Week 48 Day 6: Social Security and Early Retirement: The FIRE Angle

If you pursue early retirement or financial independence, Social Security still plays a role in your plan -- just a different one. Working fewer than 35 years means zeros in your benefit calculation, ...

If you pursue early retirement or financial independence, Social Security still plays a role in your plan -- just a different one. Working fewer than 35 years means zeros in your benefit calculation, reducing your monthly check. But even a reduced benefit provides a valuable inflation-indexed income floor starting at 62 or later, reducing how much your portfolio must support.