At what age do you plan on retiring?

Gen Z, my goal is to be able to retire at all… I’m not picky on when. Trying to be optimistic but also realistic :’)

1. Looking forward to it!

I don't. I plan to be working for as long as I can. I don't make enough to satisfy a livable income upon retirement, not even with my pension. So until I can, I'll be working. Plus not sure what else I'd be fitting all that time with at that age in my life.

As early as I can afford it, since I just don't like having a job, even one as nice as my current one is. With how much money I'm saving(>90% of each paycheck), that could be as early as 45.

Not wanting kids means I don't need to buy a place of my own. I can just continue to save 70-90% of each paycheck and combine that with inheritance when my parents pass. I live in a country with universal healthcare so I don't have to worry about that either.

All of my co-workers who are parents are in decades of debt and struggling financially while I'm basically swimming in cash, lol. I don't care about the cost of living at all and I'm spoiling myself from time to time.

At the age when I no longer want to work for a living.

Gen Z. Probably never

I have little-no hope of retirement....

Hopefully by 65, but I wouldn’t count on it. Being childfree makes it so much harder to find a spouse, and like it or not, the world is designed for 2 incomes, especially nowadays. If I am never able to split a housing cost, along with other expenses that dual income couples get to share, I will likely have no choice but to work as long as I can to support myself.

I’m not. I’m going out Midsommar style

I'm probably never going to be able to retire, and I'm an elder millennial/Xennial. I am fortunate enough to own the condo I live in and I have a 401k with around $35k in it right now, but that's about it in savings. I know that's better than some people my age, but I'm still pretty pessimistic about my future as far as retirement is concerned. The cost of living is only going to go up, and getting older can be expensive.

Never because I’m a younger millennial and can barely afford to feed myself some weeks

I won't be. I'm not one those rich DINK childfree women, lol. I'm single and not rich, a combo that does not promise financial comfort.

Could I retire, yes. Could have over 10 years ago (I'm 56). Will I? No. I am one of the few people that actually loves what I do. :)

Never going to happen

At the rate the economy and entire world is falling apart I doubt I'll ever have enough stability to retire.

I would like to retire in 5ish years, so, at 42/43 yo

Already did, four years ago at 42.

My retirement plan is suicide.

If all goes well, I can retire by age 35, hope to God because I'm at my end with this circus lol.

Let's see now, how much longer before the fall of humanity?

The latest I plan on retiring is age 55.

I’m not likely to be retiring before 65, because I’m a millennial. I’ll be lucky if I can manage to get my savings to a point where I can retire before 70. 😂 

The straightforward answer is "Yes, childfree people are more likely to retire earlier", given that it costs roughly $300k (in the U.S.) to raise a child from birth through age 18. Couples having the average/typical 2 kids will spend over half a million dollars raising those kids instead of investing that money in the broad equity markets. Obviously, that will delay their retirement. I chose not to have kids, which allowed me to retire in my late 40s. I may still have been able to pull off retiring before age 50 even with one kid, but I would've had less financial security and would've had to really watch my spending. It's the classic case of "you can't have your cake and eat it too".

I don’t want to retire completely. But mid 50s I want to switch to part time lecturing. This will allow me more time for travelling, writing, and hobbies. While also keeping me engaged within the community and inspired.

I don’t. I’d rather work for the rest of my life until I can’t anymore. Not even being sarcastic or joking; I enjoy working and it gives my life structure.

I feel like none of us are going to be able to retire lol

My husband’s goal is for us to be able to retire at 50, who knows how I’ll feel or who would even want to hire me at 50+ tho

OP here. It’s too soon to say, but for me, it’s probably going be around 60 to 65

In some capacity never. But actually working as soon as my body gives. After that it will be purely educational. Honestly hope I die before I'm that old.

Idk retirement seems boring

Never, I'm not sure I'll ever have the money.

Considering I'm Gen Z, doubtful that I'll ever be able to retire, let alone even make it to "retirement age", childfree or not.

I think I'll not retire, I will work as long as I can, but switch to only working during winter when I'm older.

I’m way behind on my 401k, so I’ll be working until 65-70.

Probably never, unfortunately--unless something miraculous happens. If I stop working, my husband and I will have nothing. Honestly, that's okay. Even on my off-days, I'm doing something. Not doing anything ever would make me insane, lol.

Already did, at 51. Hubby and I were both average earners, so we would never have been able to do it with kids.

Never.. I'm 30 now.

