too young to retire

[HadEnuff]

Thanks. My problem with sunshine is I’m a very white red head and I’m basically not only susceptible to burn but I also have an allergic reaction to too much sun. So I’m sure I’ve caused my own deficiency by slathering on sunscreen and wearing a hat but the alternative does seem worse. So I’m taking V-d supplements .... we shall see!

the good news is that redheads produce Vitamin D more efficiently than darker skinned people, which makes me wonder if when they measure your Vitamin D level, if they take skin type into account, or are they comparing your level to the same baseline they'd use to evaluate mine ( dark skin Sicilian/Mediterranean type).

 

[Dalmore]

I retired at 57, and I have mixed feelings (non financial) about it. Most of your peers and maybe all your friends will be at work all day Mon-Fri. Are you ready to be alone that much, or hang out with retirees much older than you are. It’s not that I didn’t know going in, but it’s not easy to get used to. I wasn’t going to hang out regularly with 70-80 year olds, many physically limited. Some people like solitary, so people don’t.

Best of luck with your decision. You’re the only one who can decide what’s best for you.

I don't intend to fall into the sedentary lifestyle trap. I have worked from home for the last 5 years when I haven't been traveling (upto 50% per month) and plan on getting out and being less house bound.

Having spent much of our careers working 50+ hours a week, most of our social circles have dried up due to lack of attention. DW is my best friend and we are planning to retire together which is the only reason I haven't already pulled the plug. I am looking forward to spending most of my time with someone I really want to spend time with, rather than work friends who are often the ones I can tolerate the most.

 

[Andre1969]

I retired at 57, and I have mixed feelings (non financial) about it. Most of your peers and maybe all your friends will be at work all day Mon-Fri. Are you ready to be alone that much, or hang out with retirees much older than you are. It’s not that I didn’t know going in, but it’s not easy to get used to. I wasn’t going to hang out regularly with 70-80 year olds, many physically limited. Some people like solitary, so people don’t.

My grandmother's cousin ran into sort of the reverse of this problem, as she got older. She started feeling lonely, because most people in her age group were either dead, of limited mobility, or simply becoming recluses, and she was still pretty energetic. She quit going to the local senior citizens' meetings, because she said it was like hanging out with her kids.

I never really thought about it when I was younger. When you're in your 20's, I guess, everybody above a certain age just seems "old" and it's easy to lump them together. But, once you get there, there's a pretty big difference between, say, a 60 year old and an 80 year old.

She's 95 now, and the last one alive, of her generation in my family. Just sold her single-family home over the summer, which had a swimming pool, and was always the go-to place for parties, cookouts, etc. Now she's in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment, and hating it with a passion.

Now that I think about it, she was about 56 or 57 when she retired. She was sort of forced out, of the federal government, when they were playing politics and favoritism in her department. Basically had the choice of retire early, or get fired. Whenever I'd talk about wanting to retire early, she'd always try to talk me out of it, and say to work as long as I can. Her main regrets, though, were that money got tight as she got older...mostly because she was constantly bailing her family members out, and letting them leech off of her.

 

[cooch96]

You sound hale and healthy to me. I’d avoid the doctor until you notice something specific you need checked out. That may not be the best advice, but I’m pretty prickly about receiving cookie-cutter, hackneyed lectures.

 

[braumeister]

You sound hale and healthy to me. I’d avoid the doctor until you notice something specific you need checked out. That may not be the best advice, but I’m pretty prickly about receiving cookie-cutter, hackneyed lectures.

Might be better to say just avoid that particular doctor.

 

[COcheesehead]

I’ll play the devil’s advocate. If you eat healthy and exercise regularly, how do get to be 10-20lbs overweight? The wine and heart attack comment doesn’t make sense either. Are you sure you understood the doctor completely. Do you have a printout of your blood numbers that you can use to research independently? I would guess there is more to the story than a bad doctor.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My best friend’s mom is 85 and in excellent health. She takes no medication and exercises regularly. Her husband died and I have been helping her with all the paperwork. It’s really just emotional support and a 2 heads are better than one situation. We have become friends and shop, exercise and go to lunch sometimes. It doesn’t matter that she is 20 years older than me but she is unusually healthy for her age.

 

[Sojourner]

I’ll play the devil’s advocate. If you eat healthy and exercise regularly, how do get to be 10-20lbs overweight? The wine and heart attack comment doesn’t make sense either. Are you sure you understood the doctor completely. Do you have a printout of your blood numbers that you can use to research independently? I would guess there is more to the story than a bad doctor.

I was going to say essentially the same thing. Being 15 pounds overweight, having high cholesterol, and drinking 14 glasses of wine per week are indicators of current and potential/future health problems. Having said that, I would certainly not be quick to begin a statin regimen without first trying lifestyle modifications, such as intermittent fasting. And cut down the drinking to no more than 8 glasses of wine per week.

 

[RAE]

How old is your doctor?
Sounds like he is going by some older guidelines that have been called into question for quite some time now.

