Can I retire early?

Whether you love or hate your job, I’m sure you’ve probably contemplated retiring at some point in your adult life. I mean, really, how appealing to just sleep in every day, spend your time gardening , vacationing or just hanging out with friends and family?

Unfortunately, with this major recession in full swing, for a lot of us and our poor, beaten 401(k) plans, the retirement dream seems even more out of reach–especially if we want to retire early.

Take this example: if you retire at 55 and live to 77 (the average life expectancy in the U.S.), that means you’re relying on your retirement funds for more than 20 years. That’s a whole lot of money and the last thing we need is to run out of it halfway through what are supposed to be our “golden years,” right?

So here are a few factors to take into account if you’re considering early retirement, or retirement in general:

• How much do you expect to have in monthly income?
• How much in assets will you have accumulated by retirement?
• How much do you plan to spend? How will retirement affect your lifestyle?
• How will inflation affect your retirement funds?

Keep in mind that you can’t begin receiving Social Security until the age of 62, and that if you elect to begin receiving these benefits at 62, you will receive smaller monthly payments than you would if you waited until 65. That’s because, as a general rule, early or late retirement will give you about the same total Social Security benefits over your lifetime. If you retire early, the monthly benefit amounts will be smaller to take into account the longer period you will receive them. If you retire late, you will get benefits for a shorter period of time but the monthly amounts will be larger to make up for the months when you did not receive anything. (Learn more  here.)

Also remember that you have to factor in inflation so what you may need to retire at 55 could be very different than what you need to retire at 62 or 65 or even 70.

Yeah, I know, it’s a lot to think about. Fortunately, there are plenty of online resources to help you understand some of the complexities of a retirement plan. For instance, ING offers this basic retirement calculator. Tech CU has one too.

Of course, while these calculators can give you an idea of what you will need to retire, it’s always smart to see a financial advisor who can navigate through all these numbers and get you on the right track.

Your retirement strategy is a highly individualized decision that should be based on your situation, retirement horizon and tolerance for risk. That’s why it’s important to work with a financial advisor who understands your goals and how you hope to reach them.