Some Americans have few regrets about their retirement planning. Here’s how they did it.

“I don’t have any financial obligations other than supporting my daughter, who is always willing to take a few dollars here and there, but it’s not a burden; it’s a pleasure,” Lachman said.

John Buffington, 64, said there’s no reason to wish he had planned differently for retirement.

Buffington, who lives in Virginia, said his financial education began early, getting his first credit card before his teenage years. While in graduate school, he opened an IRA, and once he joined the Navy at 31, he only prioritized necessary purchases.

“I was disciplined and had the patience to maintain the consistency of what I was doing,” Buffington said.

Because his Navy retirement pay wouldn’t have been enough long-term, he left at 44 when he considered himself most marketable. He worked in IT services for hospitals and opened a 401(k) with a 5% match. He bought a commercial property with the money he kept in stocks and invested all rental money from tenants in the business.

Buffington said his main regret was staying in his house after his partner died six years ago instead of moving elsewhere. He said the house has not yet been paid off, and he has another 16 months until his mortgage is tackled.

He retired early at 62 and lives on income from the property, Social Security, and his veteran’s benefits. His IRA has about $600,000, and his monthly income more than covers his monthly expenses.

Buffington said he intends to maintain the same level of restraint in retirement but plans not to deny himself what he wants. He set up an estate fund to partly pay for scholarships for LGBTQ+ people in the arts and sciences.

“I don’t know how anyone can ever be bored with retirement,” Buffington said. “I have less time now than I did when I was working.”

Russell D’Italia, 79, called his career and retirement planning “close to perfect.”

D’Italia, who lives in New Jersey, joined the Air Force, which helped him pay for law school through the GI Bill. He said he didn’t have much financial education until turning 30.

He worked as a telecommunications and criminal attorney. He took advantage of 401(k) matching in his roles and often attended seminars on topics including how compounding works and navigating market volatility. He took his retirement package as a cash payout instead of a pension, and he worked for a few more years as a partner at another firm before retiring from law.

“I loved my work, which gave me continuing challenges while allowing me time to be with my kids,” D’Italia said.

During his career, D’Italia, a father of two daughters, lived in modest apartments before buying a home where he lived for over 40 years. He and his wife kept their cars for long periods. They saved steadily — he estimated saving at least 20% a year of his salary by the end of his career — and he saved at least an extra 1% whenever he got a raise. He made some financial mistakes early in his career, including selling bonds after their price fell, but said he has few regrets overall.

D’Italia worked as a history and economics teacher after his law career, making substantially less than as an attorney. He said the extra money allowed him to not touch his savings, and despite the higher-than-expected workload, he said teaching was lower stress and allowed him to give back to his community.

Since retiring from teaching, he and his wife have traveled across South America, Europe, and the Caribbean. They haven’t touched his wife’s money, and he keeps nearly all his money in index funds. He has a seven-figure net worth.

Spence Rice, 72, views his retirement more as an “intermission.”

Rice, who lives in Idaho, worked in the airline industry for 50 years and navigated multiple company bankruptcies and mergers. He said at some points in his career, he had an income on Monday and nothing on Tuesday when a company went bankrupt. At points, life after a major layoff was bleak, he said, though he met his late wife of 29 years after moving for a job.

“It took a while for your finances to recover, but you had to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start over,” Rice said.

Rice said he prioritized spending on travel, though he lived frugally in other aspects, knowing a layoff could come at any moment. When his wife died, he scattered some of her ashes in Antarctica, the final continent they needed to reach together.

“Do I wish I had more money? Yes, but I would not have done anything different,” Rice said. “Would it be nice to have $5 million or $10 million? Yes, but I don’t need it to live. I’m very comfortable with my life and how things have worked out.”

Rice works when he wants for a local retail store that gives him the 20% more income he needs to live comfortably. He said working as a cashier lets him interact with new people and have a purpose, and he doesn’t plan on retiring completely.

“I’m not the type of person who’s going to go out and play golf every day or hang out with a bunch of people that don’t want to do anything,” Rice said. “You always hear about people who say they’re retired and don’t do anything, and then years later, they pass away because they’re not keeping their minds active.”

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