In 988 days! I turn 60 in July 2026 and will stay until January 2027 so I can get to 20 years in my current job. 🙌🏼

2-3 weeks before I die

47 at the highest and 42 at the lowest. Depends on how things go over the next few years. I'm 38 now, so not long to go. ☺️

Probably when my parents die. Inheritance....

But they've been very clear that there will be no money until they die, so I will still have to work for most of my adult life. Also, I don't want my parents to die.

We are a childfree couple who pooled our resources together in our early 20s. I quit the workforce shortly before turning 40 when my publically traded tech company laid off my entire department and expected me to do all their work at no additional pay.

We discovered that because we were childfree and lived frugally we could manage on one salary. My husband plans to retire in his early 60s

There is a Facebook group where childfree people plan early retirement. Most of them have under a million dollars when they retire, so I personally expect they will need to start working again not long after that.

I love work, having nothing to do makes me so anxious and i've noticed this when switching from a highly physical job to an academic barely spending decent hours at the university compared to working in a hospital, i've been thinking about this for a while and i definitely see myself working until i'm 70 or even more.

We’re not

65 when I can get on Medicare.

Millennial so never. Plan to be self employed until I can't work anymore, plus my country has an Senior Citizen's Pension scheme starting at 65.

Early, but also never?

I guess what I mean is that what I actually want is to be financially indepdent so I can spend my time doing as I please. That might still be "working" in the sense of doing a job and potentially drawing a salary, but I want to do what I want to do and on my terms, not necessarily for the money.

I’m 36 and probably die working

I got into the federal government at 20 so hopefully I'll be good to go at 45

me, never. I'll have a coffin set up in my office

I retired at 41…

As early as I can afford to do so. Probably at 55. Same with my husband. With the money we’re saving from not having kids, we’ll be able to retire earlier than expected and we love it!

ASAP

My ideal would be 55. Stretch is 57.

Early 50's I hope. Only 20 more years to go lmao

Ideally 55-60 if I can swing it financially. 50 if I'm really lucky. But I'm not even 30 yet so it's too soon to say. And I imagine even after I stop working 40 hours per week I will still do something part time to keep busy.

Currently am 37. All going well, 52-55.

I was a little late in getting my investing in order and saving for retirement, but the beauty of being childfree is that my partner and I are in our prime earning years and we aren’t having to divert funds to things like childcare or RESPs.

If we can manage to retire sooner we mostly certainly will, but right now the goal is for us to be retired by 55 and 57 respectively.

45-50

If everything goes well, my statistics say I am retiring by 45

Plan? Tomorrow.
Reality? You can never know in today's world. Either never, or sooner than you would normally, due to AI.

Never. I want to do architecture as long as I am on this earth

ASAP. Current plan is 45 (I'm 40).

The earliest I can take my workplace pension is 57 so latest 60 if I can afford it

By 55 latest. My wife and I invest in 50% VOO and 50% growth stock technology.

We have no loans and debt. Home is fully paid off.

I.... can't. I can't live even if I hold out till the full SS amount I'll get at 70. It's grim. I made bad choices going into teaching. Wish I could do it over. Jfc. Save. Get a 401k, get a high-earning decade, then you'll have half a chance.

I don’t plan on ever retiring because I love what I do (I’m self-employed).

I plan on retiring at 57… I’m 38 now. I’m in a unique situation where I will have a pension and a 401K type program.

If I’m able to do it I think it will largely be because we don’t have kids we will be putting through college or supporting at home. I’m also able to save more per month because I don’t have kids. I’m 11 years in… 19 to go!

Ideally, I would like to retire in my early 50s. But I don’t see it happening.

I just started working with a new financial advisor. Based on his projections, I’m aiming for 62. Expiry date for my dad’s side of the family is 73 so I’d like to get at least some chance of a few good years of retirement before I check out.

I feel like my answers to this are, "yes" and "no", neither of which actually answers the question (deliberately, lol).

We're in a difficult-ish position at the moment because I'm underemployed and my other half is unemployed. But we're managing on my salary, and we're old enough that we paid off the mortgage this month so we truly have nothing to grumble about.

Way I see it is, we need to survive like this till the job market recovers and my other half gets back into work, preferably something where he can work from home. We're also working on side hustles, and the aim is to move out to a small farm where we can have space for workshops and hobbies. And dogs! I've always worked/commuted for too many hours of each day to have pets.

So I guess I'm not planning on retiring, exactly, but I want to move to a more portfolio-based income, made up of several smaller income sources rather than depending on a single employer. And a large part of that includes doing stuff that's less soul-destroying than the current grind.

