Actually I am 41 years and if I stay in my job i will pension at 57 years (I am a helicopter pilot in the Air Force). The pay will be good, around 60% of todays pay i think ,which is around 130.000$ today x 0,6. If I quit working totally i will get some pension at 67. Have not bothered to check how much, but i think around 30.000$ maybe a year.
I work search and rescue in Norway, so i am not going to war regurarly as your pilots are :-). I love my work and even more my collegues, but its time consuming to be away from family 120days a year, although, and certainly by American work standards, having the rest of the year off is very generous. My kids are 7 and 9 today, and depending on how the Stockmarked goes in the nearest years it will still take me some years to eventually break free for sure, and its nagging me that i cant do it now, Because this is the most important time of my kids life to be there for them. Another way to do it is to really save for 3-4 years more, than do another kind of work maybe 50% or less after that. It is really tax efficient to earn a little bit. 25.000$ a year is almost tax free, maybe tax is 3000$. Even though I always have saved mor than my mates and invested in a rental and some stocks i should have realized the opportunity to go all free a little earlier. I just thought of it as investments until i read this blog a few year ago. Norway is a little more expensive than United States to live in, so 23.000$ like MMM family will be a little rough for my family i think.