quote:
Here are Fidelity's age-based milestones you can use to track your progress:

By age 30: 1x your income

By age 40: 3x your income

By age 50: 6x your income

By age 60: 8x your income

And in the process of achieving these milestones are:

-Divorces and child support / alimony
-College for the children
-Weddings for female children
-On and on the list goes.

I would be right on track for age 60, but I'm 67

. Paying for a divorce and child support, plus college expenses for three kids, well, that forced me to put off retirement for longer than I anticipated, but nonetheless, we have over $2M in retirement savings and equity.

What I'm trying to decide is, retire now, and hang out my consulting shingle for Xtra income and write-offs, which means "semi-retired" but I keep a more expensive lifestyle, or work another few years at a slower pace, train others and help my employer expand their business and sock away another quarter-mill? My wife is ten years younger and plans to retire in about 5 years, so is it necessary to keep working, anyway? I would like to retire, play some golf, involve myself in politics and charities, restore a few classic cars, and enjoy the amount of life I have left.

My dad passed away at age 83, but was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 73. Between 65 and 76, he had prostate cancer (he beat it) and required a quintuple bypass and a pacemaker. His two brothers, my uncles, were all ages 2 years apart with my dad in the middle. They all passed away within six months of each other. My maternal grandparents passed at age 70 and 76 and my paternal grandparents passed at age 84 and 94. So their average age of death is 81 years old. However, my mom turns 90 this year and is still driving herself just fine and lives at home, so there's a blessing there, for sure. She's been retired since she turned 65. It's hard facts to consider as you age. You know it's coming, but when you plan for it is key. And as aI alluded to earlier, there's those pesky, unexpected money sucks that happen along the way.