In a month or so, I have a small milestone towards this, where I move to 2 part-time jobs rather than one full-time job. It's maybe an odd choice, but I feel it reduces dependence on one employer. It also reduces the risk of being exploited - I'm a hard worker, and in the past, I've been talked into taking on more stress and responsibilities at work that were never worth it. Now I just want to do basic stuff well, keep my blood pressure low, and leave the second my hours are done. :-)

i can technically retire now if i medically retire but i dont feel justified to do it so...idk hopefully before 60/65. but no set age as of now. Mid 30s currently

I am saving as much as I reasonable can and hoping I can retire one day. I may not have a choice and will just have to make do with poverty should I be too old to hire at some point.

65, but I don't have a choice, I work government job with a pension. I would take a 3% hit to my pension for each year I left early.

I actually love my job, so... they're taking me out of my office feet first. :D

Mid 40s. If I'm still living paycheck to paycheck by my 60s I'll probably end it all.

53

I mean, I could retire at 60 if I wanted, but I like my job and a lot of us keep working just for something to do, even if it’s just a couple times a month. But who knows I may have to medically retire before that because my knees are already going bad. I’m only 31 so I’ve got lots of time to figure it out :)

I'm not sure I'll ever afford to. I've worked since I was 16 but started properly paying into a pension at 24. My parents were the last generation of great final salary pensions, none of mine have been worth shit. The pension age keeps increasing, who knows if there'll still be any state pension to help if I ever reach it.

Unfortunately, my spouse has barely worked and may not have enough qualifying years if there is still a state pension.

The only hope we have is potential inheritance, which may allow eventual retirement, but it's not a nice thought and not guaranteed.

Edit to add: I'm Xennial, parents were last of the boomers

I don't get any handouts for breeding and don't make a lot. I have a stressful job and have to cover for the whims of irresponsible parents so I kind of assume I'll die at work. Hopefully at least make it to my mid 70s but doubtful.

I don't own property or any capital assets. Struggling to stay afloat. I will prob never be able to retire. The middle class is being stamped out.

1. That's the minimum for federal employees with 30+ years of service.

Probably won't

My retirement will be an early death

Never. It will take me two lifespans to pay off my student loans sooo…

Looking at 57-59. But it’s not a retire “from” but a retire “to” and I’m still working out what that will be…

This sounds like a stretch, but probably never. Basically, I work until I naturally pass due to old age.

Microsoft Engineer Dave Cutler is in his 80s, and still developing for them.

Millennial with disability, probably never

Probably 67 

I dont

My husband retired at 55, but I loved my job so I stayed until age 64. If I had known retirement would be so wonderful, I would have retired earlier.

When I expire.

when i can no longer work.

I'd love to retire from full time work by 45. Totally ok with having a part time job as long as I'm able to keep my retirement savings gaining money without withdrawing/having fun money/a way to go back to full time if something unforseeable were to happen where I'd have to do that.

Basically, trying to do CoastFIRE. Fingers crossed.

I am a lifelong artist. That was never in the cards.

55

1. Only 4 more years.

I’ve a fully paid for 4 bedroom house in an expensive area. It’s cheap once you own and I have outright for 5 years. I poured everything into it. Every dollar= less interest, I still have access to the offset in case anything goes wrong but there is a million in there I don’t have to worry about.

I keep a library, garden, art studio and guest bedroom, 4 car spaces. Have a big kitchen and great living space 20 mins from the city that still overlooks the bush and feels like a country retreat. I make great money as a contractor and already I only really work about 6-9 months of any given year for the last 3 years.

I’ll work when I’m bored or if a project is interesting enough. I have investments that are growing and top up any income I need. I go on amazing OS holidays every year for a minimum of a month at a time and outside of school holidays. I travel business class so I can lay down on the flights. No parental help blah blah. My own hard work and from having a great reputation in the industry. When I do work I’m tending more to take clients who are OS so I can have the majority of the day; so I either start really early or late. But it means I always have the majority of daylight hours to do what I want- including sleep in! I go to the gym every other day…

I have a dog I was able to take a solid year off to train from the time I got him home. Every month I go see a show and eat at beautiful restaurants. I have beautiful clothes and jewellery and collection art.

It’s a good life.

None of it possible if I had a kid.

Technically I can retire from my job in 7 years so I’ll be 49. But I won’t see any of that money til I’m 65, so I’ll probably found a junk part time job til then that I like.

Never. Wanna die working.

