It has become of a goal of mine and my husband’s to retire at an age where we are still healthy enough to travel and enjoy life and not wait until typical retirement age of over 60 years old to start living. We both have good jobs and have been able to sock away a good portion of our income into retirement savings accounts, along with saving money to pay for private school and college for our two kids.
To some people, retiring early means retiring at 30 or 40 years old. Since my husband and I are past the 30 year mark (and I’m almost at the 40), that won’t be an option for us. However, we would love to be able to retire by 50 or 55 years old. For me, retirement would mean retiring from my current 9-5 job, but still earning income on the side through writing, being a virtual assistant, and other online businesses.
You don’t have to make a six-figure income in order to make this dream a reality. It does take planning, saving, and understanding where to invest your money for maximum growth while you are working. There are many factors to consider when planning for early retirement, but these are a few actions to take to start the ball rolling:
Find out where your money is going
I’m not a proponent for cutting a bunch of coupons and splitting your two-ply toilet paper into one-ply in order to cut costs. Let’s be honest…I like to get $60 haircuts, eat out at a nice restaurant once in awhile, and do other activities that would make some personal finance bloggers and coupon savers cringe. Here are some things you should take a look at when doing an initial review of where your money is going:
- Check your recurring subscriptions to see if there are any that you may no longer use or are just paying for each year and not noticing the costs. Here are some that I have had to review:
- Sirius XM radio – This is one where, if you are OK with letting your subscription not renew for a few months, you can probably get a discount either through the mail or if you call them.
- Monthly subscriptions – Do you pay a monthly fee for online access to trainings, forums, etc.? Check your credit card and PayPal recurring payment summary to see if you are being charged for something that you no longer are active in.
- Eating out – Going out for lunch everyday at work, even if you are only buying a $5 meal at a fast food restaurant, adds up fairly quickly. If you figure in 50 week work year and you eat out every day for lunch, it ends up being $1250 a year. You can pack your lunch 3 times a week and save $750. Yes, packing a lunch does cost money, but it is much cheaper and usually healthier than eating out. Take the $750 and invest it in a mutual fund or use it to make a payment towards a debt.
- Cable – There are so many options now to watch almost any TV show or movie online or through an app that it almost doesn’t make sense to pay the hefty amount for cable or satellite TV now. This is a great resource I found on Amazon to help you figure out your different options for streaming TV.
- Cell phone – Check out month to month plans and get rid of your contract if you can. If you need help narrowing down your options, check out this Consumer Reports article.
- Review your insurance policies – Get quotes from a couple different insurance providers and see if any of them can offer you a savings. You will get more of a savings if you purchase multiple policies (umbrella, auto, home) with one insurer. Also, check if your employer, college alma mater, or other group you may belong to offers discounts with certain insurance companies.
Educate yourself
One of the best ways to start learning more about early retirement and all the options is to talk to other people and read books, blogs, online articles, forums. I have learned most of my information from researching online and finding communities where others are sharing their knowledge.
One great forum I have learned from is the Earlyretirement.org Forum. It’s a very active forum where you can ask questions and find out what other people are doing to retire early.
Here are some blogs that I follow:
- Early Retirement Extreme
- Mr. Money Mustache (there is an active forum that I also belong to)
- Budgets are Sexy
Reading books is also an excellent way to find out more information on early retirement. Here are some books that I recommend:
- How To Retire Early: Your Guide to Getting Rich Slowly and Retiring on Less
- The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life
Earn extra income
Even if you work a full time job, you may not always get a raise or have an opportunity to earn a higher income. You have to take your future into your own hands and look for ways to earn additional income, which is why it is great to look at side hustles!
A side hustle is a business or service you provide or a passion that you pursue, in addition to your full time job, so you can earn an extra income. There are thousands of side hustles that you can do, but it all depends on your interests and how much income you want to earn. These are some side hustles that don’t require a huge investment and you can start earning fairly quickly:
- Freelance writer
- Virtual assistant
- Cleaning service
- Social Media Manager
- Direct sales
- Child care
- Graphic design freelancing
- Mystery shopping
- Proofreading
- Transcription
Review your investments and invest wisely
Take advantage of your company’s 401(k) match. If you aren’t putting in the minimum percentage that will get matched, then you are losing out on free money. It’s a no brainer that many people don’t do.
While you are in your 401(k) account, you should review your current investments and how they are currently allocated to make sure that they are appropriate for your age and risk tolerance. If you are going to be retiring within the next 5 years, all of your money shouldn’t be allocated to the high risk funds. However, if you still have 25 years left before you are going to retire, then your money can be allocated to the more high risk funds since you will have time to ride the ups and downs of the market, while still getting the best return on your money.
Pay off debt
This goes without saying, but you need to start paying off your high-interest rate debt first. If, for example, your mortgage has a 4% interest rate, but you are averaging about a 6% return on your investments per year, then it doesn’t make sense to pay down your mortgage when you are getting a higher return on your investments. However, if you have a student loan that carries a 10% interest rate or credit card debt that carries a 25% interest rate, then you should start paying down those debts first.
