<strong>The 401k gets raided during a health emergency. The asset accumulation of the fifties decade fails to materialize during a recession and associated unemployment. The high income promised by greater experience is minimized by an age bias in hiring. People like to hire others like them. A thirty-five year old does not see, or wish to accept, his reflection in the eyes of an elder.</strong>

<strong>Is the plan then to work until you drop? To move in with the kids, claiming an equal trade for times they moved back home? To clear the home refinances with a sale that allows the purchase of a tiny-house, or maybe a trailer? It’s disappointing, depressing, and scary.</strong>

<strong>Don’t wait until retirement to retire. Do it now, in slices. Don’t go away for a long weekend: take two weeks of full enjoyment. Then yes, it’s back to the grind for a while.</strong>

<strong>Don’t wait until you can buy a place on a balmy coast. Rent a cottage now and float – sun-kissed –in the buoyant saltwater! Drive through the Southwest, car-camping and lodging your way through the Grand Canyon and National Parks of rocky majesty. Pop in for a week with your kids, frolicking with grandchildren who like to somersault and blow iridescent bubbles into the gentle spring wind!</strong>

<strong>Start now: retire early, in little, savored slices of life. Travel before it’s difficult. Climb before the pains prevent it. Ride a bike along a beautiful pathway while your balance is still good. Don’t wait for some numbers to add up correctly. Pawn the promise of a gold watch for the rush of a ride down a whitewater river.</strong>

<strong>If you wait ’til the financial numbers seems right, until the actuarial prognosis is optimized, you may never get the chance.</strong>