My wife and I were always self employed. so no pension (or sick leave or paid time off). We did fund our IRAs and saved additional amounts in an investment account. We learned that paying other people to manage our money resulted in less money actually being earned. So we manage our own funds. We were debt free at 45 and we retired at 53, although I worked on limited special projects for another 8 years, mostly to fund capital expenses (pick up, travel trailer, bulldozer, excavator, dump truck, NULA, etc.). We can live on Social Security and next year we both face RMDs. What we have found is that a lot of people underestimate the amount of tax they have to pay in retirement - including on SS and of course on the RMDs. Our taxes are going up a lot next year as we move funds from our IRA to our investment account.
Last edited by logger; 04/06/24.
