Sorry, I can’t agree with you, and that goes the same for adherents of the FIRE movement (financial independence, retire early). Ages 50-65 are your prime earning years, and the period where your 401K goes from expanding thousands per year to expanding hundreds of thousands per year. You can eke out a retirement, but you are leaving practically ALL the money on the table. I got jabbed yesterday due to my job and an upcoming concert in California. I resisted for as long as I could, but it’s not the hill I want to die on.
That's exactly the dilemma I have as I approach 60 years of age. I'm making more money than I ever made before yet my 401k has increased more than my income over the past year. Plus I'm making the max contributions of about $26K (not including company match).
Another five years of that and I'm golden. But if my company forces me to take the vax, I'll have to consider retiring now (but I'll wait for them to fire me).
Like others have said, I spent most of my working life with the assumption that Social Security would not be around for me when I retired. So I never factored that in and focused on building wealth through my 401k. So whatever I do get out of Social Security will be beer money.
So I can retire now and just spend the rest of my life reading library books and hanging out at the beach if I have to. But I could really use another five years of income and savings.