Early Retirement
Most of us are pretty well programmed to follow the conventional career model. Go to college, maybe graduate school, get a job, get a new job (repeat x12), continue working until you're 55, 59 1/2, 62 or 67, then retire.
Remarkably few people it seems stop to really question whether they can break out of this mold. I applaud the people out there who truly enjoy their work and aren't anxious to try something different. For some of the rest of us, the daily grind can feel like we're stuck on a mouse wheel.
It turns out there is a surprising number of people who make a reality of retiring in their 50s, 40s, and even 30s. Some came into large sums in the real estate bubble, others through inheritance, and many more through good old fashioned saving and investing. These early retirees get off the mouse wheel decades early, and through careful fincancial planning are able to pursue life on their on terms.
Early Semi-Retirement
The reality of building enough savings to comfortably live for the rest of your life without ever working again is a duanting task. If you're accustomed to reasonably nice lifestyle, then you're almost certainly talking seven-figures.
There is however an alternative to building an invincibly large nest egg that would allow you to forget about work forever: early semi-retirement. The idea is that you can pursue a job or activity that you enjoy and also provides you with income, even if it is quite modest.
After many a boring afternoon at work spent looking at portfolio projections, I've come to believe that early semi-retirement is a great approach. A modest work income of $1k / month is the equivalent of having an additional $300k in investments, assuming a 4% safe withdrawal rate. If you can find an enjoyable way to earn that $1k / month then you can retire years earlier by not needing to build the additional $300k in assets before retiring. Another positive view on early semi-retirement is that you may just find yourself in an income-earning situation that you really enjoy for 40+ hours a week. Without giving yourself the freedom to explore what's out there you might not ever find that niche.
If you haven't already, check out Bob Clyatt's book on early (semi) retirement on the books page.