Hey everyone, I'm Robert Kim, and I'm going to share something that might make some of you think I'm crazy: my wife and I decided we want to retire by age 50. That's eight years from now, when I'll be 50 and she'll be 48.
Now, before you start calculating how much we'd need to save—yeah, it's a lot. Currently, we have $180K in retirement accounts, $45K in other investments, and we make about $135K combined. To retire in eight years, we'd need roughly $1.2 million, which means saving almost $100K per year while living in an expensive city.
But here's the thing: retirement at 50 wasn't just about the money. It was about the lifestyle we wanted to build, the fears we needed to address, and the values that actually mattered to us. My dad worked until 67 and retired with great savings but terrible health. My wife's mom retired at 62 but felt lost without her career identity. We wanted to do this differently, but we had no idea HOW.
My financial advisor (bless his patience) kept saying "let's start with basics" while I wanted to jump straight to "how do we make this actually work?" Our accountant warned us about tax implications. Our friends thought we were either geniuses or idiots—probably both. I realized we needed a decision making approach that would help us evaluate retirement strategies based on what we actually valued, not just what the investment world told us we should value.
🔧 The Retirement Strategy Puzzle
My wife Emma and I realized we had more than two choices for retirement planning. Instead of just "save aggressively vs. save moderately," we identified three distinct strategies:
Our Three Retirement Approaches:
1. Aggressive Early Retirement Path - Max out all accounts, live on 50% of income, target $1.2M by 50
2. Balanced Traditional Path - Save steadily, target $900K by 55, retire at 55 with more lifestyle flexibility
3. Conservative Comfort Path - Save moderately, target $750K by 60, retire at 60 with comfortable lifestyle
đź“Š Our Family's Retirement Priorities
Before we could compare strategies, the WADM 🔧 process forced us to get brutally honest about what we actually wanted from retirement:
✅ Financial Security & Risk Management (35%): This wasn't just about having money—it was about feeling confident we'd never run out, especially if we lived to 90.
🎯 Lifestyle Quality During Accumulation (25%): We didn't want to spend our 40s feeling deprived just to retire early. Life happens NOW, not just in retirement.
⏰ Time Freedom & Early Retirement Potential (20%): The whole point was getting our time back. Which strategy actually delivered on that promise?
🏥 Healthcare & Unexpected Costs Planning (10%): Healthcare in your 50s isn't cheap, and we wanted a buffer for the unexpected.
💰 Flexibility & Option Preservation (10%): Life changes—would these strategies let us pivot if our needs or goals shifted?
đź“Š The WADM Retirement Strategy Matrix
With our priorities defined, we đź“Š scored each approach honestly. This was the moment that changed everything:
| Factor | Weight(%) | Aggressive Early Retirement | Balanced Traditional | Conservative Comfort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Security & Risk Management | 35 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Lifestyle Quality During Accumulation | 25 | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| Time Freedom & Early Retirement Potential | 20 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| Healthcare & Unexpected Costs Planning | 10 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Flexibility & Option Preservation | 10 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Total | 100 | 7.10 | 8.15 | 8.35 |
Click to import this decision case into the editable WADM tool
🔧 The Numbers Don't Lie: The "Safe" Choice Wins
I'll be honest—these ✅ results completely surprised us! As excited as we were about early retirement, the Conservative Comfort Path 📊 scored highest at 8.35, with Balanced Traditional in second place at 8.15, and Aggressive Early Retirement at 7.10.
Here's what the math revealed:
Conservative Comfort (8.35) won because it was the only approach that didn't require major lifestyle sacrifices. We'd still save 20% of our income, live well, travel occasionally, and retire at 60 with enough to be truly comfortable. The financial security 📊 scored a perfect 10/10, and lifestyle quality during our 40s was 9/10. Balanced Traditional (8.15) was solid across the board—good retirement security (9/10) with manageable lifestyle compromises (8/10) during our earning years. It felt like the "safe middle ground" option. Aggressive Early Retirement (7.10) crashed hard on lifestyle quality (4/10). We'd essentially be living like college students for eight years to retire early. Don't get me wrong, the time freedom potential was 10/10, but the lifestyle costs were brutal.📌 The Plot Twist: Why We Almost Chose Wrong
Seeing these âś… results was humbling. We'd been so focused on the excitement of early retirement that we'd ignored the real costs. The WADM showed us that our aggressive plan would mean:
- No family vacations for 8 years
- Never eating out unless it was for work
- Skipping friend's weddings and celebrations because of travel costs
- Constant stress about money despite "planning for the future"
âś… Our Decision: The Middle Path (Sort Of)
Here's what we actually decided: we're going with a modified version of the Balanced Traditional path with some elements from both extremes.
We're targeting $1M by age 55 instead of $900K by 55, which means saving 22% of our income instead of the recommended 15%. It's aggressive enough to give us options earlier (maybe retire at 53-55) but not so extreme that we'll hate our 40s.
We also identified three "escape valves" in our plan:
1. If we save more than planned, we can retire earlier
2. If our income increases, we can accelerate the timeline
3. If we change our minds, we can always dial back the savings
The WADM taught us that good planning isn't about finding the "perfect" strategy—it's about creating options and building in flexibility.
🔧 The Real Learning: Retirement Planning Is Life Planning
This decision making framework changed how we think about retirement entirely. We learned that the goal isn't just having enough money to stop working—it's designing a life that you'll actually want to live in every phase.
Looking at our âś… results, I realized we were conflating "financial freedom" with "early retirement." The WADM helped us see that we could build financial security AND maintain a life we enjoyed in our 40s.
If you're thinking about retirement planning, don't just follow the FIRE movement or traditional advice blindly. Get specific about what retirement actually means to YOU, weight those priorities honestly, and let the numbers guide you toward a strategy that fits your actual life, not your idealized vision of it.
Sometimes the "boring" financial plan is exactly the right one for your family.
P.S. - Six months later, we're on track with our balanced plan, we're still traveling, and we sleep well at night knowing we're building a secure future without sacrificing our present. Retirement planning isn't about deprivation—it's about being smart with your money AND your life.