At what age do you want to retire, and at what age do you believe you'll actually be able to retire?

That is the question of balance. With improved, efficient national health care, you can save up, invest in passive income producing assets, and retire at twenties, called RAT. Rich Dad and Poor Dad by Robert K is a school of thought worthy of study. I am not working for half a check and will retire in two years.

CPT (Join to see) I planned to retire when the Space Shuttle program ended because I knew I would be age 62. I did retire one month after the last Space Shuttle flight. My plan worked well for me because I had saved in a 401K, IRA/Roth IRAs, etc. Saving as much as you can is key, because many folks have to quit working early because of health, layoff, etc.

I plan to retire between 60 and 62. I am on track to meet that with an amount of money that is more than enough (plus a pension and SS). I have seen too many people I know that work until the day they have died. They have died between about 60 and 68. Your work life is not a box of crackerjacks. There is no prize at the bottom of it. If you do what you really love then great. Most of us are not in that spot, about 99% of us are not in that spot.

I am planning on retiring fully around 65 or 67...dependent on my wife and future grandkids situation. My wife and I have been putting away investments since I was a Lt and pretty much living off Capt pay for the rest of the time...squirreling as much away as we could. We took a good dip into it when we retired from the military to make a sizeable down payment on our house and that helped but we are still doing the same thing with me retired from the military and working again and her getting back in the workforce again. She can retire from her job at 65 with full retirement. We also never relied or expected SS. Not counting on it but if it is still there and viable when I finally retire that will be a huge bennie for us...maybe a nest egg for the grandkids or something...once again, not counting on it. I have to work to keep busy anyway. Staying home and tinkering for me gets old and there is only so much I can do before I go crazy...so I will just retire when I feel the time is right. I don't want to keep working where it costs me money to come to work though...when that break even point comes i will go work part time for a golf course or a hardware store or something like that just for pocket change and where I can work just because I want to work...that is the plan for now but who knows what the future is bringing.

I am currently 67 and have no plans to retire until I reach an age where it is no longer possible to work. Work that challenges and motivates keeps life interesting and worth living.

Retired from active duty USAF at 38. Next went to work with the state of Vermont, Vermont OSHA, as a Ompliance Officer, wanted to retire at age 60. Instead, because of personal issues and a really bad car accident where I was injured quite severely, I was forced into not retirement at age 54. After a lengthy recovery, I hung out my own shingle and still do occasional OSHA consulting jobs, but I have really cut back my time due to medical issues from AO and after effects of my car accident...All in all, things have worked out for me.

I plan on working until I die. There are many reasons for this. The idea of retirement is opposed to how I feel I should live. I'm a scientist. When I reach a point of wealth where I could retire, I'm going to devote the remainder of my life to teaching my knowledge to younger generations. A lifetime of knowledge should be passed on and it shouldn't die with the person who accumulated it. Another reason is that I couldn't think of a better way to spend my time than trying to better understand the mechanisms of the planet.

I knew an E-8 that retired after 20 years and di so with a healthy retirement. He and his wife decided that they were living comfortably when he made E-4. Therefore they invested all of his pay exceeding and E-4 pay for the rest of his career. He had a good retirement.