Early Retirement - Some Things To Consider

The sound of early retirement sounds very nice, doesn't it?  Retiring early, before people usually do, say around 65 years old, is something very appealing.  Like many other things in life that we want you need to plan ahead and work for it to make it a possibility.  It certainly is worth looking into. The biggest issue will be money of course.  You need money to live on once you retire.  With early retirement you are having less time to save up for what it costs to live though. 

Depending on what you want your lifestyle to be when you retire will make a huge difference in the cost of living for you as a retiree.   It may be worth it to cut back on some things people take for granted in life, in order to retire early.  So those kinds of things, like where you live, how you eat, if you like to travel, what you do for entertainment, etc, will need a thorough examination.  It will need to be prioritized. 

The main key is to plan.  Its a small word, plan, but with huge significance in this case.  You simply can't plan enough for an early retirement, as that is no time to be taking chances.  The earlier the retirement, the more planning and money needed and for a longer amount of time as well, with no income from work.   So if you are thinking like 45 years old, that is one thing, vs 62 years old.  That is almost two decades worth of difference and the money it costs to live all those years. 

Consider what motivates you now, do you have something that you are deeply passionate about?  It is critical to think about what those things might be.  Some people have turned the opportunity of retiring into something else, like a second career choice.  My husband falls into this category, and thinks the idea of teaching one day to be wonderful idea.  Right now however, that isn't on the horizon for him yet.  He has a passion about some subjects, and the idea of early retirement almost sounds boring to him.  That kind of personality has other options in front of them, as well, and may be able to have some income to go with the early retiring from another career.  That would be a win win.

No matter what, you will have a lot more time on your hands, and they say to really think hard about what will fill that time, rather than retiring first and then considering what to do.  Plan ahead, cut some corners now perhaps, to save toward a time in your life when you can relax and enjoy the beauty around you.  Early retirement may not be for everyone, and some people actually find they can't handle it very well and have to go back to work or doing something.  Perhaps, it is a time when you can finally give of your time to some charitable cause.  These are the things that people never regret, giving of themselves, making a difference, and spending more time with those they love.  I am sure there are more, but those are some things to keep in mind.