• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • Communities We Serve
      • Cook County
        • Barrington
        • Glenview
        • Northbrook
        • Skokie
      • Lake County
        • Gurnee
        • Lincolnshire
        • Riverwoods
        • Vernon Hills
        • Waukegan
  • Services
    • Asset Protection & Business Planning
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration & Probate
  • Resources
    • Client Resources
      • Free Seminars
      • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
      • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Probate Resources
        • Glenview Probate
        • Lake Forest Probate
        • Lincolnshire Probate
        • Northbrook Probate
        • Vernon Hills Probate
        • Waukegan Probate
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Asset Protection
      • Business Succession Planning
      • Estate Planning
      • Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Financial Planning Assistance
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • LGBTQ Estate Planning
      • Probate
      • Trust Administration & Probate
      • Trusts
    • Legacy Wealth Planning
    • Published Books
    • Reports
      • Advanced Estate Planning
      • Basic Estate Planning
      • Estate Planning for Niches
      • Trust Administration
  • BLOG
  • Contact Us
  • Review Us

Hedeker Law

Illinois Estate Planning Attorneys

Connect with us today(847) 913-5415

Attend a Free Seminar
Home / General / Can I Retire Early?

Can I Retire Early?

February 21, 2017General

Can I Retire EarlyIdeally, you should start saving for your retirement as soon as you begin your first “real” job. As you get closer to retirement age, you will undoubtedly start looking forward to leaving the stress and pressure of the work world behind you. You may even want to speed up the clock so you can reach retirement age sooner. Although we typically refer to “retirement age” as age 65, the truth is that the age at which you decide to retire is not set in stone.  If you are tired of the “rat race,” and are ready to get out, you may start asking yourself “ Can I retire early? ”

Factors to Consider When Answer the Question “Can I Retire Early?”

For some people, an early retirement is a very real possibility. In order to decide if you are one of those people you need to take a number of factors into consideration. Those factors can typically be broken down into two important categories:

  • How much will it cost you to retire?
      • Life expectancy –– first, you need to consider your life expectancy. If you are close to retirement age right now, you can expect to live, on average, to age 84 if you are a man and age 87 if you are a woman. One in four people, however, will live past age 90 and one in 10 past age 95. For a more individual estimate, use the Social Security Life Expectancy Calculator or try the “How Long Will I Live?” quiz.
      • Living expenses during retirement – although it is impossible to know, with certainty, how much you will need for day to day living expenses during your retirement, experts tend to agree on some basic formulas that will give you a good idea of what you will need. Take 80 percent of your average monthly expenses today and multiply by 12 for your yearly expenses. Then multiple that by the number of years you are expected to live into your retirement years.
  • Long-term care costs – at age 65 you stand a 50 percent chance of needing long-term care (LTC) and by age 85 a 75 percent chance. You either need to have funds set aside to pay for that care or you need to include Medicaid planning in your estate plan to ensure that you qualify.
  • Inheritance – decide on a rough estimate of how much you hope to have left to pass down to your loved ones at the end of your life.
  • How much is available to support you if you retire?
  • Social Security retirement benefits – the amount of your Social Security retirement benefits will change – much more than you likely realize – based on when you retire. Assuming your full retirement age is 65, for example, and that you will receive $1000 per month in benefits at that age, your monthly benefit will change if you retire earlier or later. Retiring at age 62 would reduce your monthly benefit – forever – to just $750 while working for another 4 years would raise it to $1,240. Over the course of a year, that’s a potential difference of almost $6,000!
  • Pensions and employer sponsored retirement plans – although pensions are considerably less common these days, some larger employers do still offer pension benefits to employees and/or other employer sponsored retirement benefits.
  • IRAs, savings, and assets – because so few employers still offer a heathy retirement benefits package, many workers are now taking matters into their own hands by contributing to an IRA or saving for their own retirement in other ways.

Once you have analyzed all of these factors, you should be able to sit down and figure out whether you can financially afford to retire early or whether you are going to have to wait until full retirement age – or even beyond – to retire.

Contact Us

If you have additional questions or concerns regarding when you can retire, contact the experienced Illinois estate planning attorneys at Hedecker Law, Ltd. by calling (847) 913-5415 to schedule an appointment.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Dean R. Hedeker
Dean R. Hedeker
Dean Hedeker is a leading Chicago-area authority on estate and tax planning, business law and investments. A long-time resident of north suburban Lincolnshire, Dean has more than 35-years experience helping business owners and families grow, protect and pass on their hard-earned money through tax planning, estate planning and investment management services.
Dean R. Hedeker
Latest posts by Dean R. Hedeker (see all)
  • How Can I Terminate a Living Trust? - September 24, 2019
  • Is an AB Trust Right for My Estate Plan? - September 12, 2019
  • How Can I Include Philanthropy in My Estate Plan? - September 4, 2019

Other Articles You May Find Useful

Lincolnville inheritance planning attorney
Lincolnshire Inheritance Planning — Keeping the State Out of Your Estate
Asset protection trusts
Asset Protection Trusts — Can They Protect My Assets If My Spouse Remarries after I Die?
Vernon Hills estate planning lawyers
Vernon Hills Estate Planning Lawyers Explain 10 Steps to Creating an Estate Plan
trust administration
Trust Administration Questions to Ask Yourself When Appointing a Trustee
Lincolnville asset protection trusts
Lincolnshire Asset Protection Trusts – Are Your Assets Safe?
estate planning attorneys
Estate Planning Attorneys Explain the 5 Most Important Estate Planning Components

Primary Sidebar

FREE ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET

There's a lot that goes into setting up a comprehensive estate plan, but with our FREE worksheet, you'll be one step closer to getting yourself and your family on the path to a secure and happy future.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • twitter
  • link
  • youtube

Testimonials

Client Review
September 8, 2020
    

Dean's knowledge is very comprehensive and current. He not only sees and understands the particular question but he puts it in the context my particular matter and to the overall business and tax environment. Dean has been my attorney for many (over 20) years. I am also an attorney but I would never make a tax, business or financial decision without his extraordinary advice and counsel.

default image
Raymond

Where We Are

LINCOLNSHIRE
1 Overlook Point, Suite 610,
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Phone: (847) 913-5415

See Larger Map Get Directions

Blog Subscription

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Office Hours

Monday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Map

hedeker_sidbr_map

Footer

  • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
  • About The American Academy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • twitter
  • link
  • youtube
footer-logo

Hedeker Law Ltd.
All Right Reseved.

Attorney Advertisement

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.