Lots of questions still to reach goal.

[Byage55]

I guess this is the board to introduce yourself but not to post lengthy questions. As my name says I want to retire by age 55. I'm sure this is too long for some and too early for others but I think 55 will be good for me. Obviously, if I have a choice to retire earlier I will do so.

Anyway I am new here but have posted on another place before but I thought it would be wise to check in somewhere else to make sure advice beign thrown out is good or not.

[brewer12345]

Welcome, byage.

[yakers]

My long planned retirement age was 55 which is reasonable as the is the earliest retirement age I could take under the (old) Federal civil service structure. I find myself adding a couple years as 1) my youngest son just started college and I want to know I can cover his costs 2) this is the best pay of my career 3) I am building up my retirement and 4) I like my work, maybe not more than other things I could do in retirement but I actually like what I do and achieving 'financial independence' a couple years back assures I will never work for a jerk again as I had to do twice in my career.

Work life just gets better when you hit FI and working is a choice.

[Donzo]

Welcome byage55 -- I also planned on getting out of megacorp at age 55 - w/ all the bennies. But woke up and realized that my job had become toxic for me, w/ all the travel, mind numbing conference calls and meetings, more and more responsibility(read even more travel and more meetings!)
I crunched numbers and found I could jump - at 49. Hey, if you like your work stay at it...I certainly could have retired in a more "cushy" manner had I stayed on til 55. I am afraid that I might not have made it....who knows?
Ya gotta do whats right for you. You have found the right forum, you will get all "angles" concerning ER here.

[SteveR]

Welcome Byage55. The forums have a lot of detailed information and prior posts on your selected areas of interest can be found using the Search function. Read and evaluate. Take what works for you and leave the "junk" behind. Like any public forum...there is a ton of both.

I retired at 50 but decided to work for another 5 years before my "final" retirement. I did so just prior to age 55 this year and have not looked back. I planned on an early retirement near age 55 for over 20 years so I could make it happen. I did it after starting out very deep in debt from a divorce. 15 years later I was FI (financially independent) but chose to work a few more years for personal reasons. The nest egg has hit some bumps this year but I am not concerned about the short term. I am a long term investor and my planning horizon is years out so unless the whole world market tanks I won't be eating cat food in my 90's.

Good luck and again, welcome to the forum. We are glad you found us.