I plan on working til I absolutely can’t work anymore, but the catch is I will be doing a job I love (by this I mean I find out what I am gifted at, and move towards that direction) by the time I get that old. If you hate your job and it feels like a daily grind and you think there’s more to life than that, then you should probably change your career. You might have it all figured out as to how much you’d need to retire but things do change and there’s nothing to stop a hyperinflation from making your savings next to worthless. I have seen retirees spend their day watching TV 15 hours a day and I just wonder if they have already died. By the way the ROC military gives very good pension (I am sure the US is similar too, correct me if I am wrong) where the government pays you something like 60% of your monthly salary (which is quite high if you are an officer) for the rest of your life, on top of free medical care at any veteran’s or military hospital, if you have served over 20 years in the military. My dad has this kind of pension by the way, which I am sure it’s something everyone dreams of. But think about this: Say if you retire early (which is what many Generation X people want) by making loads of money, then you sit around and do nothing, might seem fun at first but over time it just becomes boring. Then what happens is you either watch TV all day and waste away, or get yourself into trouble (like what happens with unemployed, but welfared people in Europe).