Early Retirement

Living on Dividends in Early Retirement

Dividends are a popular source of income in retirement. We rely on them for a part of our annual living expenses...

How to Plan for an Early Retirement

Hint: It’s a little different than the usual retirement planning. When you want to retire early, there are a few extra considerations you need to think through....

The 10 Most Important Lessons After Retiring Early 10 Years Ago | Personal Capital

For those thinking about retiring early, taking a long sabbatical, or doing something completely new, this article is for you....

How I Arrived at Feeling Confident in Retiring Early | Personal Capital

I’m 41 years old and retired. Here's how I became confident enough to join the "Great Resignation" and resign....

What Is Considered Early Retirement Age? | Personal Capital

The common definition of early retirement is any age before 65—that's when you qualify for Medicare benefits. Learn more about early retirement here....

Positive Cash Flow: An Open Secret In Early Retirement

Having both current income and an investment portfolio makes you financially more secure. That's the smart way to do FIRE....

Retiring Early: Effect On Social Security Benefits

Retiring early means lower average earnings for calculating Social Security benefits. However, once you reach the second bend point, you aren't losing much. I show you how to see when you will reach t...

Early Retirement and Opportunity Cost

Early retirement is expensive when you include the opportunity cost. It's the opposite of frugality....

Health Insurance for Early Retirement

   Health insurance is a big, incremental expense for people hoping to retire early from corporate life.  Understanding our options and the costs has been an important focus for us as we've plotted...

9 Reasons It’s Difficult To Retire Early

I had a great day at work this past Friday.  There wasn't anything especially amazing about it, but it was a truly enjoyable day.  Good conversation, meaty strategic work, and a fair amount of horsi...

Ready to retire, but you have kids?

I figured this out for a friend of mine, and I’ll share this because it might be useful to someone. I have a friend who got married late in life to a younger wife and had children. He’s in his very ea...

Can a TIPS Allocation raise my Safe Withdrawal Rate? – SWR Series Part 66

October 19, 2026 – Welcome back to a new installment of the Safe Withdrawal Rate Series. Please check the Series Landing Page. Today’s topic is an update on a post I published in 2024, Part 61, Safety...

What Will I Do When I Retire?

You don't need to have retirement figured out before you FIRE. Why giving yourself permission to do nothing might be the best way to start early retirement.

Your ZIP Code Is a Bigger FIRE Lever Than Your Savings Rate

Geographic Arbitrage is the most underrated risk-management tool in early retirement, and could help you shave years off your FI journey! Read more → The post Your ZIP Code Is a Bigger FIRE Lever Than...

Italy’s “Rule Of 103:” A Good Idea For The U.S. Retirement System?

Italy lets workers retire after 40 years on the job. That's not early retirement — it's retirement justice. America should learn from it.

Being Useful is More Attractive Than Being Rich

I recently saw this Reddit post about a man who retired early (FIRE) only to be called a “loser” by his wife ... Read more

How are FIRE adherents making out?

We check in on some champions of early retirement nearing their own finish line of financial independence. The post How are FIRE adherents making out? appeared first on MoneySense.

Time Fixes Most Financial Mistakes Because You Grow Richer

One of the issues we frugal people despise is going through buyer’s remorse. We don't want to feel stupid or ripped off, so we tend to buy fewer things and experiences. Minimalism and early retirement...

Retirement planning muddle. What do you think?

Hello. I (59F) have been trying to plan to retire early-ish for years. I would like to very much soon. I have tried to make my plans generally as fitting the circumstance at the time only to have the ...

The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Social Security

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...

FIRE Psychology During a Stock Market and Economic Downturn

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, ...

Finding Purpose After Retirement Is Easier Than You Think

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 ...

Introducing The FI Collective

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...

Forget FIRE: Why ‘FILE’ Is the Smarter Move for Child-Free DINKs

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.

Discovering FI, Our Town, And My Life

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...

Being Truly FIRE Is Terrible For Entrepreneurship, But That’s OK

In 2020, during the heart of the COVID pandemic, I remember listening to a FIRE-focused podcast hosted by two people who claimed to be financially independent and retired early. Even though it’s...

The hurdle dampening FIRE clients' plans

Even with the money to retire early, FIRE clients often face unexpected challenges. Advisors say mindset — more than finances — is often the real hurdle....

Managing a Workhorse Dividend Stock Portfolio

For almost three decades, I built an income-producing portfolio of dividend stocks and ETFs to support my targeted early retirement. The idea was that it would fund my lifestyle approaching retirement...

Want To Retire at 55? See If You Can Answer These Five Questions

Who said you can’t retire at 55? If you say yes to these questions, you may be on your way to an early retirement....

Why Liability Matching Beats the 4% Rule for Early Retirees

Most early retirement advice leans on a single number: the 4% rule. Withdraw 4% of your portfolio each year, and you’re supposed to be safe. But here’s the reality: almost no early retiree...

63 and the last day after 18+ years - a little bittersweet, but more sweet ?

I have enjoyed working at our church for the last 18 years, but when I hit 63 earlier this year I started realizing I could retire. Always planning to work until I was at least 65, retiring early wasn...

4 Social Security pitfalls that can cost clients in retirement

From aggressive tax strategies to early retirement, well-intentioned decisions can unintentionally reduce Social Security benefits. Advisors highlight four major pitfalls that can impact clients' reti...

The Surprising FAFSA/SAI and Roth IRA Conflict that Sabotaged Our Financial Aid Plan

We’re closing in on the end of my 7th year of early retirement. I was fortunate enough to run my last day on the hamster wheel on December 31, 2018. At the time, I had a plan and was confident i...

Stop Investing In Value Stocks Over Growth If You Want To FIRE

Since writing about FIRE in 2009, I’ve favored investing in growth stocks over value stocks. As someone who wanted to retire early from finance, my goal was to build as large a capital base as q...

Early Retiree Shares 16 Steps That Helped Him Leave Work at 42

I retired at 42. No hacks. No inheritance. Just deliberate steps taken over many years. This gallery breaks down exactly what I did to reach early retirement on my terms. These aren’t vague idea...

13 Retirement Expenses Most Early Retirees Forget to Budget For

Retiring early isn’t just about saving more, it’s about planning for the retirement expenses most people forget. Many think they’ve nailed the numbers, but it’s the overlooked ...