So this is one issue I, like a lot of engineer types no doubt, have been contemplating for some time. Goals differ depending on who you talk to. This article ta

So this is one issue I, like a lot of engineer types no doubt, have been contemplating for some time. Goals differ depending on who you talk to. This article talks about in one's 30s with $1m in the bank. By the 4% rule that will generate you $40,000 a year. There are a lot of places in the US you can live on that. It gets more difficult with kids but not impossible. It's not what I'd call a retirement lifestyle I'd want however. Indeed the article mentions working at Starbucks and I imagine for these folks there's a lot of this. I wouldn't call this retirement as such, I'd call it semi-retirement (which is fine). Speaking of Starbucks, it mentions the real big problem with retiring early in the US: health insurance. I really don't see a good way around this. It's also why many countries are popular for US retirees (notably Costa Rica, Mexico and more recently Ecuador). Now I'm Australian so I could go back and retire in Australia (I live in the US) but honestly I find that idea unappealing. Whereas there were parts of Australia that had a relatively low standard of living, those days are long over. Housing is ultra-expensive (particularly in the East Coast cities). Other expenses like utilities are expensive. Hell, electricity prices were a factor in recently toppling a sitting Prime Minister (fun fact: the last Australian PM to serve a whole term as PM was John Howard ending in 2007; there have been 4 coups since, 2 per major party). Europe is an option. Not everyone has that option of course. And it varies a lot by country. Germany is a pretty nice compromise between being good for expats, being relatively low cost (compared to Switzerland, the UK or France at any rate). Some countries are relatively cheap now and have good climates like Portugal, Italy and Greece but are financially precarious. Personally I'd like somewhere that's relatively inexpensive, safe/stable and with a good climate. The last one eliminates a lot of otherwise good options (eg Canada). The US has a lot of affordable cities still (eg Atlanta). The health insurance problem is a huge risk/cost though.