re: What is your golden rule for retirement?

Was suspicious that this was trolling at first, but taking it as sincere.

I retired from my day job at 55. Here are some considerations for you:

Don't become lazy; physically or mentally

Don't be casual with your financial planning. Maintain a financial statement in such a way to track your wealth to give you some ability to forecast future balances.

Track your spending. We do it at a high level, but know what we average spending annually. Credit card reporting makes this easy.

Keep most of your money invested

Keep enough of your money in relatively low risk investments. Once your wealth reaches levels that support your retirement, then the returns from low risk investments should be self-sustaining. Caveat to this is be careful with your definition of low risk. In my early 50s, I built up my balances in bonds based on traditional advice. I changed my perspective on it and decided I had enough money that I could keep most of it in low cost equity indexes. A significant drop that takes multiple years to recover would hurt, but I don't see a scenario that I would not survive the period until a recovery. The s&p500 is my largest holding. Russell1000 is 2nd largest, even though there is a lot of overlap. I also have a large amount of real estate for greater diversification.

Keep an emergency fund. You don't want to be forced to sell any investment at a poor time. My real estate investing involves borrowing money from banks, and requires me to keep a healthy amount in my banks. This money is not getting much of a return, but it is there for current year expenses.

Some non-financial considerations:

Stay social. Stay in contact with family and close friends.

Volunteer. We get satisfaction out of helping others with our extra time. It is easy to find ways to help others of your choosing. We also look for opportunities to help family and friends. Being an early retiree is something to be grateful for. Taking a "pay it forward" mentality has been good for us.

Be mindful about your health. Don't take it for granted.

Vacations are nice, but be mindful about enjoying your day to day. I coach youth sports and love it.

You are making a good start. Life can throw curves you don't see comings.
52 year old friend recently died in his sleep..totally unexpected..heart failure.
59 year old friend ..early onset alzheimers died 3 years later he was a picture of health ..
I was on track to retire early, wife stared death in t he face an expensive drug saved her life..insurance did not cover it until a decade later...1 of my kids had a life threatening issue and it took most of our retirement to keep her alive.. today they are both healthy and alive due to medical research and the grace of God...
None of the above was on anyone's radar..
Enjoy your life, tske care of your money, have a good will and plan for the unexpected the best you can.
Give to others..your time and life lessons.

I believe the cost of medical care and health insurance should be a top priority for our country. It is consistently ignored by our leaders.