Key Ages for Early Retirement

[Midpack]

I was planning on asking the group here to help me build a table of retirement milestones, and then while reading the new Bogleheads Retirement book, there was a basic table on pg 204 (plus my unique adds and updates in red)! But are there any other significant milestones you can add to help me complete the table? If nothing else, I can put the milestones in Outlook (at work) for laughs...

Yr turning Age 50	Catch-up provisions allow additional funding of IRAs and 401k plans
Age 55	May be able to withdraw 401k funds if still with employer until age 55
Age 56	Eligible for 75% of (very small) MegaCorp pension
Age 59½	Can withdraw earnings from IRA without penalty
Age 61	Eligible for 100% of (very small) MegaCorp pension
Age 62	Eligible for early Social Security benefits
Age 65	Medicare becomes available
Age 65	Able to withdraw from HSA for non-medical purposes without penalty (taxes only)
Age 66	Full SS retirement benefits for those born before 1955
Age 67	Full SS benefits for those born in 1960 or later
Age 70	Should start taking SS benefits (124-132% of full), as they stop increasing beyond age 70
Age 70½	Required minimum distributions (RMDs) begin for traditional IRA and 401k accounts
Age 108	"End of Plan"
Never	Mandatory distributions from Roth IRA or Roth 401k accounts

 

[ziggy29]

You can add (for those people for whom it's relevant):

Age 65: Able to withdraw from HSA for non-medical purposes without penalty (taxes only)

 

[LOL!]

The first one labeled age 50, is really age 49 for many folks. As long as you are age 50 on 12/31/2xxx you can use those catch-up provisions.

My spouse has a birthday late in the year. If she had not been aware that she was able to use the catch-up while still only age 49, then she would not have been able to get that extra $5,000 out of her paychecks by year-end. Since she was aware, she set her contribution rate starting in the beginning of the year.

 

[LOL!]

Also I think non-spousal inherited Roth IRAs do have mandatory RMDs. This seems to fly under the radar as well.

 

[kyounge1956]

Maybe another relevant age to add to this list is one's life expectancy, based on one of those "how long will you live" quizzes, or just an educated guess based on how long your parents and other relatives lived.

 

[W2R]

Maybe another relevant age to add to this list is one's life expectancy, based on one of those "how long will you live" quizzes, or just an educated guess based on how long your parents and other relatives lived.

Since Midpack plans to put these milestone dates into his Outlook calendar, an entry of "DEATH" might be a little discouraging....

 

[LOL!]

Maybe another relevant age to add to this list is one's life expectancy, ...

Age 84

You die.

 

[unclemick]

Age 84 You die.

84.6 for me. Let's not rush things.



heh heh heh -

 

[Midpack]

LOL. I actually thought about "death" as a joke, but thought it might offend some of our more sensitive audience members.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Age 84

You die.

LOL. I actually thought about "death" as a joke, but thought it might offend some of our more sensitive audience members.

dibs on age 84, take my life, please. Woody Allen made a career out of death humor.

 

[Dudester]

I retired from the Boeing Company. A few years ago, they published a chart that showed how many people retired from Boeing at various ages. The 4 most popular ages for retirement were/are 55, 60, 62, and 65. I will limit myself to just these 4 because I can account for why people retired at these ages. I have no idea why people retired at other ages other than it was time to get out of Dodge.

The 55 and 60 ages are probably related to the way Boeing's former defined benefit retirement plan worked (at least as I understand it). Supposedly, you could retire at any age provided that you had vested in the retirement plan (which took 5 years if I remember correctly). HOWEVER, if you retired before 55, you only received a small fraction of what you were otherwise entitled to. At age 60, you got 90% of what you were entitled to (which was a dramatic increase compared to the percentage for younger people). This percentage increased year by year until it reached 100% at year 60.

62 is of course the first year for SS. For Boeing, this is far and away the most popular age for retirement.

65 is the traditional retirement age.

The order in popularity for the top 4 is 62, 55, 60, 65.

 

[Midpack]

62 is of course the first year for SS. For Boeing, this is far and away the most popular age for retirement.

The order in popularity for the top 4 is 62, 55, 60, 65.

Interesting. I'd never stopped to think about it, but matches with what I've seen first hand too. My last two retirees were indeed 62...

 

[W2R]

Interesting. I'd never stopped to think about it, but matches with what I've seen first hand too. My last two retirees were indeed 62...

Personally, I think the ideal retirement age is 61 years, 5 months, and 1 day...

 

[Spanky]

Personally, I think the ideal retirement age is 61 years, 5 months, and 1 day...

