A lot of people are curious about this topic. A lot of people wish they could do it. Only a few are.
Retiring Early is deceptively easy, but it takes a lot of what I would call personal development. You have to have the self-discipline necessary. You have to do the emotional work that goes along with it….
How to Retire Early
- Work to Make Your Money – This is the only way to do it unless you end up inheriting or winning a ton of money. You have to work to make money. And it actually doesn’t matter how much you make. People have retired early with high and low incomes. It just takes a good strategy to help you retire early.
- Be Efficient with Your Money – And by efficient I mean you need to live, or learn to live, frugally. This means that you live below your means. You must make the most of what you have so you won’t need any more than is necessary and you won’t waste your time or money.
- Save Your Money – If you spend everything you earn you won’t ever be able to retire. It seems like most people are able to eventually save 10% of there money if they work at it. Many are able to save more. Some are able to save substantially more. Upwards of 70-80%. The more you save the earlier you can retire.
- Spend Your Money – Get yourself to the point where you buy only necessary things with the most value. With value equaling a good return for your hard earned money. Buy the least expensive housing, transportation, and food that will meet your needs. Spend your money on educating yourself about how to retire early and live the lifestyle you desire. Refuse to spend money on things that will not improve your life.
- Invest Your Money – Money that isn’t doing anything is just paper. Once you have saved and invested enough money (capital) to have the earnings (returns) support your lifestyle, you have successfully retired. This is the concept of a 401k, pension, etc. You no longer work for money, you have Your Money work for you!
Noticed how I capitalized “Your Money”? I do this to emphasize the fact that you are the only one who will get yourself to early retirement. You have the ability to do it. The more you learn, the more able you will be to retire early.
Good luck! Please comment with your success stories below!
Resources: Stories & Learning Opportunities
Hi Jeremy, I came across your post while looking for others who have retired early and how they have/are spending their early retirement. My husband and I are both 53 and we retired this year. We relocated from London to the Northwest of England. We both worked hard all our lives and we both had very sucessfull careers but, from early on in our relationship, we were ademant that we wanted to retire early and enjoy our golden years in style, which is certainly what we are doing now.
To make this possible, we did the things mentioned in your blog. We worked hard, saved consciously and invested sensibly. We didn’t take holidays every year and we were very ‘money savvy’. The move from London to the North West will certainly save us money.
The advice you have given is certainly right on track. I wanted to comment to say to those who are thinking of retiring to DO IT. We have hung up our briefcases in exchange for our tennis rackets and we are enjoying complete luxury. Retiring early doesn’t mean you have to compromise your life style. We were very fortunate to downsize from our London home to an apartment here at http://www.derwent-house.com/ (hopefully this will inspire and show others that they too can enjoy early retirement just like we have).
Although we are not quite over the hill. We have learnt that you only get out from life what you put in. We have worked hard to live the lifestyle we now have.
Irene Smithson, UK
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