I'm ready. Unfortunately, at 53 my projected post-employment income is not. So I have no choice but to keep on. I also work in the tech sector and although I have absolutely no complaints about my pay, but I don't know if it qualifies as "high paying" within that context. Still, I'd take a 'doable' cut in pay any day to do something else, but I don't see that happening.

My wife and I are in kind of a weird situation. She is eight years younger than myself with me at 59 (May) and her at 50. I was able to retire at 55 where as she has to wait till she is 66. I still work three days a week while she works full time and is in school to earn her masters ( I don't know how she does it) but, we already live a pretty simple life. My '99 Jeep is paid for as is her '05 Mazda 6 and they both are in great shape with a lot of years left in them. Our modest 2 bedroom ranch will be paid off in September and we have already put our only child through college. My hobbies which are cars, photography and bikes are good and everything is paid for and functioning properly. Once the house is paid off we have a few credit cards to pay off (nothing ridiculous) and that's about it. I have to admit I am pretty darn satified and blessed.

Some years back, a co-worker was offered a buyout incentive to retire at 62. He took it (He would have been crazy not to) and he now enjoys working part time at the Home Depot.
I think most of us in our 50s will need some sort of part-time retirement job. Me, I would take Trader Joe's, or even the local grocery store, as your friend did.

I'm hoping to go car-free after I retire, in 7 to 10 years. I live pretty simply already. I'm not much of a restaurant guy, since I prefer to cook myself. I'm not big on travel, since it travelling has become such a PITA.

Generally speaking, Americans can't. But you can.

It depends on you. I have been at it for 6 months. I am and have always been debt free. I also have always had a simpler life than many people. Though living in the USA, not simple by world standards. I haven't simplified like someone going on a new diet. Just had some emerging change in interests related to retiring and reconsidering what things mean. So lots more personal or human sized interests. Things I had interest in long ago and never did.

Things like biking, hiking, nature, astronomy, and some I had in mind for some time but never did like kayaking etc.

Now all these can be like biking and cost you as much as someone who is a classic car collector. Or you can keep them to levels that get the most for the effort and buck. A little extra brings good returns, but you don't need to reach the nth level in them. There is even a negative interest in that for me. This way they don't cost all that much. Can be very interesting, and engage you at a deep and complex level that seems very worthwhile.

So if you change your perspective you can do it. One important point is not to live a bare bones super minimal existence. You can have interesting, complex, engaging interests without them requiring tremendous resources. Having things that hold your interest, and engage you are important. There are many ways to do that without spending bunches if you search them out. Learning those things also is like another adventure of something you may not have done before now. A new chapter in your life, makes it a bit easier to alter your general direction of perception.

I suppose I could but my wife and I love our present lifestyles and working. I really enjoy my job and get lots of respect and exciting work. It's the same thing I've always done but now I'm in consulting and get to be creative and innovative. The job is both fun and challenging

We have good incomes, enjoy a boat where we spend weekends, get to take nice vacations, and of course money to spend on bikes.

Simple, as in inexpensive, frugal? I'll have to keep it simple - or not retire. Fortunately, book reading, gardening, cycling, and may other activities are both simple and inexpensive. Time, now that is precious.

Being a liberal as well as an elected official, I and my wife controlled our debt. House paid for, cars paid for in cash, children's post high school education at private colleges paid in cash. I retired at 57 and my wife will at 55. We have two homes, one for sale the other, larger home, sits on twenty acres with a trout stream and the roads WI developed because of the dairy industry.

Do we fly to Mexico in the Spring? No.
Do we vacation a couple of times of the year in N, WI or the UP of MI. You betcha,

Do we enjoy top shelf meals every night because I cook? Yup.

Last night I had a discussion with my 23 yr. old daughter. She needs a new bike. She has adopted the family standard and is concerned about accumulating debt. "Abbie, are you going to use the bike to commute to work?" "Yes, dad." Well, then use your credit card and get the bike that meets your need . It is not a vacation, short term consumable or out to lunch expense. It is transportation. Bite the bullet, charge the remaning you can afford and move one. Pay off early. Good financial decision.

