How to retire Young?...Stop working first

How to retire young should be a question more people raise in todays poor economic climate.
Instead it seems more people want to continue to work, accumulating more money ,to make sure they won't outlive their resources.

Why not take the approach of retiring young while you can enjoy yourself?

What are the things that could happen if you do retire young?

• You really enjoy being retired, and decide to live on less to stay retired.

• You wonder what took you so long to retire

• You retire, don't modify your spending, have to return to work.

• You retire, modify your spending, supplement your income with part time work, in order to stay retired

In any case you have experienced retirement at an age where you can really enjoy yourself. No one can take the experience away from you.
Do you see a downside?

The alternative, which we have been led to think is the norm, is wait until you are 65. "Normal" retirement age...That's not how to retire young.

If you retire at 45 vs. 65, it is almost a given you will be in better health, have more energy, want to travel more, etc.

Why does this fact escape most people? Why not enjoy life while you can? Who can assure us we will be on the right side of the sod at 65, 55, and 75?

The 2008 meltdown

The erosion of retirement assets in 2008 was staggering. Anyone close to retirement has opened their brokerage statements with fear and trembling.

This should make us pause and realize that there are really no guarantees in life. The reaction, that is so depressing, of most folks is...after 2008, now I can't retire until I work another 5 or 10 years. Why? To reach a magic number that their financial planner says they must have to retire.

The "usual" retirement plans

It usually goes like this; you have to have 20 years of what you spend to retire ( the 4% withdrawal crowd) or you must have enough assets to provide 75% of what you spent when you worked.   

The number one reason you think you need more to retire than you really do is...you think you are going to live in the same neighborhood, doing the same things in retirement that you did when you worked.

This mindset is poison when you ask how to retire young? The answer is you can't.

Let's take a "normal" retirement scenario. Realize there is no normal scenario, yours is unique to you, and you alone. Let's say you move to Florida to fish, play golf, enjoy the grand kids.

What you are not doing now is buying suits and dresses for work. You won't need a winter coat. With a little planning you won't need 2 cars. You won't feel the need to compete with your neighbors.

Whoever thought of: " He who has the most toys...wins" was close to the truth for most people. It is a deadly mindset, that makes retirement seem unattainable.

You will spend less when you retire if you realize that retiring with less is better than working and "waiting" for a certain number to appear on your statement.

By working you are swapping years for dollars.

How to retire young should be an easy question to answer. Stop working, enjoy yourself while you are still able physically. The longer you wait the closer you are to your memorial service.

The worse scenario, by retiring young and failing, is returning to work. If you get a taste of retirement, and enjoy it like I know you will.  I think you will exhaust all the options for frugal retirement living before giving up on retirement.

Return from how to retire young to early retirement planning

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