I, too, can attest to the importance of being ready for retirement as early as possible. I was able to retire at 50, but continued working because I had 2 kids in college and I succumbed to the one more year which lasted 5 years. I told my boss I was retiring, got my papers together, and my boss came to me with a great promotion, a job I would have wanted to do. I said let me think about it. The next day my doctor called back for tests after my annual exam. Ends up I had breast cancer. And not the good kind (ha, ha). So I was facing surgery, chemo, and radiation over the following 8 months. I told the boss about my illness, thanked him for the offer, but declined the promotion. I went ahead and retired. During much of it, I could not have worked. I was physically unable to.
I thank myself every day for having the forethought to be prepared early to retire. I was able to concentrate on my health and not have the agony of having to work while sick. I have seen that happen to people. For the record, I was always healthy, no history or family history of breast cancer. It just hit like lightening. You absolutely never know what can happen in life. Be prepared.