Is it normal to keep thinking of retiring around the age 40-45 as I feel its a waste of time to spend it on working? Just wish to have a carefree life, eg wake up naturally, exercise,accompany family?

It's all up to individual. Most importantly is to stay active physically and mentally.

I am around the same age as you and I have similar plan, except that I don't plan to stop working. I just want the option to stop working if I want to or have to.

I do enjoy working mostly and I like feeling productive. But as we get older, we need to take care of our health and we start to cherish our time with our loved ones.

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For 40K annual expenses, 1 mil of liquid asset just needs to generate ~4% of income. It's highly doable. I'd say it's a good plan, keep going, and you can decide if you want to retire when you reach your target :)

I think the quesiton to ask is what do you want to do after "retiring"

What do you want to spend your time on? exercise, accompany family doesn't tkae up all the time. What else? Is there something that you always want to do but have not done?

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Just sharing, I am 49 and just left my job early this year. One key concern I have after a few months is that I will be just drifting if I become too carefree. Imagine 10 years later, I looked back and asked myself what I did over the past decade and I said nothing much? Then I will have wasted the time that I wanted to have.

It is quite normal as most people wants to retire early. It is more on what you plan to do when you have that extra time.