I didn't see a mention of paying off a place to live. Going into any form of retirement with a mortgage is a real problem. It's possible to avoid ownership if the rental market is reasonable, but ya gotta live somewhere.

Dealing down the amount of real work is an excellent, possibly crucial activity. If you define "you" in terms of the work you do, retirement will mean you have no hold on "you". You have to be able to define yourself outside of work to be ready when it's gone.]

With kids, you have to have a handle on their uni costs. You have to have a handle on medical costs until government-provided services kick in. And you have to be willing to let whatever you've been creating during your career go and to stop worrying about it.