When watching television the ads all make it sound as if 55 is a reasonable retirement age. In fact, for most of us it’s not. The average median retirement age in Ireland is 62 for men and 61 for women.
Who does retire early? In the past and by in large it was civil servants and government employees and the banking sector who on average give up employment before normal retirement age. You can credit their early departures to generous pensions that are indexed for inflation. 
If you look at the math behind retirement, you can see why most of us stick around the office a bit longer than we might like. For every year early that you retire, you pay three penalties: you lose a year of potential savings, you lose a year of growth for your retirement savings, and you gain one more year of retirement expenses.
Consider a professional lady who arrives at 55 in good financial stead, with no mortgage and €100,000 in savings. She can count on her savings to produce €4,000 or €5,000 a year in returns, but she’s too young to start collecting Old Age Pension or Pension Plan. Unless she resorts to desperate measures, such as selling her house or going through her savings, retirement is impractical.
But look at what a difference five years can make. If she plans for 60 and contributes €10,000 a year to her retirement fund during that period, and achieves a 7% annual average return, her savings in principal could double to €200,000. That plan can generate €8,000 to €10,000 a year in income as long as she lives. At 60, she can also start collecting the State Pension. If she combines those sources of income, retirement becomes quite practical and hopefully comfortable.
Please consider the principle of retirement saving.
It will cost nothing more than an investment in time to check it out, speak to a Qualified Financial Advisor!
-Boyd Scott
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