Never 😂😭 Every job I’ve had has ended in redundancy or the buisness goes bust. No idea why it’s always where I work but I’m 32 and only have $27k in retirement 😞

When I'm too burnt out from doing therapy and am not interested in an administrative business type role. So...probably not until I'm too old to do it LOL.

1. Two and a half years and counting. Long term single, and I'm not going to be rich, but I can make it work. Plan is to hit the road in an RV for 2-3 years and see where life takes me.

Absolutely, instead of a college savings account, it's a savings account for my trip to Italy and Spain.

As soon as I can

At this rate probably never 🥲

Never?

I am 40 and I'm saving for less working/no conventional employment by 65. In my experience, retirement is a mixed bag. Especially if you don't have hobbies or much social capital. I've seen older people without a real plan for their "golden" years end up with steep physical and mental declines.

It's not necessarily a money thing either. It's solely a reflection of how well they care for themselves and how much they cultivate community. I'd rather never retire and know my old age I had lots of friends of all ages, community connections, a hobby, and exercise I enjoyed, than fully retire without any of those things.

60-65, I'll hit 30 years with the state at 63.

I'm disabled, soooo I guess I am?

Well I like what I do so working is not burdening on me. Aside from this, I just don't want to get to the average retirement age, there's no point in living at that point

My goal is 40, but unless the company I work for goes public successfully, 45 is probably more realistic.

My glock 45 is my retirement plan…. Could be any day now

When I can get on Medicare, 5 years. My financial advisor says I can retire now (61), but I must have insurance.

Retire?

laughing so I don’t start sobbing

5M

78

Original plan was 55, but the universe aligned and I was able to retire this year…10 years earlier than planned. And no, I did not win the lotto.

Never? I'm Gen Z so I'll never be able to afford it. I can't even afford to not live with my parents.

Death. Unfortunately.

Retirement is out of the question for me unless my life improves lol

You guys are retiring?

I had planned to retire at 41. Ended up retiring at 38 instead.

Like 10 years ago 😢😢😢

I watched my dad retire and go sedentary and almost have a heart attack. Both his parents died of heart attacks after doing the same. I kinda want to just keep moving for as long as I can. My dream is to do something like 20 hours a week in a small town farmer's market that I hope my old bosses' grandchildren will be running when their son and I get old.

Lol I don't plan on being able to retire

34 - probably never lol

Retire?! I f*cking wish! Lol

As early as I’m able to. And I’m still in college lmao. But I’m also Gen Z so I’ll probably never retire.

It's more like when will employers push you out of the workforce, regardless of how much money you don't have.

I don't think I will ever be able to retire. Also given how unpredictable inflation is... I just can't see ever thinking I have "enough money" particularly given that I doubt I will ever feel like I have enough money anyway.

I’m planning to work until I die and then my pets will eat my face.

My full pension kicks in at 60, partial at 55. So 60 at the absolute latest! Exact timing will mainly depend on whether we're ready to downsize our home and how much we'd profit from that (or not) at the time.

hopefully early 60s .. im 23 i have 16k in retirement so far 🙏 hopefully ill have enough when i get there

I think my retirement plan with my company says I can retire when I’m 63 or something! So…less than 30 years! 🤪

My plan is 45 but with how things are going might be 40.

I’m more likely to be able to preplan a nice funeral for myself than to retire lol but in an ideal world 55 seems like it would be a nice age to retire.

70, if I’m able.

Until I am mentally or physically unable to work. Not by necessity but because I like keeping myself busy.

Next year’s the year! I’ll be 52.

I wish I had the option to retire earlier than people with kids but I doubt that's going to happen. I don't make that much money, and the cost of living isn't going to get any better. So it's very likely that I work until I die....

I don't really intend to retire fully unless/until I'm forced to by health. But I am in a somewhat atypical situation in that I own the business, so whilst I'll gradually reduce the amount of time I spend working and delegate more to colleagues, I don't want to abandon it entirely.

If I was a cog in the machine of a giant faceless corporate entity, you can bet I'd be wanting to retire early :-)

My hope is that I can work for as long as I wish! But I should be able to retire before age 50 if I choose. I think I'll always have a part time job or small business (I'm a Financial Coach and educator) or do art or something - but it's nice to have the flexibility.

Odds are I'll be dead before I can retire. I just can't catch a fucking break

Retired accidentally at 50 when husband retired at 62. (yes, original DINKS)

10 years now, we have traveled and enjoyed ourselves. I have a fun Etsy shop, and my husband is busy working on this old farmhouse (we bought our forever home 2 years ago).

We moved Stateside 10 years ago to help with MIL, who passed 3 years ago @ 96.

67.5

when my parents die...