Ya think my daughter will retire to a simple life? Live simply and yet with purpose and you too can live your dream. Saddle yourself with debt? Why should this liberal bail you out?

Sounds like you can do it. All of the stories I hear about life in Italy sound enticing-revolving around great food and a slower pace of life.
And who knows how long we have to enjoy it in the company of our spouses?

I met a guy today who is 97 and rides his stationary bike in his living room while watching Lawrence Welk on TV.
He said, "I've ridden that thing 2000 miles, and I haven't gone anywhere!"

Great topic. I ask myself, what parts of the day do I enjoy? I like exercising (soccer, golf, cycling), I like eating, I like certain TV shows, movies, music, reading, I like hanging out with friends, and I like a certain other activity that will go unmentioned. None of this has to be expensive, especially if you have the time to think about things. Don't need to eat at expensive restaurants if you cook yourself (which can be quite fun and social), don't need to meet friends in Cancun, don't need to golf at Pebble Beach to have fun. It is entirely possible to live a fulfilling, simpler life.

I am about to do the same thing. Post retirement income of less than $35K/yr, but have health insurance benefits. Have been studying my expenses for a while. I am confident I can do it.

I'm 64 and my goal in retirement will be to live as well as we do now: able to spend money on travel especially. Our current life is not simple but it isn't runaway rampant consumerism either. Our newest vehicle is 8 1/2 years old. Since my worst worry is outliving my money in retirement and my wife's business isn't making much money, I'm working a couple of extra years to be more confident about that. I do mostly enjoy my work (a big factor to me anyway) and at my stage of life the bosses cannot do much to harm or distress me... which is a good feeling.

I am very sympathetic with simplifying life in retirement and I'm sure we will do some of that: selling off junk we've accumulated over the years comes to mind. And trying to spend more time on projects around the house I've been putting off. But I also want to be able to do more of some things that cost money when I stop working. It's complicated isn't it?

I'm 66 and still working at a job I enjoy, but as a full-time telecommuter (parent co. is in Iowa) I think cost savings measures and the flattening of our business area could result in retirement by year's end: not necessarily a bad thing. We'll be ok in retirement, more the result of dumb luck than good planning. I'm in the last generation of defined benefit retirement plans plus Social Security plus some decent savings. We will definitely simplify our life somewhat, but living outside a small town on 5 acres, having a few horses, etc. makes for more infrastructure than ideal during retirement. Oh, and I can't move out of California even with all its problems and costs since I have a son with two grandsons here; I'd like to watch them grow up. My other son and grandson are in the Boston area.

I'm going to look for something part time in retirement just to keep busy. Might have to travel out of town every other week or so, but it's hard to throttle back completely after being busy one's whole life.

Firstly, good luck, and every success to you.

Secondly, about English Language Teaching in Europe. Basic speaker English as a first language (E1L) competence will get you maybe 4 euros per hour for conversation classes. The game is hardly worth the candle - because E1L films and good secondary education makes it next to unnecessary.

However, good teachers of English for Educational Purposes (EEP, for people wanting English Language study in Universities), or good teachers for English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) or English for Specific Purposes (ESP) are hard to find and can make +/- 600 Euros a day. They are expected to have academic qualifications, to know their way around a curriculum or a professional field, and to be able to design a syllabus including grammar, specialised vocabulary, and discourse in likely contexts (negotiation, project management,, so forth)

Once again, good luck. I'd recommend an ESP qualification. Might cost you same as a month's earnings once you have it

Yes, I'm up-to-speed on the whole ESL in Italy opportunity. I'm a College Grad (BS, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois) and have taught ESL as a volunteer in Chicago. My oldest daughter taught ESL at a private school to Professional and Government employees in Rome for 18 months. My wife is a third generation teacher with a Teaching Degree in Language from the University of Rome.

The good news is that we will be in a remote region of Italy where the need for ESL is moderate and the number of Native-English-speaking & Degree-holding individuals in the local area can be counted on one hand.

We will take a trip this summer to better assess the reality of employment. But our decision does not depend on finding work.

Yipster.

