Late to the game but early to the party...?

[EconDiva]

Any stories of people who didn't start their retirement saving/investments until later in life, yet still retired early?  By later in life, I'll say this to mean 40 or older.  (I'll leave it up to you if you feel your story should be shared although you started earlier than 40...for instance, perhaps you started at 36 but only contributed a small amount to a 401k over a few months then withdrew most/all of it at age 38 or something and started over...)

Or stories of those who didn't start until later and haven't retired yet but as of today, are definitely on track to still make it there early?

If so, what's your story?

When did you seriously start putting away money for your retirement (what age), and what age did you retire (or what age will you retire)?  What was your strategy (401k and IRA only, or other vehicles as well)?  What made you "see the light" so to speak (was it this site, or seeing someone else not be able to retire in old age, etc.)?

What is your FIRE amount and lastly, what do you plan to do with all of your new found time/freedom once you get there?  Do you plan to take on any type of employment (seasonal/part-time/side hustles/occasional contracting, etc.)?

[mousebandit]

Following.  We've been getting in position forever, it seems, getting rid of debt, then getting husband on board.  Husband is sole earner, and we got debt paid off, had mortgage paid off, but took a HELOC out to get some major home improvements done prior to selling.  So, now we have that.  But husband is finally on board with starting to invest in tax-advantaged accounts, so we opened up Vanguard IRAs and will shoot for maxing those out this year and continuing with minimum payments on HELOC and plan to get it sold in winter or spring. 

We still have tons to figure out, with 4 young children, homeschooling them, and husband trying to transition out of full-time employee to contract work and doing real estate flips.  The rough goal is 7-10 years for FI, but keep doing real estate investment. 

[Tester]

I am not exactly in the position you asked for.
I started saving at 37.
At that point I had a house with a 50k mortgage.
Sold the house one month ago and got 25k on top of what I owed on it.
Between 37 and 40, I am now at 240k USD net worth.
If I play correctly I should get to 1 mil net worth in around 7 years, so 10 years in total.
Problem: net worth is in 401k - 82k usd, vested rsus - 120k, and money in bank account - 22k usd, looking to put that into vanguard admiral funds.

[abhe8]

Late to the game for sure... But not not sure on the retirement date. Income is high but I also have high student loans. I'm 36 now, with a NW of 132k. Dh homeschools our 5 kids. We plan to pay for college and our mortgage is pretty big. My goal is more likely FI and party time work. We shall see.