When did I start my Early Working Retirement?

I started my Early Working Retirement last July at the age of 44.  Not as a rich man with the security of a large pile of money stashed away, but as a pragmatist who sees he is not destined to have a utopian retirement.  The American Dream as it was described to me in my childhood in the 1970's, was to follow up public school with 4 years of college, get married and reside in a nice house in the suburbs and raise a family and get a dog.  The American Dream Retirement involves having enough money saved to live on from age 65 through death.  While raising my family, my child is supposed to be fed the same American Dream, and seeing his fathers success, he is supposed to buy into the dream and follow in that path.  But what happens when reality doesn't measure up to the dream?

In my case...