Early retirement refers to the practice of retiring from work before the age at which one is eligible to receive full retirement benefits. This is typically earlier than the age of 65, which is the age at which most people become eligible for Social Security benefits in the United States.
Showing 50 results of 287
Thinking of calling it quits in your late 50s or early 60s? Before you retire early, see if you can answer these three important questions.
Context: USA couple. We plan to retire at around 60 years old, with no employer paid health care after that date. But, having been employed in tech, I've been a reasonably high earner in a low cost of...
Some might feel this is a ridiculous premise, but it actually could make sense to use airline points to manage risk in early retirement. The post Using Airline Points to Manage Sequence of Returns Ris...
In the world of very early retirement, we tend to ignore one of the most important things for normal retirees: the Social Security program. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great thing for the 73 million pe...
Joe Anderson, CFP® and Big Al Clopine, CPA spitball on whether a popular early retirement strategy could actually blow up your financial plan, today on Your Money, Your Wealth® podcast number 577. Red...
When you first start putting money into the stock market, your investment accounts may not seem to be that valuable. But over time, those accounts may very well be the lifeblood of your entire financi...
As someone who's been writing about FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) since 2009 and actually leaving full-time work for good in 2012, it's been quite an interesting ride. For the most part, ...
Joe Anderson, CFP® and Big Al Clopine, CPA spitball on how to build your own retirement AND support your kids financially, today on Your Money, Your Wealth® podcast number 575. "Lloyd and Diane" in Mo...
Most people think retirement begins the day they turn in their notice. In reality, retirement begins much earlier than that. It begins the moment you stop depending on your employer for everything. In...
“Only live off the dividends. Never touch the principal.” It sounds responsible. It feels safe. It may be one of the riskiest retirement strategies out there. In this episode, James breaks down why bu...
Everyone thinks retirement is a permanent vacation. For the first few months, it might feel that way. Then something shifts. The novelty fades. Tuesdays start to feel like Saturdays. The structure tha...
One of the biggest fears workers have about retirement is losing their sense of purpose. That fear is not unfounded. It is one of the negatives of early retirement nobody likes talking about. For the ...
Joe Anderson, CFP® and Big Al Clopine, CPA focus on Social Security claiming strategies as part of the retirement spitballs, today on Your Money, Your Wealth® podcast number 574. Bijou Plutus and her ...
Can you retire early if you are a parent and don’t have a six-figure salary? It’s a question the FIRE community gets often. Well, today we’re going to meet a reader who worked as a librarian, has a to...
I always thought I could budget $1,000 for healthcare in early retirement and be totally fine. Turns out that was nowhere close to true. The post The Health Insurance Dilemma of Early Retirement appea...
Juan and Mary in Brooklyn are 49 and 48 with $2.2 million saved. Can Juan afford to retire early, or just walk away if he gets fired? And if they get divorced, yikes - but does the math still work? Th...
Hey everyone! Have you seen Alysa Liu’s Gold medal cinching performance at the Olympics? It was carefree, joyous, and inspirational. She glided over the ice and won the heart of ... Read more The post...
Roger Whitney dives into practical strategies for navigating health care before Medicare, sharing insights from retirees, survey results, and listener questions. Together they explore real-world solut...
My life is changing fast and I’m having a hard time keeping up. Just a short recap: My mother passed away late August 2025. In November, I drove across the country to have a funeral service (it was at...
In this episode, James walks through four of the most common income strategies retirees consider today and why many people are still using outdated math for a 2026 retirement. The question is not just...
If you plan to punch the clock for the final time decades before "standard" retirement age, you need a financial strategy that goes beyond just saving. Joe Anderson, CFP® and Big Al Clopine, CPA spitb...
Retiring at 55 is not just retiring ten years earlier. It changes the entire math of your life. From 55 to 65, expenses are often at their highest. You are covering healthcare before Medicare, traveli...
My wife (62) and I are starting to think seriously about our next steps and would really value some outside perspective. I’m turning 60 this year. We’re mortgage-free and have around £250,000 in savin...
Joe and Big Al spitball two sides of the retirement equation, today on Your Money, Your Wealth® podcast number 570. Daniel in Texas is 40 and worrying about how to support Mom and Dad if their money r...
