Early retirement does not have to mean less income or more risk. Many couples have more room than they think because their plan was never optimized. Robert’s team worked with a couple who believed 67 was the earliest they could stop. A full review found $1,500 a month of income they had not counted, and they retired at 63.
Why do most people never explore retiring early?
Most people assume early retirement means sacrifice: less income, more risk, settling for less. With a traditional plan, Robert says, that assumption is often right. The larger problem is that most people never test it as a real option. They keep working because the plan says so, and the plan was built around one date.
What did the review find for one couple?
Robert describes a couple who thought 67 was the earliest they could retire. After a full review of their income, taxes and Social Security, his team found an extra $1,500 a month in income they had not accounted for. They retired at 63, four years sooner than they had believed possible. His team finds this with many clients, and the reason is seldom wealth. Their strategy had never been optimized. The figures come from one household and are an illustration, not a projection of yours.
Where does the extra room come from?
In most plans it comes from decisions nobody coordinated: when each spouse claims Social Security, the order you draw from your accounts, and a tax bracket managed year by year. If you are under 65, the plan also has to cover health insurance until Medicare, which is where many early retirement plans break.
How can you find out if it applies to you?
Take an honest look at the whole picture with your own numbers before you decide your retirement date. The Retirement Readiness Assessment is a quick first check, Robert’s early retirement feasibility work tests the date you have in mind, and his 30-minute retirement clarity call is where that starts.
Common questions
- How do you know if you can retire early?
- Map every income source by year against your spending, including pensions, Social Security at different claiming ages and withdrawals in a tax-efficient order, then add the health insurance years before Medicare. If the income covers the spending with room for a bad market, early retirement may be open to you.
- Where does unexpected retirement income come from?
- Most often from decisions that were never optimized: Social Security claiming ages coordinated across both spouses, the order you draw from taxable, pre-tax and Roth accounts, and a tax bracket managed year by year instead of left to chance.
- Does retiring early mean a smaller retirement?
- It depends on the plan. With a traditional plan built around one retirement date, often yes. With one built around your full income picture, some couples find they can stop years sooner without giving up security.
If the decisions on this page are ahead of you, the two of you can work through them with Robert Boeck before any of them becomes permanent.
Schedule Your Consultation