re: Can a person retire at 55 with 750k potfolio?

Sorry to hear your situation. You are a good man!

If me, I would get healthcare situation fully vetted (perhaps apportion some of $750k to annuity like poster above suggests) to guarantee healthcare costs and other essential expenses are ‘risk-free’.

No wife, in-laws or kids and a father who seems to have solid finances.

Could utilize 0% capital gains on MFs and stock (OP, “mostly Apple” needs to be diversified…max 5% of portfolio in one individual stock, no more) to bridge to SS and Medicare.

Remaining portfolio growth could reach a 6% withdrawal rate, that when combined with SS, might cover OP’s life. (ie, not running out of money…but exposed if black swan or significant unforeseen expenses arise (eg, healthcare per CPA fella above)).

Financial planning is full of risk planning that justifies consuming time to mitigate it. I get it. I have done plenty of it.

Risk of running out of money is real. I would prefer more margin for error. It’s thin but possible. But OP has option to return to work.

My mindset changed after 50 when no dependents…today (bird in hand) vs tomorrow (2 in bush) just means something different. OP wants to listen to birds in nature more now than ever. I say do it.

If chit hits fan, go back to work for a bit. Inheritance, albeit should not be forefront of plan, should be in background, especially if OP happiness is at risk.

Good luck, OP! Send pics of your fav fishing hole and enjoy no Mondays as long as you can!!

My wife(56) and I (57) were in the same frame of mind 18 months ago. We have about $1.5M in retirement and investments. Totally debt free.

The wife had not worked in 2 years. We had sold the home that we raised our kids in S.Louisiana and were living in an apartment in WNC. Someone approached me to buy my business and the price was fair, so I sold and called myself retired.


We had an Airstream camper (paid cash before we sold the business) and we decided to try semi- full time RV travel, thinking that we could eek it out until full retirement age and SS and Medicaid kicked in.


It was a well thought out plan, but what we didn’t realize is how much we ended up resenting living on a strict budget. We both like to eat out, love to visit a brewery or winery, and that gets expensive. Sometimes we would justify it as Harvest Host members, as we would stay free if we patronized the business.

The state of health insurance in America is just a shame. We had a mail service we used that gave us NC mailing address, so our ACA insurance was tied to the Raleigh Durham area, a place we have never been. Everywhere else was out of network, so we never used the coverage even though we were paying ~$750/month for it.

We spent 270 days on the road in 2025 and didn’t even scratch the surface of this great continent we live on. Highlights included Morro Bay CA, Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon NP. Also of note was Lake Tahoe, Arches NP, Acadia NP, Maine seafood, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick (Tides of Fundy), Perce’, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, and Niagara Falls. We also made lifelong friends at the Airstream National Rally in York PA, 9 days of common interest fellowship and many bottles of wine and bourbon emptied.

We ended up back at a family home in SW Mississippi. My wife saw a listing for an accounting job with full benefits, she was hired almost immediately. I ended up in a sales job that I’m not crazy about, but between the both of us we will make ~$120k this year with full benefits.


We plan to work until SS and Medicaid kick in, then we will be gone for good. Our year on the road just made us want more, but next time we will have good income between SS and retirement distributions, and Medicare will fill in the gap of healthcare.


Long story short, my advice to you would be to take an extended leave of absence from that job and go do the 10 things you always wanted to, then go back and finish strong. You don’t want to be that old guy living on scraps.

Thats the best story I have read on this forum.

Do what you want/need to do.

But dont be locked in as a permanent income/bills status.

My wife (no pics) and I both work from home. She just turned 51. Im 48. Ideally, we keep our jobs and try to replicate what you did about 5 years from now (current retirement over $1m with non retirement assets too). Last child should be out of college by then.

But if we need to let go of the workforce for a few years, then so be it.

We can always come back in some capacity.

Pre-early retirement income was about $200k. We were really scared that we would never see that much income again. It turns out we could probably live on $60k/yr and be comfortable. We could theoretically stack $150k and go at age 63. That may happen. All I’m saying is that it’s not the end of the world if you step back a little, or just get out and go for a year.

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10 things I want to do

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That is only 5 things

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Inflation is a bastard!

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You’re acting as if this is a given for a 55+ year old in NW Arkansas that will have spent years out of the workforce.

Unless it’s unskilled work, which will almost certainly be shitty. Going from retired to working in the back of a hot restaurant or something like that would really suck.

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I hear you. This one is thin and exposed to risks more than I would be comfortable with, especially if I were younger than 50 and did not see life like I do over 50:

Bird in hand suck > 2 in bush suck, no?

No guarantees of future professional work.

No guarantees of major medical expenses

No guarantees there will be a tomorrow, but Guaranteed less remaining life time the longer you wait. That would suck, too!

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I live in N Arkansas. I dont travel.

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Can’t you get some BS work from home part time admin job to supplement income and possibly qualify for benefits?

Thanks.

Walmart doesn't really
32 hours is considered full time.
You have to work at Walmart for a full 12 months before you are eligible and meet 30+ hours a week.
This was the case when my daughter worked there.

If you are doing 6+ hours a day for 5 days a week, you really aren't part time.

How much PTO do you get? Can you freely take time off?

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Hell I make 50k a year now and save money every year.

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Then yes, you can do it for sure.