+1. I would fire your doctor and find a new one. His advice is terrible all-around. He needs to read some of the literature from the last 10-15 years on cholesterol, saturated fat, etc.. Two glasses of wine with dinner is fine (actually good for the heart). And go ahead and retire early if you want to........my health improved greatly after I retired, and had more time to exercise and cook healthy meals using real food.

 

[RAE]

I was going to say essentially the same thing. Being 15 pounds overweight, having high cholesterol, and drinking 14 glasses of wine per week are indicators of current and potential/future health problems. Having said that, I would certainly not be quick to begin a statin regimen without first trying lifestyle modifications, such as intermittent fasting. And cut down the drinking to no more than 8 glasses of wine per week.

I have to respectfully disagree. While it would be good to lose the 15 lbs., drinking 14 glasses of wine per week is not going to hurt you. And cholesterol is a pretty worthless indicator of heart disease risk........at least 50% of people that have major heart attacks have normal cholesterol. I would ignore cholesterol and look at the triglyceride/HDL ratio - if it is below 2.0, you're fairly low risk for heart disease; if it's below 1.0, you are very low risk. The OP should be able to lose the 15 lbs. (and improve his trig/HDL ratio) by eating a lower-carb diet for a while. He says he already eats mostly real foods, so I'm guessing he would not find it very difficult to just lower his carb consumption slightly (while continuing to consume healthy fats, meat/fish, and veggies), to see if that helps lose the weight. My guess is that it will.

 

[Sojourner]

I have to respectfully disagree. While it would be good to lose the 15 lbs., drinking 14 glasses of wine per week is not going to hurt you. And cholesterol is a pretty worthless indicator of heart disease risk........at least 50% of people that have major heart attacks have normal cholesterol. I would ignore cholesterol and look at the triglyceride/HDL ratio - if it is below 2.0, you're fairly low risk for heart disease; if it's below 1.0, you are very low risk. The OP should be able to lose the 15 lbs. (and improve his trig/HDL ratio) by eating a lower-carb diet for a while. He says he already eats mostly real foods, so I'm guessing he would not find it very difficult to just lower his carb consumption slightly (while continuing to consume healthy fats, meat/fish, and veggies), to see if that helps lose the weight. My guess is that it will.

Although I generally agree with most of this, consuming 14 glasses of wine each week is at the borderline for "at risk / heavy" drinking and could be an indication of alcohol use disorder. It also could lead to something like fatty liver disease over time. I suspect most doctors would advise OP to cut back on his drinking somewhat.

 

[Dalmore]

I’ll play the devil’s advocate. If you eat healthy and exercise regularly, how do get to be 10-20lbs overweight? The wine and heart attack comment doesn’t make sense either. Are you sure you understood the doctor completely. Do you have a printout of your blood numbers that you can use to research independently? I would guess there is more to the story than a bad doctor.

How? Calories in vs calories out. Eating real food is not the cure-all of being overweight. Portion control, wine, metabolism, etc all play a factor. Dr. was concerned that 2 glasses a day will affect my blood pressure for which I am high normal (130/80).

Don't have the blood work yet, doing that next week.

 

[Dalmore]

Although I generally agree with most of this, consuming 14 glasses of wine each week is at the borderline for "at risk / heavy" drinking and could be an indication of alcohol use disorder. It also could lead to something like fatty liver disease over time. I suspect most doctors would advise OP to cut back on his drinking somewhat.

If it were 14 glasses of wine each week on Saturday, I might agree with you.

 

[RAE]

Although I generally agree with most of this, consuming 14 glasses of wine each week is at the borderline for "at risk / heavy" drinking and could be an indication of alcohol use disorder. It also could lead to something like fatty liver disease over time. I suspect most doctors would advise OP to cut back on his drinking somewhat.

If the doctor were up on the latest research/recommendations (which is up to 1 glass of wine daily for women; 2 glasses for men), he/she would have said that 2 glasses daily is okay, but don't go too much higher than that. I highly doubt that consuming 2 glasses of wine daily would lead to fatty liver disease. Wine consumption (especially red wine) has all kinds of health benefits, not limited to protecting cardiovascular health. Here is one fairly recent paper about that:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165230/

 

[COcheesehead]

How? Calories in vs calories out. Eating real food is not the cure-all of being overweight. Portion control, wine, metabolism, etc all play a factor. Dr. was concerned that 2 glasses a day will affect my blood pressure for which I am high normal (130/80).

Don't have the blood work yet, doing that next week.

I think you probably don’t exercise as much as you think then. 10 to 20lbs overweight is a lot.

 

[aaronc879]

I have never understood the idea that retirement is based on age. You retire when you no longer have a financial need to work regardless of age. There is no "too young to retire". I would retire tomorrow at age 40 if I didn't need more money for a 40 year retirement. Retirement gives you a significant amount of extra free time. What you do with that free time will determine if it's good for your health or not.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks. My problem with sunshine is I’m a very white red head and I’m basically not only susceptible to burn but I also have an allergic reaction to too much sun. So I’m sure I’ve caused my own deficiency by slathering on sunscreen and wearing a hat but the alternative does seem worse. So I’m taking V-d supplements .... we shall see!