The final five years before retirement are not maintenance mode. They are leverage years. Small decisions made here can outweigh the previous twenty years of saving and investing. In this episode, Jam...
As the Retirement Plan Live case study continues, Roger Whitney helps Henry and Lucy articulate what they want their FIRE retirement to actually look like—starting with values, dreaming without constr...
I was listening to a recent podcast with Morgan Housel. I have a lot of respect for Morgan, so was disappointed to hear him say this: Everyone I know who retired early has gone back to work. My experi...
Most retirees who make this mistake aren’t reckless. They’re careful. They’re doing what they believe is responsible, and that’s what makes it so painful to see when it backfires. James explains why t...
A $10 million retirement is often imagined as the finish line — complete freedom, unlimited spending, and no financial stress. The reality is more complex. James walks through what an eight-figure ret...
Retiring after age 65 changes the math and the priorities. You have fewer high-energy years, shorter tax planning windows, and RMDs much closer than most people realize. But you also often have higher...
Christian thought he was ready for retirement. He just didn’t realize how heavy the weight had been until he finally set it down. After more than 30 years in a high-stress, always-on role at a global ...
As the new year begins, Roger Whitney launches a new Retirement Plan Live case study, introducing Henry and Lucy, a couple in their mid-40s pursuing Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE). Rog...
Sequence of returns — experiencing losses early on — can quickly deplete your savings, highlighting the need for strategies that prioritize income stability.
How shifting from "Retiring Early" to "Living Early" allows child-free adults to enjoy their wealth while they’re still young enough to use it.
Roth conversions can save thousands in taxes, but they can also trigger Medicare IRMAA surcharges that quietly add up to more than $5,000 a year. Most retirees never see it coming, because the rules f...
Jeremy Keil explores 7 money moves you can consider before the new year to lower your taxes and keep more of your money in retirement. Every December, people scramble to finish holiday shopping, trave...
Steve spent more than two decades building video games, working with a team that felt more like family than coworkers. By all measures, he loved his work. But a heart attack in 2021 changed everything...
Most retirement advice quietly assumes you have a partner: two incomes, two Social Security checks, someone to split expenses with, someone to catch the slack if something goes wrong. But for singles,...
Retiring at 50 sounds bold, almost unthinkable for most people, but for Kent, it was the only decision that made sense once life, loss, and perspective pushed everything into focus. In this conversati...
Think waiting until 70 is the gold standard for Social Security? We dig into the real math behind delayed retirement credits and the hidden trade-offs that rarely make it into the headlines. Drawing o...
Retiring with a pension changes everything about your retirement math. Most people think about retirement in terms of net worth—how close they are to a million, two million, or more. But if you have a...
Two stories today and then two thoughts… Story 1: Discovering FI (Telling The World!) I learned that I could retire early in October of 2012. I was having an awful time at work and put this int...
In this episode of Retirement Reality, Darren shares what it’s really like to walk away from work at 54 and why it still feels surreal. After decades of saving, hitting his number, and paying of...
Joe Anderson, CFP® and Big Al Clopine, CPA spitball withdrawal strategies, Roth conversion timing, and saving priorities for every stage of life, today on Your Money, Your Wealth® podcast numb...
A single misunderstanding about Social Security spousal benefits can cost couples thousands over retirement. This episode unpacks the real math behind how Social Security treats spouses, ex-spouses, a...
What if the “smart” money choice isn’t the choice that builds your best life? This Root Talks episode starts with a bucket-list moment for James—throwing the first pitch at a P...
Those “3x by 40, 6x by 50, 10x by 67” charts feel official—until your life doesn’t match the average. In this episode, James shows why age-based savings benchmarks miss the mar...
In this episode of Retirement Reality, meet Donovan, a 55-year-old retiree who turned an unexpected career exit into an opportunity for freedom, reflection, and new purpose. Donovan shares how one def...
I retired at 42. That was four years ago. A reader from my (forever free) newsletter recently asked me: “What do your income streams look like?” It’s a fair question. Most people exp...
Sometimes life throws curveballs, and you may end up retiring earlier than planned. In this episode, we dive into JP Morgan's data on why people retire earlier than expected and discuss how to prepare...