Key to Early Retirement?
Many 24 and 26 year old people ask me “What should I do to Retire early”.
Though I am happy to tell them about retirement…I keep wondering how can one be so frustrated with corporate life at this ripe young age of 26? You have just been in a job for 2 years dammit. I guess our generation has made office work too dull, political, boring, devoid of human interaction (a memo for everything, not even picking up the phone and talking). Sorry I digressed.
Then I tell them about ‘retired’ people who have nothing to do, and so are dying of boredom. I would rather be a part time employed 65 year old instead of a retired 39 year old with NOTHING to do in life. What say?
So look at the steps:
- Find a purpose in life: Sorry, it cannot be running, golf, reading novels….they continue to be hobbies, unless of course you want to make it almost a profession. Yes you can run throughout the year, run in 7 continents, run in 10 countries, join a gym and have a running coach – BUT THAT HAS TO BE THE PURPOSE of your life for the next few decades. Is it? If it is not, do not seek an early retiremchilent!
- Find out what is driving you – a bad boss, a bad project, ….is it a break that you are looking for? If all you need is a 2 week vacation, do not confuse that for a Retirement call by your mind!
- Is your job pushing you towards retirement (bad) or is your hobby pulling you towards retirement (good) – reason? Be clear. A positive attitude is fine…get clear in your thinking.
- Money is important, but finding what to do on a daily basis is far, far more important in life.
- Make sure that your spouse and children want to see you around the house 24 hours a day.
- Be mentally and physically ready to help the immediate family and friends – physically.
- Your family will expect you to handle your parents, siblings, inlaws nursing or helping needs. Ready?
- Your friends will keep talking about travels, work pressure, etc etc. are you ready to find new friends?
Answer all these questions first.
None of this is covered my best selling book. “Retire Rich: Invest Rs. 40 a day”.
I hope to make some corrections in the new edition – soon coming. Maybe September 2018
Santhosh
I want to retire because I dont want to be answerable to anyone – meeting deadlines etc., especially when it comes to things I cant control. Thats a good enough reason I think. Only dull people get bored doing nothing – it means they are bored in their own company. If you have adequate finances to meet your family needs, then being a ‘man about town’ doing nothing is the best way to lead a life.
Vikas
I formally retired from a stressful job at age 42 (started at 21). Now I do some less paying work and study my area of interest. Have ample time for family, friends and some volunteer work. Hope life continues same way.
MiraD
The sky does not fall down.. but yes, have things you want to do. And be ready to live with the fall in prestige.
Deepak
Hope new book covers all the feedback you have been collecting over the years.pattu’s imapct of sequence of return blog was hard hitting. Now wondering even 50x could be bad idea to consider RB40
SavingHabit
Young people are very smart. They look at their bosses older than them who are age 40 and above and ask themselves “Is this what my life will look like in 10-15 years? (career-wise, health-wise & work-life balance-wise)”.
Also they know that not everyone in their peer group can become bosses. Hierarchies are pyramid-shaped. Some inevitably have to drop off. All the better that these smart young people plan for that eventuality by using Early Retirement to figure out “what next” for them from an early age. Avoids job frustration later in mid-life. Plus Early Retirement means working on your interests and does not mean doing zero work.
When you tell young people about retirement at age 60 they have no interest in an event 35 years away. But if you tell them freedom is only 10 years away their eyes light up since it is in the “near future” timeframe. Early Retirement is a good stepping stone for people to secure their old-age retirement in my opinion.