Zander
Platinum Member
I'd agree to that, but I am financially independent and can live without anything from Social Security.I say make retirement 90+. Just think how much we'll save in entitlement expenditures.
I think a reasonable age is 72 for early retirement, 75 for full retirement. (feel free to retire at any age you like if you can afford it. But government benefits should not start until 72)
'Reasonable' is from your perspective as in congrats that you are financially independent.
The 'mean' between life expectancy for American women and men combined is about age 78 to age 79, give or take a handful of months. Therefore, at your set age for early retirement, Americans can expect to enjoy 6-7 years of non-working golden years.
Why retire at all?
Retirement is a completely modern concept. Before the mid 1950s, there was no retirement as we use the term today. A 1950 poll showed most workers aspired to work for as long as possible. Quitting was for the disabled. Life did not offer twilight years, two decades of uninterrupted leisure courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. People worked until they died. I will do some type of work until I die. I enjoy it. I will retire when I expire!!
But if you really want to retire , then you'll have to take full responsibility for your own life and be a very prolific earner and saver. Counting on the Government for retirement is counting on living a very meager existence......