Funny how I found this forum

RamStride

Dryer sheet aficionado
Joined
Dec 15, 2024
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Location
Florida
Hi everyone. Just saying hi and to mention how I found the forum.

So, I have started to seriously think about retirement for about 2 years (been prepping with EXCEL for 25 years) and now I am looking at 5 months until the target date. At 56 and a handful of months I am double-guessing if that is too young to retire. However, these days I find myself thinking more about time rather than $ balances. In my quest to ease my mind I just searched the internet for 'is retiring at 57 a bad idea' and voila, here I am. :greetings10:

I am looking forward to read your posts and browse past posts in an attempt to find information that may serve me well. See you all online....
 
Funny thing, I don’t remember how I found this forum…but I’m glad I did. I assume I can’t see my earliest posts.
 
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I found this forum from the City Data retirement forum. Someone there mentioned the Early retirement forum. (Mathjak I believe…) and I immediately took a look and so glad I did! I retired at 59 (two whole weeks ago…!!😃😃) welcome
 
Welcome! I learned about this forum on another personal finance forum. I retired at 59. If I could have done it at 56, I absolutely would have. Definitely not too young. Get out as soon as you are able to get out.
 
I had been retired a few years and then stumbled upon FireCalc somehow. From there, there was a link to here.

I was expecting to find a lot of super wealthy folks and perhaps a few internet billionaires. A bit of a surprise to find a bunch of (fairly) normal, regular, honest people who are incredibly helpful and equally knowledgeable.

Best site on the internet by far, mostly due to the moderators.
 
You will be getting a biased viewpoint here, RS, but you will be happier for it. One early post of mine, while still working, was that I had X years of savings, and remember the many "what are you waiting for?" responses. Out at 54 and never looked back.
 
I found this place after I turned in my resignation at age 56. That was 11 years ago and I have not missed anything .
 
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You will be getting a biased viewpoint here,
I'd prefer to view it as an experienced viewpoint. Who better to talk to about early retirement than early retirees? If you ask a bunch of typical Americans about retiring at 56 (or younger) they'll tell you all of the reasons why it's "impossible". I'd rather talk to a bunch of people who have actually done it successfully who can help me take that leap.
 
Welcome to the forum. Retired at 57. The water is fine. The discovery of this forum influenced my retirement decision.
 
The discovery of this forum influenced my retirement decision.
The fine folks here definitely helped firm up my decision by reviewing my numbers and asking a lot of great questions to make sure I had thought everything through.
 
Welcome to the forum. You're in friendly area for 56 year old retirement. I retired 3 years earlier at 53. If the numbers say you're good, then jump into retirement.
 
Retired for a few years before I found this site. What this site has done for us has been tremendous. Because of this site, we left Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and now we DIY. We have paid about $200K in management fees between Fidelity (early on) and then Merrill Lynch. We love having full control of our funds, sell when we need money, without needing to ask FA to send us money.
 
Welcome! If you're financially and emotionally ready to retire, go for it! Many of us here who are ER'd did have doubts, but after ER, those doubts were eased. I ER'd at 55, and wish I had done it 5 years earlier! "Come on in, the water's fine." (sorry for not giving credit to the originator of this phrase, but I've read it here many times and don't know who it is).
 
Welcome to the forum. I retired at 56. There is a recent poll on this forum - most of us retired at 56-60.
 
Retired at 56. Now in my 21st year. I recommend it.
 
The only reason retiring at 57 is a bad idea is if at 57 you have insufficient assets/unearned income to cover your expenses if or your entire identity is wrapped up in your professional career with nothing to retire to. Applies to all ages.
 
I RE'd at 57, but could have at 56.
 
Retired from megacorp at 49. Decided I needed to work independently for 5 more years. Got divorced at age 52 then needed to work longer. Finally pulled the pin at 60, 22 years ago. Entered BTD phase in 2020:and really enjoying life now.
 
Hi everyone. Just saying hi and to mention how I found the forum.
Welcome. You'll find a lot of commonality, support and very good advice here.

I found the place simply searching for "early retirement websites" because like many, I didn't know if I was too young, had enough money, planned correctly, and all the other things that go into it. You're in a good spot here and again, welcome.
 
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