When people come into our office for help, sometimes they want to know if they can retire early at 55. Some are better off financially than they realized, while others might need to work a few more years.

On this episode of Saving the American Dream, we’ll explain what it takes to retire early and what you need to know.

Social Security

Social Security is a big part of many people’s income plan, and you can’t claim it at 55. You can’t receive it until you’re 62.

You could take a loan against your retirement account and pay an early withdrawal penalty, but you cannot take a loan against your social security and you cannot pay a penalty to access it early.

If you have enough assets on your balance sheet, you could potentially make that work, but that’s one thing you cannot ignore.

Retirement accounts

You can access your retirement accounts at 59.5 years old. Before that, you’ll have to pay a 10% penalty plus ordinary income tax.

To hear more about health care and other things to consider when retiring early, listen to the full podcast or use the timestamps below to jump to a specific section.

Navigating the Show

[1:02] – Can I retire at 55?

[3:16] – How many want to retire early?

[4:00] – Social Security

[5:48] – Retirement accounts

[7:31] – Health care

[8:41] – When to start planning

[10:19] – Comment: Pensions

[12:44] – Comment: Inflation

[13:51] – Comment: Savers

[17:34] – Question: Debt

[19:14] – Question: Social Security

[21:06]– Question: Nursing homes

“People are shocked if you’re looking to the private health insurance space compared to the company that you worked for.”

– Michael Schulte