Hi guys! There are some people who choose to retire early especially if they already have enough funds for their retirement. Retirement age here in my country is usually 60-years-old but some people retire as early as 50. My sister-in-law is in her late 30s right now but she already wants to retire in as early as a few years time. I am however discouraging her because she admits to not having enough preparation for her retirement. Do you think early retirement is a good option for those who already have enough in their retirement funds? At what age would you consider yourself retiring from work?
Not a good neither bad option, a matter of choice I guess. Is viable If you have a lot of great passive income revenue like renting your assets, obtaining gains from your investments from the stock market share or by being owner of a successful business where you are not doing anything but receiving its gains, like Bill Gates. If you are the kind of person which is only just saving money for retirement from a living wage, you have to wait longer for it since laws have established a specific age and years of work to force companies give retirement benefits to their employees. You need at least 1,000,000 $ to live from the comfort of retirement in the U.S. I dont like early retirement, I will not live in miserable austerity for 10 to 15 years only for the chance to retire when I'm 40-50 yo. Unless I have a business with all things settled during those years.
I am 7 years from retirement but I can take the optional retirement now if I want. It will give me around 60 months of salary, just like getting a salary for 5 years without working. But what would I do with my time? Besides, I'm still capable of working. I have a colleague who retired at age 50 and he invested the retirement money in a gas station business. After 5 years in operation, he is now always short of cash, borrowing from us his former office mates. I wouldn't want to suffer that fate.
I am all for early retirement. I can't stand working for other people for too long. I try to look at the brighter side of life and think of those public and private employment days as "my contribution to society." Had I more funds at my disposal, I'd retire at 40 or even earlier than that. My goal is to just do what I want, improve the world in my own little way and enjoy life for what it's worth. I'm trying to make as much money as I can at present so that I'd be able to build this kind of future. Right now, I'm gradually watering the seeds and in a few years' time, I hope to see a better "me" and a better "world" then.
Considering that we are stuck in an age when inflation simply keeps crawling up, I would rather delay retirement for as long as possible. If working for someone else becomes too much after an age, work for yourself, but don't stop working. Also, I have seen quite a few people lose themselves within months of stopping work - because health and psychology both get impacted the moment you stop working. Something to think about.
I wonder what went wrong with your friend's business. Did he get a franchise or did he start his gas station on his own? Does he own the land where he built his business? You see, having a gas station is also one of my plans a few years from now once I have enough budget that's why your friend's case sparked my curiosity.
My colleague had leased a land for that gas station, paying a monthly rent of 120,000 pesos (that's about $3,000). Phoenix is the franchise which is not very popular unlike the big 3 - Caltex, Shell, Petron. From what I see, he is not earning good in that business for what sustains their expenses is the restaurant business of his wife. It takes a lot of time before a gas station can be established and you have to work hard in the marketing part.
Wow! I think the rent is the major factor in the downfall of the business. Aside from the rent, they also had the salaries of employees, the utility bills and other miscellaneous fees. I guess if your friend owned the lot, then the franchise could have at least worked somehow. I could just imagine how bad he felt after his business closed down.
I don't see the point in doing that for myself. If you're in the military for a long time and have a pretty high range, you will likely have a good pension. People there usually retire by the age of 45. It's pretty much of an early retirement, I'd say. However, I'm not there and I'm not promised to receive a sufficient amount of money from the government. So, I will keep working as long as I can physically. It also makes me feel better.
I'm 55 and consider myself retired. I don't have a lot of money, but enough. And I have the freedom to figure out and try other ways of making money. I have the ability to do the things I want to do. I have the time to do the things I want to do. I think it's better for my overall health. I love to be at at home. I love to work at making a comfortable home. I guess I am a homebody at heart. It's where I prefer to be and spend my time.
I support early retirement, too. It's depressing that in some countries people have to work right up to old age in order to have a decent retirement package. But I find that depressing because there's more to life than work. Ideally, I'd say 50 is a good age to retire. But realistically, it's not always possible because you need a lot more money to survive on once you give up work.
Early retirement isn't a good option if you still can work for a number of years. People who retire early often end up being quite unhappy because they won't be spending more time with their peers who'll still be working 8 hours a day. And to keep themselves busy they'd have to find some work to do. So why not continue working and getting paid? This way should you start a business, your job provides you with some insulation against failure. Should the business fail, you could try another and another until you succeed.
Speaking of which, I would just like to share my parents' situation which is an exact opposite of retiring early. Since they have gotten used to working and they really feel bored not working at all, they've both decided not to retire even now that they're past their retirement age. Well, in a way they have retired from their regular jobs but they still tried to find other jobs they could do because they just feel so bored without work. I guess there are also some people who would rather be working than retiring.
Early retirement is a good idea but you need to have a plan that is already in motion. You cannot just retire and expect everything to fall in place. Building passive income while still employed is a great strategy and once your pasive income equals your active income you can then retire.