Can You Afford Extreme Early Retirement? (Yahoo!)

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Can You Afford Extreme Early Retirement?

Could retirement before you're even eligible to join AARP be the quintessential impossible dream? Not if you're consistently disciplined, focused, driven and don't give a hoot about what the Joneses think of that beat-up Chevy in the driveway, say experts.

Whether you work to live or live to work is a question increasingly answered in favor of living by couples who have opted out of the daily grind before the traditional "early" retirement age of 50-something. What's more, they're not going quietly, but instead are springing up on Web sites and in media interviews, telling their stories and encouraging others to follow suit.

Bankrate found two such couples who were eager to share their tales of extreme early retirement: Billy and Akaisha Kaderli, and Sandy Aldridge and partner Dale Lugenbehl. Though their lifestyles are vastly different, they share many traits. Several Bankrate readers also shared their early retirement experiences.

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I make slightly more than all my co-workers, I spend considerably less than all my co-workers. I have been saving in tax advantaged retirement accounts since I was 23.

I am on track to retire at 51-55 and my plans do not include social security or the pension (1100/mo) I will recieve if I retire from my current company.

Time is better than money. Every dollar I save today is an hour added to my retirement years, and I would prefer to add them to the begining of my retirement, rather than the end.

Thanks for that -- I'm about to retire at 48, and need to figure out what to do.