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I don't disagree with the author's logic in calculating the different variables about when he can retire. My issue is that retirement in general shouldn't be he

I don't disagree with the author's logic in calculating the different variables about when he can retire. My issue is that retirement in general shouldn't be held out to be some kind of promised land. There have been plenty of detailed studies carried out recently (one about Shell workers here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1273451/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1273451/) that demonstrate how the life expectancy of a retiree drops the earlier they reitre. I am all for frugality and am currently saving roughly 50% of my take home pay but a significant portion of that goes into my 'outlandish expenses fund' which is spent on travelling, living well etc during different periods of my life. What is the point of scrimping if you're going to spend your retirement years living like a bored domestic house husband/wife? I'm lucky that I work at a job I love and would not know what to do if I retired. As informative as this article was, I think the overall focus is misplaced as retirement in my book equates to a life of mediocrity and boredom.

troels 13y ago
Using the word "retirement" is odd too. Maybe "financial independence" would be more correct.
- watsonc73 13y ago
  Agreed.
baha_man 13y ago
"There have been plenty of detailed studies carried out recently... that demonstrate how the life expectancy of a retiree drops the earlier they reitre." The main finding of the study you link to seems to be that early retirement doesn't increase life expectancy, as some have previously assumed. It did find that "employees who retired at 55 had a significantly increased mortality compared with those who retired at 65", but with the proviso that "poorer health status of some early retirees may play some part".
- watsonc73 13y ago
  Good point baha_man, that's a fair comment. It was just one of a number of studies available that seem to highlight this.
hobo_mark 13y ago
"What is the point of scrimping if you're going to spend your retirement years living like a bored domestic house husband/wife?" Who said that? This is hacker news, financial indipendence means being free to work full time on the projects that matter to you, who here would not want that?

troels 13y ago

Using the word "retirement" is odd too. Maybe "financial independence" would be more correct.

watsonc73 13y ago
Agreed.

baha_man 13y ago

"There have been plenty of detailed studies carried out recently... that demonstrate how the life expectancy of a retiree drops the earlier they reitre." The main finding of the study you link to seems to be that early retirement doesn't increase life expectancy, as some have previously assumed. It did find that "employees who retired at 55 had a significantly increased mortality compared with those who retired at 65", but with the proviso that "poorer health status of some early retirees may play some part".

watsonc73 13y ago
Good point baha_man, that's a fair comment. It was just one of a number of studies available that seem to highlight this.

hobo_mark 13y ago

"What is the point of scrimping if you're going to spend your retirement years living like a bored domestic house husband/wife?" Who said that? This is hacker news, financial indipendence means being free to work full time on the projects that matter to you, who here would not want that?