Glad you decided to. It really does matter.

 

[Midpack]

I have never understood the idea that retirement is based on age. You retire when you no longer have a financial need to work regardless of age. There is no "too young to retire". I would retire tomorrow at age 40 if I didn't need more money for a 40 year retirement.

So work is never a valid use of anyones time? Work provides no value to anyone other than a paycheck? That’s an absurd generalization. Like some others here, I retired quite a few years after reaching FI, I guess I’m a fool.

Some people prefer work over leisure even once they reach FI. If that’s not your preference, that’s your call, might not be the best choice for everyone.

And FI is a judgement call anyway...

 

[audreyh1]

I think you probably don’t exercise as much as you think then. 10 to 20lbs overweight is a lot.

It’s easy to exercise a lot and be still 10 to 20 lbs overweight or even more. That’s true for a lot of people. Usually due to a metabolic problem such as insulin resistance. Usually requires reducing carbs to get the extra pounds off.

 

[Dalmore]

I think you probably don’t exercise as much as you think then. 10 to 20lbs overweight is a lot.

I guess the 10 -20 lbs overweight is a personal observation. Based on the the Met Life body weight chart, a 6' 2"male should weigh 171 - 209 lbs. I am currently in the 200-205 range, but my like how I look when weigh closer to 185.

As for exercise, I target walking 35 min a day at 3.6 - 3.8, and I do Pilates twice a week. Of course I am still w*rking full time and w*rk occasionally gets in the way of what I would like to do.

 

[COcheesehead]

I guess the 10 -20 lbs overweight is a personal observation. Based on the the Met Life body weight chart, a 6' 2"male should weigh 171 - 209 lbs. I am currently in the 200-205 range, but my like how I look when weigh closer to 185.

As for exercise, I target walking 35 min a day at 3.6 - 3.8, and I do Pilates twice a week. Of course I am still w*rking full time and w*rk occasionally gets in the way of what I would like to do.

I suggest a tracking device to measure your activity. A 35 minute walk will burn about 125-150 calories. That’s a really light workout. Equal to about one glass of wine.
I am also a mid 50’s male. I average about 700-800 calories burned in my daily workouts, but I also make it a priority. I get up at 4:40am to get my workout in before work.

 

[harley]

I have to respectfully disagree. While it would be good to lose the 15 lbs., drinking 14 glasses of wine per week is not going to hurt you. And cholesterol is a pretty worthless indicator of heart disease risk........at least 50% of people that have major heart attacks have normal cholesterol. I would ignore cholesterol and look at the triglyceride/HDL ratio - if it is below 2.0, you're fairly low risk for heart disease; if it's below 1.0, you are very low risk. The OP should be able to lose the 15 lbs. (and improve his trig/HDL ratio) by eating a lower-carb diet for a while. He says he already eats mostly real foods, so I'm guessing he would not find it very difficult to just lower his carb consumption slightly (while continuing to consume healthy fats, meat/fish, and veggies), to see if that helps lose the weight. My guess is that it will.

And seriously, 10-15 lbs overweight has pretty much no affect on health. The overweight range on the charts is sort of like being pre-something (diabetes, hypertension, whatever). It's a range that indicates you might be moving toward obesity, which is where there actually are health issues. There have been a number of studies that show that being in the overweight range has pretty much the same mortality impact as being in the normal range, and better than being underweight. Sure, lose it if you want to, but I wouldn't sweat it.

Of course, if your blood pressure or blood sugar numbers are high, it's another issue. Then it would be a very good idea to decrease carbs and lose the weight.

 

[GenXguy]

I just had a physical after 4 years. I am mid 50s and targeting retirement for next year. I think my health to be pretty good for my age. No known issues or ailments. I exercise regularly and eat healthy, real foods and cut out as much sugar as I can. I do need to lose a 10-20 pounds, but that is about it.

Many people who are in good health, eat healthy food, and exercise get sick. There are no guarantees. Even though I've had minimal health care needs to date, I consider good health care coverage a must. I would have retired at 54 if it wasn't for the uncertainty with the ACA - lawsuit will drag out for a while.

Good luck on getting that cholesterol level down. There's no shame in taking statins.

Also, remember there's no safe amount of alcohol.

https://www.insider.com/theres-no-safe-amount-of-alcohol-stroke-risk-2019-4

 

[harley]

Once again, a study that doesn't say what the headline does. I don't think most people consider 4 drinks a day moderate. I do, but most don't. And using females as the control group for a study of men? That sounds like high end science to me. There's not a word in there about any affects of real moderate drinking, like one to two drinks per day, and maybe not every day.

And yes, there's no shame in taking statins, but there is danger. Everyone needs to make their own choice.

 

[JoeWras]

My doctor is 68 and never plans to retire, so yeah, he gave me the same line about being too young and how men who retire die.

He loves his job. Good for him. I may have to find a new one if he really wants to work until he dies. My dad's doctor got weird after age 75 or so. Should not have been practicing medicine.