When you think about retirement, you probably imagine yourself retiring
in your late fifties or somewhere in your early to mid-sixties. How nice would
it be, though, if you could retire in your 30s? Believe it or not, it’s possible.
In fact, Forbes Magazine
recently did a report on a California couple that was able to retire in their
30s and that had a cool million stashed away in the bank. This childless couple
did save a lot of money, and they earned good money too with their jobs in the
tech industry, but their story and others like theirs provide some valuable
insight for people who’d like to retire in their thirties…or at least sooner
than their fifties or sixties.
Know What
You Want and Plan for It
The first and most important thing, when it comes to planning for an
early retirement, is to have a clear idea of how you want to spend your
retirement. If you’re going to spend it living in a little house and growing
your own vegetables, you’re going to need less than you would if you plan to
travel the world during retirement. What
you want to do doesn’t really matter, but
knowing what you want to do does.
Once you have a clear idea of what you want your retirement life to look
like, you can more accurately determine how much money you’ll need in
retirement and then, ideally with the help of a financial professional, you can
come up with a viable strategy for getting the money you need to retire and
live out your dreams.
Save, Save,
Save
No one retires early unless they’re good at saving money. The
aforementioned couple that retired in their 30s, for example, saved around 65%
of their paycheck for over three years prior to retirement!
While saving that much might be difficult for you, the key is to save as
much as you possibly can. In fact, make saving money something you do
automatically. You can literally do this by deciding on a monthly savings
amount and having it automatically deducted from your paycheck. That money can
then be placed into a retirement fund or a standard savings account. However
you do it, you’ll be saving lots, and that money can only help you to reach
your retirement goal date.
Make More
Money
It may sound simplistic, but the best way to move your retirement date
closer is to make more money. After all, if you’re making more, you can save
more toward retirement.
There are a variety of ways that you can make more money. Whether you ask
the boss for a raise or take on a second job (or two or three), or find simple
part-time work, like baby-sitting or cleaning houses, the more money you’re
bringing in, the closer and closer that retirement date is going to get.
As you can
see, retirement doesn’t have to be something you do only in “old age.” With
some work and planning on your part, you can end up retiring much earlier than
you thought possible!
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