Like everything else in life, there are innumerable variables. My husband and I took a different path. We were focused on developing multiple income streams, so we worked 9-5 jobs and purchased a few rental properties. Our personal home was a lot less than what we could afford and we never traded up. Over the years we contributed to 401Ks, invested in the stock market and my husband used the IRS 55+ exception to quit his job and begin retirement. We paid off any remaining mortgages with some of the money from his 401K without penalty. We are debt-free and paid cash for a condo in Florida so that we could snowbird. I'm not old enough to withdraw from my retirement accounts yet, but I don't need to. Our properties help our rental income to keep pace with inflation, so we have never needed to have anywhere near a million dollars in investments or cash. I earn a nice bit of cash consulting for a couple of clients and hubby is now old enough to collect social security. We don't live extravagantly, but we do have the luxury of traveling and buying the things that we want without a financial struggle. Ours was just one of the many paths that can lead to retirement.
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