TANJA HESTER IS NOT your typical retiree. Sure, she fills her days with hobbies (hiking, skiing, traveling, volunteering) and never punches an office clock, but—already a year and a half into her post-work life—the former political communications consultant is only 39. Her husband, Mark Bunge, who also retired in December 2017, is 42. Over a six-year period of aggressive saving and budget trimming, the couple socked away enough to last them the next five-plus decades.
Tanja’s story may sound extreme, but the truth is a lot of people can reduce their working years, with a little financial foresight and planning. “Many middle-class-and-up folks could retire earlier than they think, even without having big advantages,” says Hester, who now lives in Lake Tahoe, California, and recently wrote Work Optional: Retire…
