I have heard people talk about retiring early and I usually see it as unnecessary. But as I begin to grow older it is beginning to make sense to me. Growing up and education took me like twenty years, and I might work for another thirty-five years. So, it is expected that I will retire at the age of fifty-five.
Now it is important to note that the desire to retire early is personal because some people don't want to rest early. I just think I need to have some time to do this. I am passionate about, and in some cases, most of them are not for profit making. I also need time to explore books and learn about many things. I desire to rear domestic animals and plant some crops. I just want to be free from this rat race and modern-day slavery. Life is too short to be wasted only on work.
But with the economic condition of some countries, people are scared of retirement. Retirement benefits can hardly feed a family for two years because of inflation. Before, now retirement benefits could sustain a family for up to ten years if it was well managed. But this is not the case today. It is common to see retirees still working actively to survive. Seeing elderly men engaging in energy-consuming jobs because of harsh economic conditions is always painful.
Regardless of these economic woes I still believe that there are still ways to retire early. I have considered a few steps on how to plan for early retirement. They are not new but I wanted to remind us.
-Budgeting: If you don't have a good financial plan you better consider having one. It helps you to know when to reduce or increase your income and expenditure. Recently we had to cut the cost of buying imported cereals and replacing them with cheaper locally produced ones. We had to start spending money on a keyboard teacher because the children needed to learn music. It is not a basic need but we have to make provision for it. Budgeting will help you spend within your means.
- Saving: It is very difficult to save money in this period of economic breakdown. What you earn is not even enough to cover the cost of your needs, so having extra is not just possible. You might not be able to save a huge amount monthly but just try and save a little. I was saving $10 monthly from my salary, and I continuously did it for about two years. You might say I just saved $240, but the truth is is at least I have a backup fund. So from that, you have little income, no matter how small, keep saving some.
-Alternative sources of income: In some countries, getting a job is a big problem, so you can hardly get more than one job. The economy is also affecting businesses negatively, many firms in my country have gone bankrupt. Going back to school to get a relevant qualification, which has a high tendency to give you a job with a higher pay, is good. Learning a new skill that can help you meet a need in your location is also fine. Starting a business with available funds can bring profits. The point I am making is that you should use any available opportunity you have for another income source. But this is not an excuse to overwork yourself; your total well-being is more important.
-Investment: If you are considering early retirement, then you should have a system that brings money even when you are not working. Some people have built that will give them money for as long as they live. I know of many people whose income from their farms can sustain them for like. Some people were able to own properties that they rented and make money. Some persons have shares, patents, or royalties in some profitable organization. People will always say the forum promotes Bitcoin but the currency is another good investment. One can add Bitcoin hodling to his retirement plan because it is profitable.
-Healthy Living: Many retirees spend their savings on medical bills. Sometimes, these illnesses are unpredictable, but we should also do our best to prevent them. We should eat healthy, avoid harmful practices that endanger our health, exercise, and rest. A healthy retiree greatly enjoys his retirement life because he is strong and spends less.
In summary, early retirement is a choice. The global economy is making it difficult to achieve it, but we can still try our best to plan toward enjoying it by saving, investing, and healthy living.
There are people retiring early every day, however they are a very narrow minority as you might expect. I've encountered many people over the years and it does feel like the older generations currently have the best of it all. It's partly because they've been working their whole lives and partly because the system is swayed towards them, as it's an easy way for the government in power to buy votes - just appease the old people and they've got a lot more free time to vote for you. I also see a lot of frivolous behavior by all generations, chasing a new iphone every year and spending thousands on similar tech, when their old phone was perfectly capable, and then they wonder why they have nothing left when all bills have been paid at the end of the month.
