10 Reasons to Retire Early

Deciding when to retire is nearly as important as how much you save. Retire too soon, and your nest egg might not last as long as you need it to. Wait too long, and you could miss the chance to enjoy your healthiest years. And if you want to retire early, part of that depends on what “early” means to you, whether that’s stepping away at 62, 55 or even 50. The following are some of the reasons to retire early.

A financial advisor can help you put together a retirement plan focused on retiring early.

1. Less Time Working

The first reason to retire early is also the most obvious: more time not working.

Ideally, your retirement will be an opportunity to enjoy the things in life you look forward to most. Hobbies, travel, reading, cooking, education, movies, romance… you’ll have time for it all. It is, to borrow the phrase, a life of Saturdays.

And the earlier you retire, the earlier it’s Friday night. You get to enjoy that life sooner, and you get to keep enjoying that life longer. It’s a powerful reason to retire as early as financially possible.

2. Longer, Better Health

One of the unfortunate realities of age is… age. Retirement is an opportunity to enjoy our hobbies after a lifetime of hard work, but it inevitably comes toward the end. Eventually, every retiree will age and their health will start to fail.

The earlier you retire, the more time you have to enjoy your passions in good health. You’ll have more years to freely and athletically travel, to enjoy good food without a strict diet, to fish without risk or pain, and to generally have the retirement you want. Old age will come eventually. An early retirement will let you get a jump on it.

3. Passion Work

Retirement doesn’t necessarily mean an end to work. It just means wrapping up your career and transitioning away from finance-forward work. This can create the opportunity to pursue other jobs and passions. Have you ever wanted to teach? Open your own business? Cook professionally? There are plenty of careers out there that might not have met your family or financial needs during your working life, but could be personally fulfilling opportunities in retirement.

The catch is that you’ll need time. There’s some work, like part-time positions and odd jobs, that you can pick up for a little while here and there. But bigger jobs will need a bigger commitment. If you retire early, you’ll have more time to pursue those work passions, possibly even with enough time to launch an entire second career, if you choose.

4. Caring for Family

As life spans steadily increase, many retirees have their own parents and other aging family members to consider. This issue can become increasingly critical as you approach retirement age.

Retiring early might give you the chance to spend more time taking care of family members who need you. Whether parents, siblings or someone else, you can take care of them based on their needs and schedule, rather than having to put medical concerns off for work. You can also spend more time with them, taking care of your family members while you’re still in good health.

5. Adapting to Grown Children

One of the reasons to retire early is to travel more widely.

On the other hand, maybe you have family that doesn’t need you anymore.

If you have children, they have probably defined most of your personal and financial adult life. While this is a wonderful thing, it also limits your options. But with your children grown and out of the house, you have many more options. You can travel more widely, or even consider taking a job overseas. You can take a lower-paying job without needing to pay or save for dependents. And you can manage your schedule based entirely on your own needs.

Early retirement can let you take advantage of all of these newly expanded options.

6. Your Retirement Fund Has Met Its Goals

You might choose to retire early for entirely financial reasons. The great risk of early retirement is that you might outlive your savings. So an excellent reason to consider early retirement is if you are confident that won’t happen.

If you’re considering early retirement, set a new series of goals for your portfolio(s). What will you need saved in order to retire at 62? Or 59? Or whatever age you have in mind? If you’re shooting even younger, how will you build taxed portfolios in parallel with tax-advantaged ones?

You can estimate these numbers with a financial advisor. And if you’ve met that goal, then now might be a perfect time to retire for no other reason than because you can.

7. Early Social Security

This is a very situational one.

You can begin to collect Social Security as early as age 62. However, if you do, you will collect reduced benefits for the rest of your life. Under most circumstances. this is a bad idea. Usually, you’re best off waiting to collect benefits until age 70, if possible. (This is true even if you retire early.) But there’s an exception to this rule.

Early retirement and Social Security might make sense if you need or have use for this money. For example, if you have a particularly valuable investment opportunity or need Social Security to pay urgent bills, then an early retirement for Social Security might be useful.

8. Delayed Social Security

This is a subset of a fully-funded retirement.

Many people wait on retirement because they need to collect Social Security. They might otherwise have funded their portfolios and finished with their careers, but Social Security benefits are an essential part of their retirement plans. This can delay retirement until age 67 or even 70.

On the other hand, you might not need those benefits. If your retirement account is fully funded and you don’t need Social Security benefits to pay for a comfortable lifestyle, then there’s no need to wait for the official retirement age. You can start planning your going away party right now.

9. Stress and Hours

You might also simply want out of your job.

Many working professionals work very long hours, with particularly stressful jobs. You might have a high-stress white collar job, like being a lawyer or a doctor. Or you might have a physically taxing job, like working as a contractor or in natural resources. Whatever the reason, early retirement can often be an opportunity to leave a job that is taking its toll on your mentally and/or physically.

Because the sooner you step back, the sooner you’ll start to feel better.

10. Spouse, Family or Personal Plans

Finally, you might have something specific you want to do.

Many retirees have specific plans for their retirement. They have a charity they want to support, a trip they want to take, or even just household projects they want to do. Many other people have plans with a spouse or loved ones. You and your spouse might have big plans for the lifestyle you want to build in retirement, say, and are eager to get on with it.

Regardless of exactly what your plans are, or with whom, early retirement is a chance to get started. The earlier you retire the sooner you can start living your dreams, and the longer you can enjoy that lifestyle.

Just make sure you can afford it.

How to Plan for an Early Retirement

If early retirement is on your radar, careful planning is key. The first step is estimating your long-term expenses and income needs. Create a detailed budget that accounts not only for daily living costs but also for travel, healthcare and unexpected emergencies. Because early retirees may face a longer time horizon, it’s important to plan for both inflation and longevity; your money may need to last 30 years or more.

Next, evaluate your savings and investment strategy. Determine how much income your current portfolio can realistically generate without depleting your principal too soon. Many early retirees use a combination of taxable accounts, IRAs and Roth IRAs to create flexibility in withdrawals and manage taxes efficiently. You’ll also want to decide when to claim Social Security and how to bridge the income gap if you retire before benefits begin.

Healthcare is another major factor. Before Medicare eligibility at age 65, you may need to rely on COBRA, ACA Marketplace plans or spousal coverage to avoid costly gaps in insurance.

Finally, consider your lifestyle goals, whether that means downsizing, relocating or pursuing passion projects. And ensure your plan supports them sustainably.

A financial advisor can help you stress-test your plan, balance risk and identify potential income gaps so you can approach early retirement with confidence rather than uncertainty.

Bottom Line

A woman reviews her plan to retire early.

Retiring early can be both rewarding and challenging. It offers the freedom to spend your healthiest years pursuing what matters most, whether that’s family, travel or passion projects. However, it also demands careful financial preparation. From managing healthcare costs to creating a sustainable withdrawal strategy, the success of an early retirement depends on balancing your lifestyle goals with long-term security. If you’re thinking about leaving the workforce ahead of schedule, start by reviewing your savings, estimating expenses and stress-testing your plan against different market scenarios.

Tips on Planning for an Early Retirement

Our comprehensive guide to early retirement can help you make this a priority, if early retirement is what you want to plan for.
A financial advisor can help you build a comprehensive retirement plan. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.