There are some people who think that achieving financial independence before 65 is only for people with high incomes. Complainers will go on and on about how it’s not fair that other people are able to escape the rat race early, while they’ve got to grind on because they’re earning less than six figures a year.

News flash! Nothing good comes easy! You’re either going to bitch and moan about why life is not fair or you’re going to do something to better your situation. In a world where you can only depend on yourself for retirement, having a weak money mindset is devastating for your financial future.

Let me share with you a story about some dude who was able to save for retirement while earning a modest $40,000 a year in Manhattan, New York, the most expensive place in America. It can be done folks, and I’ve got the budget to prove it.

Early retirement sounds great and it is great for the most part. But there are negatives of early retirement life that needs to be discussed. I retired early in 2012, at the age of 34. Let me give you a glimpse of the early retirement lifestyle.

It’s been eight years and three months since they took my paycheck away. I sometimes stay up all night and sleep all day. At least I can do whatever I want and see professionally whomever I choose.

Gourmet sushi at fancy restaurants tastes so good. But sitting alone mixing wasabi can’t take away those occasional blues. Because nothing compares, nothing compares to the camaraderie of you dear ex-colleagues!

For all the glamour of living an early retirement lifestyle, there are plenty of negatives I’ve come to discover since I permanently left my job in 2012. I know why we revert back to our baseline state of happiness, no matter how much freedom and money you have.

Let’s go through some of the negatives of early retirement early now that I’m a grizzled veteran.

Updated on June 6, 2020

If you look carefully around the web, you’ll read scores of articles about the desire to retire early or how fabulous the early retirement lifestyle is. The FIRE movement (Financial Independence Retire Early) has grown rapidly since I first began writing about retiring early in 2009.

The reality is, there is a lot of downside to retiring early nobody talks about. Take it from me, someone who left their corporate job for good in 2012 at the age of 34. I agonized with the decision before I left, and experienced some downside surprises that I did not anticipate until after I had already left Corporate America.

Leaving a stable job, especially during a global pandemic and massive unemployment is a scary thing to do. The economic environment is extremely uncertain. If you decide to retire early and realize six months later you want to come back to work, there may not be a job to come back to!

Let me be clear. I love early retirement. However, I’m going to play devil’s advocate because retiring early is not something to be taken lightly.

Let us explore several reasons why people want to retire early, why they exist, as well as understand why we should all think twice about pulling the ripcord too early.

Updated on June 3, 2020

Given many Americans are in a difficult financial situation with only $17,000 in retirement savings for those between the age of 56 and 61 according to the Economic Policy Institute, you’d think most Americans are never going to retire.

Age Most People Retire

The reality, however, is that 69% of Americans retire by age 66. And roughly 51% retire between the ages of 61 and 65 according to LIMRA, the Life Insurance and Market Research Association. By age 75, 89% of Americans have left the labor force.

It surprises me that less than 1% of Americans retire before age 50. With the way the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement has taken off, as well as the rise of freelance work, you’d think the percentage would be higher.

Take a look at this graphic below that shows what age most Americans retire.