Because no one seems to have all the answers to life's questions, I decided to start a blog to collect the one's I can find. Through the years it has become very obvious that my view of things is often quite different than others. I'm hoping this blog will bring new ideas to those who otherwise may have never been exposed to such a point of view then maybe collect some ideas from feedback received.
Today’s Life Question & Answer – How to Retire Early?
Since I do not care much for my current job I'd like to start off with what has recently been of interest to me, "How to retire early?" This is may be like starting off at the end but here we go. I can't understand why most people choose to work 30 years before they retire. I know maybe this is normal, but it drives me nuts. I don't want to retire at 50 after having sold most of my life to some company. Now let's jump to my view, and my life's solution.
Lot's of people make minimum wage. They live off that income fine but it is fairly easy to earn a lot more than the minimum or to work multiple jobs. So let's assume most are willing to make some small sacrifices to retire in 30 years such as a 5% retirement savings plan off each paycheck, not counting social security. Why not turn that around?
The reverse would be, to retire early you should give 5% of 30 years directly towards retirement. 5% of 30 is 1.5. This shows that after 30 years you will have contributed 1.5 years of income to your retirement account. At 5% interest using the rule of 70 your savings will more than triple right at 30 years. If you triple 1.5 years you get 4.5. Essentially this tells us many retire with 4.5 years of savings through a 5% sacrifice across 30 years.
To me the answer seems clear. You could retire very early by working totally towards your retirement for just 4.5 years. Work 2 jobs to retire in 2.25 years or depending on how much you like to eat and sleep, I have found it is even possible to work 3 jobs with enough energy and motivation. This would should make retirement possible in just 1/3 the time, or 1.5 years. Make more than the minimum at all your jobs, very easy to do and your retirement should be less than a year away.
This is my answer to the first of life’s questions. I further note that I plan to retire at the end of this year, just before I turn 30, any comments or additions?
