Want to retire early? Here's the real secret.

[disneysteve]

A college friend posted photos of her retirement party the other day. Friday will be her last day of work. She graduated a few years before me so that makes her about 55.

My cousin retired 6 years ago, sold his house in Philadelphia, and had a beautiful new home built in Florida. He has lived there happily ever since. He was 55.

What do these two people have in common? How did they achieve their dreams of early retirement? They both share traits that I am quite sure went a long way in allowing them to build a large nest egg and hang up their careers 5 or 10 or more years before most folks.

They are both single, never married.
They are both childless.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that everyone take that approach (my wife and daughter wouldn't be too happy with me if I did suggest that) but it's a point worth noting. The whole "two can live as cheaply as one" saying is garbage. Sure there are certain economies of scale, but overall, it costs more to support 2 or 3 or 4 people than it does to support one. There's just no way around that.

Thoughts?

[TexasHusker]

A college friend posted photos of her retirement party the other day. Friday will be her last day of work. She graduated a few years before me so that makes her about 55.

My cousin retired 6 years ago, sold his house in Philadelphia, and had a beautiful new home built in Florida. He has lived there happily ever since. He was 55.

What do these two people have in common? How did they achieve their dreams of early retirement? They both share traits that I am quite sure went a long way in allowing them to build a large nest egg and hang up their careers 5 or 10 or more years before most folks.

They are both single, never married.
They are both childless.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that everyone take that approach (my wife and daughter wouldn't be too happy with me if I did suggest that) but it's a point worth noting. The whole "two can live as cheaply as one" saying is garbage. Sure there are certain economies of scale, but overall, it costs more to support 2 or 3 or 4 people than it does to support one. There's just no way around that.

Thoughts?

My thought is that an adult life void of intimate family relationships isn't worth any amount of money.

[~bs]

I am single, not married, no kids by choice. While I agree it is not for everyone, in some ways it can be easier to retire early.

I disagree in that 2 can't live as cheaply as one. marriage can be a great asset in saving money and retiring early IF you have a partner that "pulls their weight" and are on board with frugal living. Your savings can be far in excess of a single individual if you're splitting the major living expenses.

-You split expenses, giving you the potential to save more than if you were both single on your own. As a couple, you can still rent a 1 br, split the rent, split the utilities, buy groceries in bulk, share a vehicle, split hotel and car costs on vacation, etc etc.
-Marriage has tax benefits in that if one person makes say 100k, the other makes 30k, it lowers the effective tax rate.
-It is KIDS that are extremely expensive to raise even without an extravagant lifestyle. And especially so if you are helping them through college.
---------------
I am 35 years old right now, if I stay on track, being able to retire by 40 is a reasonable possibility. Not saying I will do it, as there are A LOT of uncertainties in life, medical insurance is a huge one. And it makes little sense to stop working, especially when I'll be entering the peak earning period of time 40s - 50s.

I am 100% sure that unless I marry someone with a similar income level and savings rate, and don't have kids, my finances would take a hit. And even in the event that I found someone like that, there's always the high possibility that divorce or changing priorities would derail it. Of course money isn't everything, but it is difficult finding someone in the millennial generation that isn't extremely short sighted and doesn't feel like I'm babysitting someone with that stopped maturing since they were a teenager. Additionally, there is an extremely high percentage of young adults with personality disorders or suffering from other mental disorders such as depression, that I simply do not want to deal with finding out about 3 months into a relationship. Having dealt with someone with BPD in the past, more and more I feel like pursuing long term relationships are not worth it. Instead, I develop my personal relationships with my family and good friends.

[Guppy Tender]

Other thoughts to add to discussion

The other thing is that being single you make choices differently. A married person has to have agreement with someone else on how money is spent.

Work also might not be what defines the person. I know that given a choice I would be back home doing things for my friends. I loved just spending time doing tasks for them. If I did not have to work, my retirement would be constantly running friends around, taking care of the children, cleaning as needed, and a bunch of other things to make their lives better.

Yes, it does take a lot less money to support one person, if that person is smart with how they spend the money they have.

[97guns]

Staying single helped me to retire early on a very meager salary, I've never had a job that paid more than $65k a year and I'm certain that I would not be retired right now if I married in my 20's or 30's

[97guns]

WAIT!!!!.... according to some folks here, I'm not retired

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'd argue kids are the expense. Working couple no kids and lots of income? And frugal? Retire earlier even.

[rennigade]

DS I think your view is skewed and you missed the boat on this one. I dont want this to come off sounding harsh...im just trying to remember reading things from your previous posts years ago. Your wife never had a full time job (or if she did it was a long time ago,) she was a sahm for a while...or she worked part time not making a lot of money.

In this scenario yes...it was more difficult for you since you were making the majority of the money and having to support her and your daughter.

Now pretend your wife was also a physician making same salary as you. You live the same lifestyle, you have one daughter...imagine how much more money you would have with two working professionals. I never understood why people think being single allows you to save more money? A child throws a wrench in the equation, they'r expensive..but two adults (dinks)...theres no argument imo unless one adult is a freeloader or doesnt make much money.

[TexasHusker]

We figure we are spending about $35K a year on our kids, and we are loving every minute of it.

[rennigade]

We figure we are spending about $35K a year on our kids, and we are loving every minute of it.

May not be a bad idea to start tracking expenses so you know what you're spending...then you can give an accurate number and not an educated guess.

Im old school and still use quicken to track expenses.

[AJ444]

My wife and I have made similar salaries since we got together eight years ago and we are both on board with living below our means and saving. While two definitely cost more than one we definitely live much cheaper together than we do apart which has allowed us to save much more.

I'll definitely agree that remaining childless has helped with saving and will result in hitting the retirement number earlier.

[Fishindude77]

I don't really see a correlation. I've got a few single, childless friends who will likely have to work until their can't physically work anymore due to spending it all as quick as they make it.
Single, married, kids or not ... you have to catch a lucky break somewhere along the way, or somebody needs to have a good handle on the finances to accomplish early retirement.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Maybe DS wife not working made retiring slower, but without kids? Even if she had worked a lesser salary and not equal to his it would have made retiring faster than a single person.

But the kid? Lots of extra costs. Either daycare or SAHP. Activities. More to vacation. More to Eat. Bigger house. Don't tell me not. You can't legally live in a 1 bedroom 1 with 1 kid. Many apartments won't allow it for fire code. So 2 bedroom it is. More healthcare costs. More insurance because family plans are more than 2 married people each covered by work. not to mention food, etc. Yeah they don't eat much when young but as they get older?

So kids are what make retiring harder, not really getting married. You can both work, both save into 401k/ira then save more and live like 1 person. Have a kid? Not the same.

[corn18]

Looking at it from the cold, harsh perspective of our balance sheet, yes, I would spend a lot less without a wife or kids.

But, for those that know my history of spending beyond my means, I can venture to guess that I would have lived well above my means whether I was married with kids or not. For me, the argument is not germane. I am stupid.

To TexasHusker, I agree completely with your position. Can't wait to spend even more on the grandkids!

Tom

[rennigade]

You can't legally live in a 1 bedroom 1 with 1 kid. Many apartments won't allow it for fire code. So 2 bedroom it is.

This isnt true...at least not in Maryland in Virginia. I live in Maryland...in our apartment complex alone there are dozens of families (3) who have 1 bedroom apartments.

Couple coworkers of mine who live in VA also live in 1 bedrooms and they are family of 3's as well.