This is a five-part series looking at how people retired early, originally published in Dec 2019. Read how our case studies retired at 41, 43, 45, 50 and 60.

Being able to retire early is a goal most of us dream of but don’t actually believe possible. With the state pension age increasing to 66 and set for gradual rises in the coming years, it’s crucial to save early for retirement, especially as we’re living longer.

Tony Howard from Berkshire, who retired at just 43, proves it’s not necessary to be a millionaire to quit work in your 40s, and that it can be done through diligent financial planning, saving and investing.

He spent most of his career in IT, starting out in the sector when computers were taking off. At around the turn of the century, Mr Howard, now 47, was made redundant, which he calls "my first real shock".

He said: "My biggest insecurity throughout my life has been keeping hold of a job and earning money. I'd never been to a proper interview before in my life and I was thinking ‘what am I going to do?’

"The first thing I worried about was that I'd only bought my house five years previously and had a mortgage and only around £6,000 in the bank. I thought, ‘that's not going to last long.’”