Forza

I retired early although I couldn't have comfortably scaled back to essentials. But many people do and thrive. I recommend that you visit the Early Retirement Forums. you will find a friendly group of people, many of whom are already on the path you are contemplating. Lots of good discussions on topics from planning for, affording, and living in early retirement.

OP, I did it in two stages.In my mid-forties I quit my very remunerative, high-status high-stress job because I wasn't enjoying it any more. It felt as if I existed to serve the job, not the other way round. So I took something at about half the salary that still had enough interest to keep my brain alive, and discovered, I'm glad to say, that being terribly important wasn't terribly important.

Then a year ago, when I was 56, the organisation I worked for closed down. My pensions don't kick in until I'm sixty, and I've always pretty much lived up to my income so I didn't have a fortune. However, I was and am debt free, no mortgage, no dependents. So I decided not to look for another job, and live on my savings until my retirement income materialised. I sold the car (I live in a city) and on the rare occasions when I really need one, I hire it. The only major change to my lifestyle is that I used to spend a lot of money in restaurants, and now use them only rarely.

It's the best decision I ever made. One doesn't need to spend a great deal to live well. I get out on the bike five or six days a week, I'm finally fit enough to race (at least, to race with the Cat4s), I volunteer one day a week at a local cycling-related charity and am on their board of trustees. My favourite vacation is cycle touring, I celebrated quitting work with an eight-week tour, and it's pretty economical if one camps, uses hostels etc. most of the time. And since I can do what I like, I am spending next winter in Southern Spain. Off season, apartments can be rented for a pittance and I can live as cheaply there as at home.

It feels like freedom. If you can, do it.

Don't think too many folks here live "simpler" than we do, we live on less than $30.000 a year, live in a one bedroom apt. $450 a mo. including utilities, we have NO CAR, my wife commutes to work via "city bus or bicycle", (lol, she's a fair weather rider). I'm a lowly house husband, due to medical problems that make me SLOW, (you can be late, ect. but employers HATE a worker who's SLOW!!!) I have a utility bike and a trekking road bike, both cost in the $600 dollar range, (what most of you consider a decent "entry level" machine is HIGH END to me!). I've built a homemade utility trailer to get food and larger items, are recreation is "bicycle riding", movies, walking. We made sure we live close to several cafe's, movie theaters, and even a local Mall only 3 miles from 3 different food stores.

If we have to get somewhere FAST, it's a taxi or in a extreme case we "rent a car", (OUCH). It's a lifestyle that 99.9% of Americans just couldn't handle but for us it works pretty well. Now, it's no utopia, it can be RPIA at times as you have to learn to "manage time" much more than if you own cars!!! Still we've been doing it for 5 years now and don't plan on changing it so, yes, it's possible to live a "simple life" but it's up to YOU.

I'd retire right now also but I'd need my younger (by 11 yrs) "trophy" wife to keep working. No chance. Too bad, since she makes good money.

I can't see downsizing and moving to cheap rural locale because I love my neighborhood and neighbors. We all say we'll never leave each other. Too much fun being had.

Seems like these suspenders are a bit excessive, but I suppose I could get rid of them if I had to.

Some cheap rural locations are better than others ;-).

I don't know. That already sounds like a much more complex life than I lead, which is currently work, sleep, go to the grocery store. unwind on the Internet.

My new bike is nearly 4 years old. I got a small flat screen TV when the tube model started having purple and green patches. No cable, no Ipad, though I do have PC, Mac and Ubuntu machines on my desk. No smart phones, but a simple cell phone which gets used several times a year.

I live in a cheap rural location-nice house on a lake with private boat slip a ten minute walk away. NO! I am not telling you where! :-)
Downsizing way OK by me.

If I could get a select dozen or more of my neighbors (and families) to move with me, I'd love to find a rural location near a sleepy golf course and maybe a lake...

So the other side of my brain is thinking about the fluke ski trip I just took with neighbor guys to a borrowed ($16M) ski mansion in Park City. It sure would be nice to have that kind of money someday. (Who builds a $16M fourth home???) Never mind. I'm sure I would be miserable.