Early Retirement Rules In Washington
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One frequently used rule of thumb for retirement spending is known as the 4% rule. It's relatively simple: You add up all of your investments, and withdraw 4% of that total during your first year of retirement. In subsequent years, you adjust the dollar amount you withdraw to account for inflation.
There's nothing in the retirement rulebook that says you can't retire at 55 years old. In fact, some members of the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement aim to retire as early as 40. So it's perfectly legal to retire in your mid-50s if that's your goal.
Full retirement age is 65. You can also choose to retire as early as age 55, but your benefit could be reduced depending on your total years of service.
However, you unfortunately cannot begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits at 55. The earliest age you can begin drawing Social Security retirement benefits is 62. But there's a catch – taking Social Security benefits prior to reaching your full retirement age results in a reduction of your benefit amount.
Age may be just a number, but that number matters when it comes to retiring. The common definition of early retirement is any age before 65 — that's when you may qualify for Medicare benefits. Currently, men retire at an average age of 64, while for women the average retirement age is 62.
However, the IRS rule of 55 may allow you to receive a distribution in the year you reach age 55 or later (and before age 59½) without triggering the early penalty if your plan provides for such distributions. Any distribution would still be subject to an income tax withholding rate of 20 percent, however.
You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. However, you are entitled to full benefits only when you reach your full retirement age. If you delay taking your benefits from your full retirement age up to age 70, your benefit amount will increase.
A worker can choose to retire as early as age 62, but doing so may result in a reduction of as much as 30 percent. Starting to receive benefits after normal retirement age may result in larger benefits. With delayed retirement credits, a person can receive his or her largest benefit by retiring at age 70.
On top of economic volatility, the 4% rule fails to take into account taxes and fees on the actual amount that a retiree withdraws. For example, if you have $2 million in retirement savings, you can withdraw $80,000 from your account based on the 4% rule.
