Personal Investments • For those who early retired between the ages of 55-60, what concrete steps did you take 10 years / 5 years before?

For those who early retired between the ages of 55-60, what concrete steps did you take 10 years / 5 years before? Some specifics that might be helpful:

1) at what age did you plan on collecting SS?
2) what changes did you make to your investment allocation 10 yrs before? 5 yrs before? When you retired?
3) did you start building up your cash reserves in anticipation of early retirement before SS kicked in or to reduce 401k withdrawals?
4) if younger kids were in the picture, were any specific steps taken to manage their college funding while still not jeopardizing early retirement?

Any or all other valuable input is appreciated.

DH retired at 55, I'm still working very part-time. Our mortgage was paid off 15 years ago.

1) Plan on SS at 70 for both of us, want the tax space for Roth conversions.
2) Changed AA from essentially 100/0 to 70/30 at age 50.
3) Stopped funding Roth IRAs and held as cash instead. Hoarded Covid cash to cover expenses in first few years of retirement (I was still funding my retirement account @ 50%, until this year).
4) DS5 was in HS when DH retired; that tax year was the first year to be used in his FAFSA filings for financial aid. I've been closely manipulating our AGI and w2 wages to thread the needle between max EITC, max Pell and TAP, and ACA coverage (actually, Medicaid). I'm including measured Roth conversions as well. Withdrawals (after cash diminished) have been first from unreimbursed HSA expenses, and now from Roth contributions.

Next year things may change. We both reach age 59.5. DS5 will still be in college, but tax years for FAFSA should be already booked. If he's still a dependent, and I continue to have earned income we could continue to be eligible for EITC, a refundable credit. If he becomes independent, we become a family of 2 for ACA purposes - w/o EITC we should increase Roth conversions significantly, and I should probably quit; then I'd need to regulate AGI to stay on an Essential Plan instead of Medicaid, we'd need to stay under 250% FPL so we don't bounce up to ACA plans with a big step up from zero premiums to >>$0 premiums.

Statistics: Posted by teen persuasion — Tue Aug 26, 2025 9:01 am — Replies 13 — Views 758

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