Short timer -- Good luck.

 

[freebird5825]

Here's a new row...

Pre-55: Do a Johnny Paycheck move if FI

 

[kyounge1956]

Since Midpack plans to put these milestone dates into his Outlook calendar, an entry of "DEATH" might be a little discouraging....

Yeah, I can see where sensitive individuals might be disconcerted by "DEATH" popping up on the day's "to do" list!

However, mightn't it be a good idea to put an entry in the calendar, say, a year or so before the date you planned your portfolio to last until, for "Portfolio Review & Revamping"? If at that point you are still healthy, and it looks like you could outlive your money, perhaps it would be advisable to switch some assets over to (dare I say it?) some sort of annuity.

 

[W2R]

Yeah, I can see where sensitive individuals might be disconcerted by "DEATH" popping up on the day's "to do" list!

However, mightn't it be a good idea to put an entry in the calendar, say, a year or so before the date you planned your portfolio to last until, for "Portfolio Review & Revamping"? If at that point you are still healthy, and it looks like you could outlive your money, perhaps it would be advisable to switch some assets over to (dare I say it?) some sort of annuity.

That's a good idea.

I am planning to review and revamp my portfolio at age 85, because sometimes people in my family live to be over 100. If I should happen to live to 85, extreme longevity would be more probable than it is presently. Presently my financial plan assumes death at 95.

I'm not going to put it in my Outlook calendar, though! "DIE TODAY!"

 

[Nords]

Since Midpack plans to put these milestone dates into his Outlook calendar, an entry of "DEATH" might be a little discouraging....

LOL. I actually thought about "death" as a joke, but thought it might offend some of our more sensitive audience members.

Yeah, I can see where sensitive individuals might be disconcerted by "DEATH" popping up on the day's "to do" list!

I'm not going to put it in my Outlook calendar, though! "DIE TODAY!"

It'll keep everyone else from adding meeting requests to your Outlook calendar for that day...

 

[kyounge1956]

That's a good idea.

I am planning to review and revamp my portfolio at age 85, because sometimes people in my family live to be over 100. If I should happen to live to 85, extreme longevity would be more probable than it is presently. Presently my financial plan assumes death at 95.

I'm not going to put it in my Outlook calendar, though! "DIE TODAY!"

My mom said she was told something along those lines when she had to start taking her RMD's at age 70-1/2. Once you're past 65 or so, the older you get, the tougher you get. I guess the idea is if you were going to die from heart disease or stroke or cancer, you'd have done it already. If you aren't going to die from one of those, we'll have to wait until you just plumb wear out, and if you change your oil & filters regular, that could take another 20 years or so.

Don't I remember hearing somewhere that over 85's are the fastest growing age group in the population?

 

[kyounge1956]

That's a good idea.

I am planning to review and revamp my portfolio at age 85, because sometimes people in my family live to be over 100. If I should happen to live to 85, extreme longevity would be more probable than it is presently. Presently my financial plan assumes death at 95.

I'm not going to put it in my Outlook calendar, though! "DIE TODAY!"

So Midpack, just out of curiosity, if your financial plan assumes death at 95, what is "end of plan" at age 108? Are you expecting it to take 13 years to get your estate through probate, or what?

 

[Midpack]

So Midpack, just out of curiosity, if your financial plan assumes death at 95, what is "end of plan" at age 108? Are you expecting it to take 13 years to get your estate through probate, or what?

95 was someone else...

 

[easysurfer]

Here's a new row...

Pre-55: Do a Johnny Paycheck move if FI

Freebird,

The "Johnny Paycheck move" . I like and can identify with that one.


Easysurfer

 

[kyounge1956]

95 was someone else...

woops

 

[Htown Harry]

Candidates for the accumulation phase:

• 14 +/- (first babysitting or mowing lawns job): has earned income, eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA
• 18: eligible to legally establish a business and start SEP IRA
• 18+: Upon full-time status at Megacorp, eligible to contribute to a 401k, 457b or other tax-deferred define contribution plan

 

[Meadbh]

I would add three dates:

1. RE date minus five years: Start of Early Retirement Risk period. Big losses in your portfolio can significantly impact its longevity from now till #2. This would be a good time to build a liquid cushion. (If you want to call it a bucket, fine!)
2. RE date plus five years. End of Early Retirement Risk period. Ideally, you have been living on liquid assets for the past five years and have not yet had to sell equities. Now you can start.
3. Age 70 (or so). Reevaluate the portfolio and your EDD (expected date of death). Will it be sustainable? If not, consider an annuity.

Of course, most of us will be doing more frequent checkups!