I would settle for being 55... I still own my business though I rarely work anymore. I am afraid to actually sell my business because the government seems intent on ruining the economy and I have a very affluent customer base... so that, if I did have to start going out an working, I would have customers.. but I DO NOT want to do that.
Being 55 would be REALLY cool though.
I am convinced that in a decade, more or less... retirement will be something that people once did. People who are now 50 and under will work until they die or until their "boat comes in", though there are not many boats and most are like the "golden winged ship passing your way"... they just keep on going.
My parents had a great retirement and they were not rich. My dad had a small business with just him and one helper. A service business. Mom was a housewife. They had a housekeeper (a maid). They were able to save about 10% a month. Dad sold his business when IIRC he was 63. They had a small RV, a Mobilux. They, literally for years, over 15 years... left GA after Christmas and travelled all over the west and came back home before Thanksgiving.
They would head out for the Brownsville, TX area then as spring warmed, they would move up into New Mexico and then on up. They drove it up to Alaska one summer. Dad had heart trouble. They were in Alaska and he got the feeling in his jaw and arm, went to the hospital got an angioplasty, then three days later they were back on the road. Mom turned 97 in February, he will be 96 in August. They have spent all the money inherited from their grandparents, parents, savings, and have around 80k left. They now have to have 24hr care but they are still living at home. That generation lived in a magical time, just after WW II, small town, community business, things were pretty easy. Things didn't cost very much and their were not many regulations, people were much more free to do smart things or stupid things. Leftover steel from the war effort went into the auto industry, homes were relatively cheap. When they paid off their mortgage in the 80s their payment was still 34 dollars a month.
Yeah... those days are over. It was a phase, a period... and era. Things are different today and are still changing in a way that will not allow the middle class to have a decent retirement. I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. The medical treatments that enabled my parents to still be alive at this age are not going to be available to us. A lot of money will not buy what a little money used to buy AND... (it is a bid and) the young people are going to come to resent having to work to support "boomers" as we age. Unless something unforeseen happens, all the extra money has been spent. All the cream has been skimmed off all future milk.
I wish you well in retirement but I really think that for most people retirement will involve generating some income.
I just hope eugenics is not making a comeback... but I do see hints of it.
AH Well... nevermind, I was just kidding. All we be well. Just retire at 55 and it will just work out, right?
J