Early Retirement at 57

Its my plan too (but far away yet), go for it, the figures sound good.

If you can afford it at all just go for it. I did it at 54 and have never looked back. There's a whole new life/world out there beyond work. Mortgage cleared, kids raised and a guaranteed income? Why not?

Generally if you think it feels right then you should do it.

How is your health and how long do you expect to live?

E.g. I'm 45 with a Vo2 max of 67. This is the single biggest predictor of longevity so I need to think about keeping myself till mid 90s if I maintain my healthy habits.

I feel like I need 2m and can't retire before 60

Go for it. If my daughter didn't have to go to a private school I'd be out the door at 57. Similar type of income but smaller lump sum.... probably have to slog on to 59/60.

Should have had my kids younger.. Finding the grind harder in my 50's for sure.

Financially you seem well set up.

Contentment is another issue.

Not saying you need to be one of those busy- busy retirees, you may be happy alone on the side of a mountain.

doesn’t sound like a great idea to me, even if you got the 24k annuity, that may be a little optimistic, that’s not a lot of money, your wife isn’t earning a huge amount either assuming you still want to light & heat your home, fix / replace things when they break, take a holiday, have your bins emptied etc etc have you totted up all your non kid related monthly outgoings & what you’ll be left with?

You’ll be dipping into your 150k, doubt if you’ll have much if any left by the time your 66 which is still young, unless your idea of retirement is standing & staring out the window,

Quit the stress filled job for a less stressful full or part time one I’d suggest

I'm not denying your experience but as someone who retired early I have to say my experience, and that of my old work mates or family, has been the exact opposite.

Having retired early from the day job of 40 years, I’d agree that it’s great not to have the daily grind.

However, if there’s one thing I’ve come to realise, it’s that you need to remain relevant - in whatever form that works for you.

The “every day’s a holiday “ mindset doesn’t last long and you need to have a plan for maintaining body, mind and soul.

I would say if you have any untreated mental health problems unrelated to work, then you need to start to address these before you retire, otherwise you'll end up facing your demons with no work to distract you.

As regards taking 25% of your pension, presumably it's a PRSA type? I thought you had to nominate your retirement age when setting this up? That you can't just choose when it suits you. But maybe I'm wrong on that.

For ourselves, I think I'll be taking in income long after 65. All very well with a few bob from PRSA and state pension but living is getting more expensive all the time. How's your health insurance OP?

FActor in cost of health insurance if your employer is paying that now. That can be a massive new bill if you retire and need to pay it yourself. Often company health insurance covers both persons and it can be the difference between waiting years for a scan and a scan in a couple of weeks.

I'll be 57 this year and am effectively "retired" for the last twenty years; still not short of things to fill my time! :D As I had/have no pension to count on, I do a bit of intermittent salaried work, about 16 weeks a year, but I find it's a struggle to fit that into my schedule of more interesting/useful/productive activities.

Further to what several others have said, and like with many other changes of life, what's most important is that you're not "running away" from your current situation, but "running towards" something else, otherwise you will end up creating and/or replicating many of the negative aspects of the present. It's also really important that both partners in the relationship are in complete agreement about the how and when the situation changes.

As for the financial side, one of the great advantages of being "retired" is that you're no longer tied into spending money because money has to be spent - provided you don't simply swap one costly habit for another. E.g. you'll be spending a certain amount on travel for your weekly commute, as well as trips to the shops, social and sporting events, weekends away, etc.

If you've "all the time in the world" it'd be easy to fall into the habit of jumping into the car and heading off to the hardware for that one piece of moulding you need to finish the job, or down to the shops for that one ingredient you're missing for tonight's dinner, or half way across the country to pick up that great bargain you found on DoneDeal … when you could just as easily put off each of those journeys, do them all in a single trip over the course of a long day and save yourself the cost and time of several km's worth of driving. Similarly, if you pace yourself in your purchases, you can save a lot on equipment and materials by having a permanent wish-list and then wait for the product to become available at the right price.

that’s not how pensions work, re-read his post

You can draw your private pension at 50.

A financial planner will sort that out for you. You cant get the OAP til 66.

I forgot to add this link in my earlier post. Might want to give it a look if you are on the fence.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DOuDCDp9Z9Y4&ved=2ahUKEwirzIvxj7WFAxXnQEEAHSCYDr8QtwJ6BAgUEAI&usg=AOvVaw1uIsPI6joBarjnneqJ3EBl

unless I’m misunderstanding, he doesn’t mention any other savings just a potential pension pot of 600k & his wife earns 30k

If he retires & takes the 150k tax free he’s got 150k in cash plus buys an annuity or ARF with the remaining pension pot of 450k, the annuity will be in or around 22/24k as he says (4/5%of 450k)

So he’s going from paid employment of ? to let’s say an income of 2k a month & 150k savings in the bank.

Even he he was very disciplined & took 10k of his 150k every year to bump his monthly by 800 a month until his state pension kicks in, his 150k would be gone in ten years & all he’d have then is the state pension from 66

There are loads of potential future costs, they could both live until their mid eighties or longer, as mentioned, health insurance, car ownership if they have one plus just the day to day costs of living & home ownership before you look at leisure / travel & other nice stuff

I’ve no problem with him doing it, just saying do your sums & if you’re happy with the lifestyle that income will give you and it suits you, grand but I’d recommend getting proper professional advice too

4% gross or net?

Revolut offer >5% gross but it’s only ~2.4% net…. Big difference!

I will look at the video later, my gut tells me though that by 66 the 150k could well be gone & yes replaced by the state pension at 66

57 is very young to be restricting your income to 34k for 9/10 years or potentially a lot longer imo assuming he’s coming from a decent higher salary & that will be an adjustment in itself & factor in inflation too & yes it’s hard to calculate & everyone is different, personally I hope to be gone Jan-March to warmer weather