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.
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Want to retire in your 50s and withdraw from savings? You need to understand the Roth 5 year rules to avoid penalties. The post Understanding the Two Roth 5-Year Rules: A Key to Smarter Early Retireme...
Can Beth and Rip retire early, spend more, and Die with Zero? When should they claim Social Security? Forrest and Jenny have 10 rental properties at age 31. Can they retire at age 50? (And what makes ...
Can I retire at 55? It’s a common question for Americans seeking more freedom in their prime. Retiring five to ten years before traditional retirement age can offer big benefits, but it also bri...
It’s easy to think that early retirement will be the answer to all your problems. After all, how could you not be happy when you don’t have to work anymore? I’ve written about why ea...
Chad Carson from CoachCarson.comjoins me again on the Financial Independence Podcast to talk about the various strategies you can use to retire early with real estate! Highlights: The best real-estate...
One of the internet’s most-respected retirement researchers and financial planners, Michael Kitces, joins me for an episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! You may remember that my Safe W...
To celebrate the 5-year anniversary of launchingthe Financial Independence Podcast, I've republished the very first interview I recorded back in 2012 with Mr. Money Mustache. In addition to the origin...
I'm excited to share with you the first Podcast Takeover episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! Carl and Doug from the Mile High FI podcast take over the Financial Independence Podcast to talk...
On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I finally got to interview the person who introduced me to the concept of financial independence and early retirement in the first place...
FIRECracker is a world-travelling early retiree. She used to live in one of the most expensive cities in Canada, but ... Read more...
“How do I get my family and friends onboard the FIRE train? We’ve had little success. Some friends are excited in the beginning but lose steam over time. Others aren’t interest at al...
Retiring early with kids sounds perfect, but the reality isn’t always easy. I retired in 2021 at the age of 42 with twin one-year-olds and a three-year-old. There’s more time, more memorie...
Retiring early is still one of the smartest moves I’ve made. But even years later, new challenges keep showing up, ones no one really talks about. In my earlier article “The Negative Reali...
When retiring early, married couples can use this little-known (and legitimate) strategy to take a six-figure income every year — tax-free....
Budgeting gets a bad rap. But for me, it was never about restriction—it was about clarity. I retired at 42, and budgets were one of the most useful tools that helped me get there. I’m not ...
I retired at 42. One of the biggest challenges of early retirement is figuring out what to do with your time. Free time is only fun when you know what to do with it. Once the novelty wears off, the ca...
Retiring early has been the plan since I was a teenager. I wanted freedom, control over my time, and the chance to be present for kids I didn’t even have yet. So I built a plan, stuck to it, and...
In my 30s and 40s, I didn’t wait to enjoy life—I took planned breaks from work to spend real time with my family. I called it “REO” (Retire Early & Often). The idea was to ...
Get early retirement tips and tricks from people who successfully retired in their 40s and 50s and are thriving now. The post Early Retirement Tips: 28 Strategies, Tricks, and Insider Info from People...
I get asked this all the time: “What percent of my income should I invest if I want to retire early?” But that question misses the point. There’s no golden percentage. No magic numbe...
How to retire early? Find out with real world tips from people who actually retired in their 40s and 50s. You can do it! The post How to Retire Early: 28 Insider Tips from Real People Who Did It and A...
Hey everyone! It’s been 13 years since I retired from my engineering career. Wow, has it really been that long? Hard to believe, but it’s true. Time flies. The big ... Read more The post 1...
Before I retired from finance in 2012, I struggled with chronic back pain, sciatica, and TMJ. The stress was so overwhelming, I even paid a dentist $700 to drill divots into several teeth just so I co...
I retired in December at age 62. Today I learned that my former employer is offering an incentive of $117,000 to anyone over age 59 1/2 to retire early. It was kind of a bummer to hear that, but on re...
Retiring before 59.5? Discover how to make penalty free withdrawals from your retirement accounts to help fund your early retirement. The post Early Retirement Withdrawals: 5 Ways to Take Penalty-Free...
