here. Congrats on being able to retire before full SS age.

 

[NW-Bound]

Not sure if I belong here - it's O.K. if not; I will not be offended.

Welcome to the forum! About retiring early, if one gets to retirement at all, it is good. I myself have seen so many coworkers dropping dead while working, some even AT WORK.

 

[Rambler]

I think we have some 70ish year olds here. You are still a young'n.

Welcome!

R

 

[ziggy29]

As early as is financially feasible to do so.

 

[Htown Harry]

Welcome Escort Rider.

I would vote to change the name to the "Earlier" Retirement Forum.

It more accurately captures the common thread among all the members - a goal to leave w*rk earlier than we would if we just coasted to 65 or some other arbitrary age.

 

[TooFrugal]

In my case my husband and I both still work, he has a regular job and we both work on a small family owned business.

I post here because I am interested in financial independence, which for me means working if I want to but not because I have to work.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

It's a state of mind. I ESRd at age 61 and am 5-10 years ahead of most of my colleagues, many of whom will work til they can't.

 

[W2R]

Last year I retired at age 61 and a half with a pension, just like you. To me that is early. It's earlier than 65, anyway.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

If I can retire before I die....

 

[W2R]

I would vote to change the name to the "Earlier" Retirement Forum.

Maybe the "Early-As-We-Can Retirement Forum".

 

[CuppaJoe]

Even for a non-napper, early retirement would be, um, six p.m.

I failed miserably to convert a recent houseguest; worked on it for two weeks, but she still believes anything before age 80 would be outrageously early.

Escort Rider, you left the w*rkforce a couple of months earlier than I did and I'm still not old enough to get some of the better senior discounts. Welcome to the forum.

 

[scrabbler1]

My dad retired at 63. My mom retired at 55 (on disability; she died 4 years later ). I retired in 2008 at age 45. It's all relative.

If I absolutely HAD to define ER, I would define it before age 62 when someone needs an income stream other than SS. ER due to disability (my mom's terminal condition) is not something anyone should strive for.

 

[rescueme]

Early Retirement, along with your perception of "youth", is independent of the number of times this old earth has rotated around Sol.

I retired at age 59. Was that ER? In my case, yes; I compared myself to those around me.

I'm currently 62. Is that old? In my case, yes ...

"GET OFF THE GRASS" (darn kids...)

 

[travelover]

As others have said, it is a mind set. not an chronological age.

Stick around, I think you'll find the conversation here is relevant to your life. If not, then you have your answer.

 

[ls99]

To me, early is before I get too feeble decrepit to enjoy life without w*rk interfering with when I want to play.

Or as I said to a Dr. during an exam five years ago, I want to retire healthy. He said, avoid doctors.

Retired at exactly 59.5 It has been slightly over 4 years.

 

[Carnage]

Welcome to the forum! About retiring early, if one gets to retirement at all, it is good. I myself have seen so many coworkers dropping dead while working, some even AT WORK.

Ugh, how sad.....

 

[fisherman]

Welcome to the forum! About retiring early, if one gets to retirement at all, it is good. I myself have seen so many coworkers dropping dead while working, some even AT WORK.

That is sad but true. That is why its called making a dying!

 

[Andre1969]

I'm 40 now, and my dream is to retire around 46-47. But mentally, I think I retired about 5 years ago!

 

[Grainiac]

I'm 40 now, and my dream is to retire around 46-47. But mentally, I think I retired about 5 years ago!

I like that

In the similar tone, I used to have a colleague in my previous company who was a senior salesman working out of his home office. He kept telling everyone who asked about his retirement plans that he actually retired five years ago, just did not tell the employer.

 

[BTravlin]

I'm 52 now and the plan is for DW & I to both FIRE in 2018. Under the circumstances, I'll be content to retire at 60. My son leaves for college next week and I don't envy him and all those in the 18-30 category right now.

 

[Rustic23]

62 was early for us, and as we are just now kind of, well sort of thinking we might be getting, how do you say.... old, 62 still seems like early retirement!

 

[HsiaoChu]

My Opinion......

I think it should be "Retirement after having worked for at least 30 years Forum".

While I understand the incredible crap in the corp world and other places, and the increases in federal, state, and local regulations that make working lifge sometimes just plain unbearable, its my opinion that, you can't retire until you've actually worked for a good while. Its a yin-yang thing.

IMO, rtiring in your thirties is just moving to a less stressful job, and it might put you on the outs with all your friends who are still working, so essentially you move away and get a new kind of job. But again, IMO, that's not retirement because you didn't work long enough. So according to my def. you could retire at age 48, but I would really prefer that most people worked until they were old enough to get the AARP blurb and carry the card.

That's retirement for me.