I do and this way of living fits my personality. I have been a minimalist my entire life. I enjoy saving and finding ways to cut costs where it is feasible. I currently save 50-55% of my gross income per year, much higher % if I use my after tax income to calculate. My wife and I both work full time and will do so for at least the next 4-7 years. I am 46 years old. Our current expenses are around 50k a year. After that we are looking at a few different options. We can move to Mexico where her parents live. We can continue to work full time and pay off the house, then go part time. Or we can just go part time at age 50. I believe the part time retirement plan is called BARISTA FIRE.
I am not worried too much once I hit 65. It's the years from 50-65 where there could be some anxiety. The big expenses if we retire early are house payment/property taxes, govt health insurance and unforeseen significant expenses ( new health issues).
If we pay off the house first (which we are leaning to do), after that our bills and travel budget look to be about 40k a year. This includes property taxes, a 10K travel budget per year, and health insurance. Paying off the house will add another 3 years of full time work, so then Im 53. 40k a year expenses x 12 years (65-53 years old) = around 500k. At 65, my wife and I will (probably) get about 3k a month in SS which will cover most of our expenses and significantly extend our retirement funds. We are calculating 2% inflation and 4% returns both prior to and after retiring.
Once I retire I will learn Spanish and start a gaming company. My brother and I want to write a novel so we have that on our list as well. I am not worried about being bored.
If we decide to move to Mexico, our bills are about 500 dollars a month as we would live at and inherent her parents houses, which means we can move there tomorrow if we want. Anyone else thinking of retiring well before 65?
I currently use these 2 calculators
https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/calculators/retirement-plan-calculator/
https://engaging-data.com/fire-calculator/