What are the pros and cons if Chip uses the money in his taxable brokerage account for early retirement income? Jack and Sally ask Joe and Big Al to spitball on whether they can retire around age 55 o...
Should this rule be changed? One of the new proposals for fixing the Social Security Trust Funds financial problems involves doing away with this provision. What it does in essence if that it STOP peo...
I’ve been thinking a lot about work optional versus Financial Independence Retire Early (aka FIRE). If you haven’t heard these terms, I’ll explain them shortly after I get through th...
3 years ago I did sign up for SS but immanently after doing so I called and cancelled. I spoke with an Asian person on the phone who didn’t speak very good English. I was very clear in English a...
How much do you need to retire early is just a math problem. No secret formula. Definitely no social media guru hawking some overpriced “exclusive course.” It’s knowing exactly what ...
Martin and Caterina in Green Bay are in their 40s and haven’t yet saved a million bucks. Are they on track to retire at age 58? Can Piggie and Kermit in California retire today at ages 50 and 57...
Retiring early sounds amazing until you realize everything is getting more expensive. Some people panic, convinced inflation makes early retirement impossible. That thinking is wrong. It’s not i...
Planning ahead for early retirement can help you avoid some common obstacles. But it will also help you cope if you lose your job unexpectedly....
Early retirement is great. I retired three years ago in my 40s. I love it. But you have to prepare for, and in some cases, accept, the negatives. Most people picture early retirement as endless freedo...
Are you dreaming of breaking free from the 9-to-5 grind decades before your peers? Maybe you’re wondering if you’ve saved enough, if your investments will last, or if you’re just pla...
When I first read Rich Dad Poor Dad in my teens, it completely changed how I viewed money. The book introduced me to financial freedom, building assets, and escaping the rat race. Kiyosaki made it sou...
If you must retire early due to disability or to care for a loved one, these six steps to make it work financially....
We make a large salary, and we're retiring in our 40s later this year. Here are my biggest fears and most rational thoughts about it. The post Giving Up a $250,000 Salary to Retire Early Is Hard appea...
Financial freedom doesn’t happen by chance, it happens through choices. Every decision you make sets the tone for your future. I know this because I’ve walked the talk. In my teens, I mapp...
Today on Your Money, Your Wealth® podcast 513 with Joe Anderson, CFP®, and Big Al Clopine, CPA, YMYW listeners in their 40s are ready to call it quits at work, become financially independent, ...
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 p...
Looking at the current inability of Congress and the disposition of the incoming administration to actually address the SS trust fund depletion in the next 8 to 10 years, does it not make more sense t...
When I retired at 42, it wasn’t a sudden decision or a stroke of luck. It was the result of over two decades of careful planning, intentional living, and a commitment to financial independence. ...
A guide to help you retire early in 2026, with a month-to-month list of achievable goals. What are you waiting for?...
Today is the anniversary of my last day of work six years ago. At the end of the workday on December 31, 2018, I became free in a sense. That was the day my early retirement began. If you’ve dre...
Many dream of retiring early, but you would be surprised to learn that many people who retire early regret doing so. James reveals five things that lead people to regret early retirement and provides ...
"Sam" is 58 and he retired at the end of the first quarter of 2024. His wife, "Alice," is 65 and still working as a paid caretaker for the couple's son with special needs. Sam has $400,000 in a Roth I...
Embrace a digital nomad lifestyle to satisfy your wanderlust. Here are tips from an ultramarathon runner, a professional blogger and a financial planner....
Will building a new home delay Janelle's early retirement? Can Mike and his wife retire early at ages 50 and 55, and how much should they convert to Roth? Maria and her partner keep their finances sep...
Rob and his wife in North Carolina are 51 and 44 and would like to retire in the next 3-5 years. Are they on track, and what should they consider as far as Roth conversions are concerned once the tax ...