Retire Early If You Can

Unless you are someone who needs to be working every day or at least 5- 9 to 5s a week you should retire early sometime between 50 and 55. Even 45 might be better. The reason for this is that it takes some getting used to to be totally free without a job you go to or do every day.

So often people like my father who retired in 1980 at age 65 was gone by 69 in 1985 partly because he could not adjust to retirement. People whose identity is their job or company position don't usually do well in retirement. However, people who are equally happy not working or working do just fine retired. And the happiest of all are the ones that hated working all those years.

However, retirement is not all its cracked up to be. For example, imagine an eternal summer or eternal winter or spring vacation. Think back on what your summers were like after you got out of school in summer for summer vacation. Now imagine this summer vacation never ends, literally. If this sounds like  good thing then you are in luck. If it doesn't maybe you might want to find some work you can do after you retire like a small business of some kind you can run, mail order or even with a shop in a storefront.

However, retiring early by 55 is very useful just in the transition time you have at an early enough age so you can actually successfully adapt to everything you are going to have to.

I can honestly say I'm happier since I was forced to retire because of an almost fatal heart virus when I was 50 (I'm now 62) in 1998.(Happier than at any time since I was in my thirties.) So that means that at 62 I have already been retired for 12 years. I have found in meeting many retired people that those who retire by 50 to 55 often live into their late 80s or 90s because they then have the time at a young enough age to successfully adapt to their new lives. Another thing to get prepared for is to get things like colonoscopies and PSA tests and other medical tests so you don't just drop dead accidently from no preventative maintenance medically. But once you get into the habit of medical preventative maintenance you then likely can live into your 80s or 90s. It is said that the average child growing up now can expect to live until 85. This doesn't mean that no one dies. It just means that all of us who take good care of ourselves can expect to live quite a long time. So get prepared so you can really have fun in your retirement!

So, first of all you have to have enough money to count on when you retire and a place to live that you can afford ongoing.  However, once all that is done you can retire and have the time of your life.