Retire by 40, 45, 50

I would retire tomorrow if I could.
I used to enjoy working until maybe half way through my thirties. Its lost its shine.
I would rather do anything than work. I just hate being at someone elses beck and call all the time to earn a crust.

biko wrote: »

Not sure if want to retire at 50. Seems like an awful lot of living left to do and nothing to do every day.

_Brian wrote: »

There’s a whole life of stuff to do that’s not work related.

Yer both right, but IMHO I think one needs a mission in life to get out of bed.
Defo there is a lot of things to do on the bucket list, and life is probably too short for many of them. For me I think taking a hobby to a part time working could help pay for hobby and keep a few dollars coming in besides.

Xiomara Crashing Tiling wrote: »

I’d love to retire from working off farm in my 50’s but doubt it will be feasible, retiring from work for me though will mean going full time farming rather than doing it on the side while also working and I’ll never retire from the farming.

Farming can be hard and healthy at the same time. As your body slows down you may not be capable of doing the physical tasks you used to... but if you stop doing physical tasks - then the body really slows down and loses muscle. You probably have the right idea to maintain healthy into old age....

I'm in my early 40s and have been thinking a lot about saving, investing and early retirement for approx 10 years. Several things triggered this - illness and death of family members, the recession, problems in work, finding websites such as Earlyretirementextreme.

The coronavirus situation has only made me even more aware of my own mortality. Life is quite short and YOLO, some react to this by splurging and living paycheque to paycheque, others like me save hard with the aim of retiring as soon as possible. As none of us can predict the future and when exactly we will die, we can never know the right approach

From about the age of 23 to 33, I saved a lot but didn't do it consciously or as part of some big plan, it just seemed to happen naturally.

In terms of my pension I can retire at age 50 with a very small defined benefit pension of about 150 euro per week at current rates. If I combine this with savings and income from investments I should have enough for a modest lifestyle.

As for how you get into a situation where you can retire early, luck and circumstances play a big part. I had the good luck to inherit both money and a savings mindset from my parents. The money may not have been a huge amount but combined with the mindset was significant.

They had inherited similar from their parents.

As a result, they never had any debt (not even mortgage) and neither will I.

On circumstances - you may end up in a situation that was not of your choosing and had downsides but helped your finances e.g. not doing well with women and not having children and ending up as a middle aged bachelor with a very healthy bank balance.

Another point I want to make is how decisions, mistakes, events, choices from when you were still a teenager affect your future. This could be anything from an unplanned pregnancy to being convicted of a crime but I'm mainly thinking about the leaving cert here. People say that it doesn't matter and that you can subsequently do anything you want in life. Only partially true, we all have a limited amount of time, money and energy and a ship can easily sail. In my case, IF I had put some different choices on my CAO form and/or IF I had put in more work and turned a couple of my LC A2s into A1s, I would have earned several multiples more money in my career.

Ultimately, I suppose most of us are slaves to the money - then we die.

_Brian wrote: »

Few years shy of 50 myself. I changed to a lower paid job with huge flexibility and a great boss.

About half my previous salary where I worked in a MN like a slave 24/7/365 rotating 12.5hr shifts and 1.5hr commute each way, did that for 13 years.

I only go into the office once every two/three weeks and set my own schedule to meet clients.. After this I’ll be making a case to drop my desk in the office altogether and 100% work from home.

There’s no pension but I’ll have a small pension from previous role and state contributory when the time comes.

Until then it’s easy going for me. Been home during this crisis on 100% wages for about 5% workload.

Take holidays when I need them flexible hours no KPIs to meet no annual reviews bullshiit or anything. Any bad weather or warnings i stay off the road and do paperwork at home

It’s as close to retirement as I’ll need for a while.

Herself is thinking of early retirement from HSE after current fiasco is over. She could to locum work or contract work for pocket money.

We have a modest mortgage still but that covers two houses and selling one would easily cover it. But we will keep them on as gifts for our kids.

Can I ask what you do - would love something like that for himself or myself! Presume you live more rural and don't have a lot of kids.

I'd like to think that there will still be a state pension by the time I retire(27 now). I think pensions might be a thing of the past by then and they will become privatised in the mean time.

Work part-time from you 50s on it the best thing ever, then a gradual wind down I am not sure going from full-time work one week to retiring the next is a great idea.

Retirement will be very different in modern society. If you're sitting in Spain for example and you've spent too much this week you can go on clickworker and do some proof reading for a tenner an hour.

That I think is super. Mindless easy work for a couple of hours as and when you need it

bubblypop wrote: »

Depends on the person.... Personally I don't need much. I would think 250 a week would be fine.
Not sure exactly how much my pension will be but around 300ish a week? Plus gratuity on retirement.
Roll on 54!!

You have been paying in to your pension since the age of 14?

LuasSimon wrote: »

Have walked into my local cemetery near me as part of my daily walk in these covid times , it shocks me how many people i knew buried there who were in their 50s and 60s when they passed away. Really makes me question how anyone could work until 67/68 and chances are most will only have 5-10 years of life left to enjoy at retirement and probably not jumping out of their skin to enjoy it.

60 years of age we should all finish working even if it means welfare for a few years until pensions kick in. If you hate your job 55 should be get out time. Most people will have worked for 35 years at that stage .

My father worked hard physical jobs all his life. Retired at 66 and was delighted to retire, brought us out for dinner as a celebration. He died suddenly that year having drawn just 7 months of his pension.

I have a friend who worked on, the company tried to retire him at 65 but there was an omission in his contract and no retirement age was mentioned. He insisted in working on and only retired aged 74 even though his wife had retired 20 years earlier.

Just before he retired he said to me that he regretted working on so late as his health was slipping.

Keyzer wrote: »

I don't understand your mentality - why would you píss away everything, then die and leave your kids nothing.

I plan to leave my kids the house when I sail off into the sunset, hopefully we'll have the mortgage settled by then.

Their inheritance will provide them with enough to pay off a sizable chunk of their own mortgages thus making life a bit easier for them. And they can pay it forward for their own kids, when the time comes.

Some people like to leave something for their kids. Other like to spend it themselves. Just different points of view. Each to his own. Live and let live I say.

I'm a civil servant so will probably stay close enough to the retirement age 67/68 but from around 60 I plan on reducing days and taking term time off so I'll still have some wages coming in. I'll have nearer to 50 than 40 years one but the state pensions is included in my occupational pension so there'll be a wait for that.

So today what do people reckon would do them during their retirement.
For me €500 per week would be loads.