Early Retirement Strategies for Air Traffic Controllers

Ryan can leverage early retirement as an opportunity to pursue passion-driven work while allowing his investments to continue compounding.

### Navigating Early Retirement: Strategies for Financial Growth and Personal Fulfillment
* ✈ Ryan, as an air traffic controller facing mandatory retirement at 56, you may feel anxious about losing out on **compound growth**, but it's important to remember that your money can **continue to work for you** even after retirement.
* 💼 Many professions, including military personnel and airline pilots, have similar mandatory retirement ages, yet this doesn't mean your **investments stop compounding**.
* 📊 It's crucial to structure your portfolio with a mix of long-term investments, including **40-year, 30-year, and 20-year money**, so your dollars can **keep growing even at 55**.
* 🕒 Assess your TSP balance and pension to determine if they will **support your desired lifestyle**; if not, consider ways to **supplement your income from 55 to 65**.
* 🌟 Embrace this transition as an opportunity to **explore what brings you joy**, utilizing the valuable resource of **time** that you now have at your disposal.
* 💪 Many individuals in high-earning careers have successfully navigated retirement by finding part-time work to **cover living expenses** while allowing their investments to **grow**, creating a **smoother transition into retirement**.
* 🎉 You have the unique luxury of choosing work that fulfills you rather than being bound by financial obligations, allowing you to **pursue your passions and interests** in this new chapter of life.
* ✨ This can be an **exciting new beginning** for you, where you can leverage your resources and energy to create a **fulfilling post-retirement life**.

[Music] All right, Ryan L133 has a question. He says, I am an air traffic controller that has to retire at 56. I have a TSP and a 30 to 40% pension. I feel like I am losing so much compound growth by forced early retirement. Any suggestions? Um, so there are a lot of professions, Ryan, that have this, you know, mandatory retirement or just early tenure. You know, you have teachers or you have military personnel or obviously air traffic control or airline pilots that either have an age they have to stop working or they hit teen and they start leaving early. And just because, and this is something important to not just because you retire, just because you are no longer working does not mean that your dollars stop compounding. I think people are amazed by this. They think, Okay, I'm going to build, I'm going to build, I'm going to get some, my number at 65, and then that's where the journey ends. $1 turned into 88, and the 88 doesn't go anywhere else. In reality

that's not what happens even at 65 or in your case at 55. Some portion of your portfolio needs to probably be 40-year money, and then some portion needs to be 30-year money, and some portion needs to be 20-year money. So even at 55, which is a relatively young age, your dollars are still going to have the opportunity to compound, and some portion of your portfolio is going to be still risk-on. It may be less than it was when you were 35, but just because you retired doesn't mean that your dollars cannot stop working for you. What you're going to have to assess is when I look at my TSP balance and when I look at that 30 to 40% pension, will those two sources be enough to allow me to live the life that I want to live? If the answer is no, then the issue may not be, Okay, well, my money stopped compounding. The issue may be, Okay, I got to figure out something to do from age 55 to 60 or from 55 to 65 to

bolster the plan. But just because you retire doesn't mean that your money retires. It does not stop working for you when you leave the workforce. Ryan, I'm only a bean bag toss from being at that 56 part there, so I mean, I can tell you what I think that this means for you. Yes, your employer and the government are telling you at age 56, you have to retire from the air traffic controller. So maybe that means potentially you're done with your peak earning years. But that doesn't mean because you wouldn't have asked this question unless you had something in the back of your mind that says, Hey, I don't know that I'm going to be done at 56 years of age. So you don't have to listen to them on saying you're completely done with how you spend your time. But I would challenge you, you're going to be at this threshold that you'll have the most valuable resource that you can't get more of, which is time, and you have to figure out

how you now want to use it now. It sounds like between the tsp, between the pension, you're going to be in a pretty good financial position. I don't know how old you currently are, and I don't know how far in the future CU. I don't know if he gave that data point to us, but I would tell you right now, use this blessing of this threat margin of time that you have to figure out what you want to do, what brings you joy, you know, and you can use this valuable resource. I think that that's, like I said, a blessing and a good thing that you are already having these questions and these thoughts. Use that curiosity to kind of make sure that you hit that threshold because you know it's coming, and you do it as peak efficiency as possible, um, and you don't have regrets. I'm kind of excited for you because I think that that means you might have a new beginning if you have the energy and the excitement that you think that you're walking away.

from you know you want to go do more and work um I I I more power to you you know figure out what that thing is because I can tell you know 20s something year old version of myself thought that I was going to be done at 50 to 55 years of age but now here I am in this this decade of being in the 50s that I'm like no I still have tons of energy I still have tons to create um so I think it's a blessing that you actually get to now have resources behind you and even income and cash flow coming in that you can go pursue what what the next chapter is. We've had clients Bri I'm kind of like going through in my head who've been in a similar situation. They were like very high earning careers you know maybe making $150 $200,000 a year. They hit retirement and while they weren't ready to retire they weren't ready to exit what they really wanted to do is just go find a job that could cover

their living expenses. So, where they might have been making $200,000 pre-retirement, they go find a job making $50,000 or $60,000 because they know that's what their footprint is. And rather than being able to save and build the 25%, they just do that for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years and let the money that they had earned continue to grow. That's a perfectly viable ease into retirement, if that makes sense. And we've seen a lot of people do that really, really successfully. And Ryan, you have a luxury most people don't have. Most people have to work to pay the bills, so you don't actually own your time. You're encumbered by your obligations. Use this as, like I said, as that cool opportunity where you work for the desire, the pleasure, and the actual benefits you get out of it, as emotionally and spiritually, versus the other side of it where you wake up and you go, I don't really want to do this, but I have to do it. You have

the potential at 56. You work for the passion, the desire, not because you have to. I think that's a pretty cool place to be. mhm

Retiring at 56—Am I Missing Out on Compound Growth?

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Navigating Early Retirement as an Air Traffic Controller

Ryan, an air traffic controller, is concerned about losing compound growth due to his forced early retirement at 56.

It's important to note that retirement doesn't stop his dollars from compounding, and he should consider having a portion of his portfolio in long-term investments.

He needs to assess whether his TSP and pension will be enough to support his desired lifestyle and may need to find additional work or income sources from 55 to 65.

Retiring from the workforce at 56 doesn't mean your money stops working for you.

It's a crucial time to reassess how to use your newfound resource of time.

With a good financial position from the TSP and pension, it's an opportunity to explore what brings you joy and plan for a fulfilling new chapter.

Transitioning into the Next Chapter of Life

Many people in their 50s discover they still have energy and a desire to create, challenging the notion of retiring at a certain age.

Some individuals successfully transition from high-paying careers to lower-paying jobs post-retirement, using the income to cover living expenses while allowing their savings to grow.

This approach offers a viable way to ease into retirement, providing the opportunity to work for personal fulfillment rather than financial necessity.

Working for passion and desire, rather than obligation, is a fulfilling approach.

This mindset creates a positive and motivating environment.

Finding joy in work can lead to a more satisfying and meaningful life.