How many years do you have to work in order to retire?

Started working in year 2000 at age 18. I imagine I can retire in my 50's. Setting up a life plan.

Public Comments

1. well you can retire at any time you want. But you can't collect social security until 62-65. You can set up a finalcial plan, which is a great idea at your age. Be smart and you can retire early. What you have to think about is this..after you retire how many years do you expect to live? That is what you are really planning for.
2. There are tax penalties for withdrawing from a 401k early, but if you set yourself up correctly financially you may retire anytime you wish. What you need to do is find your cost of living, calculate in inflation (~4% a year), and project how long you will live. From those numbers you can predict how early you can retire.
3. Depends on what you do. If you have a well paying job and good securities than early like early 50's. I think typically it is around 65. Well actually I am quitting my job to be a stay at home so I guess I will not retire until my kids leave the house. As for my husband he is already planning it and he is 37. Go out and make some $$$
4. Brace yourself and don't depend on social security. set a goal to put back as much as you can every paycheck and put the money into something that yields a decent return then retiring in your 50's should not be a problem
5. Figure how much money you need in retirement (usually 75% of income. Then multiply that number by 20. The is the figure you need in your investments to retire. Once you have that much you can safely withdraw your monthly income without running out of money.
6. I have been putting away about 15% of my income to retirement since 23. So by the time I am 40, it will be ~400K ($220K to today's market). If I stop working/contributing to retirement at 40, at conservative interest rate of 7%, my savings will be $1.5M (~400K to todays market). This does not include pension, houses or other investments. If I continue to contribute to my retirement until 65, it will be 2.45M (~620K to today's market). If you want to retire early, earn as much as possible in your 20s and invest early. My aim is to stop working full time at 40, just work as a part-time engineer/consultant to supplement my income.
7. Save as much as you can -- through your company's 401(k) plan, an IRA, etc. The earlier you start saving, the more time that money has to compound. There are a lot of good financial calculators online, just google "financial calculators". It sounds like you're on the right track. Good luck!