Dude retired at 33.

lalman

I have really enjoyed reading every post on this thread, and seeing the different perspectives that everyone has on financial independence and retiring early.


I think the definition of 'retiring' creates so different connotations for different people, for some it has a meaning of old age... sitting in front of the TV watching Netflix (which after the week I have had doesn't sound terrible idea) or for me, to learn to play instruments, go back to study, do some astronomy, travel more expensively and climb mountains and go for long walks in the countryside and coast sounds like the dream life style.


I suspect that I could only do all that for a certain amount of time before I felt I should do something that is work related... I think I probably need some work to keep my brain stimulated in a different way, but having the independence to choose the work I want to do... or even working for myself and not fearing (even if its only remote) the chance of losing my job and not being able to look after my family the way I want too (another key priority of mine) would be massive.


the TV's, the watches (although I did do another long post and subsequent discussion about blowing a months salary on a watch and whether its justifiable) would appeal to a small degree, the feeling of saying to myself... 'lalman you have enough passive income not to worry even if you don't have work for the rest of your days' would be great.


I am currently investing in property - I am 29, looking to hopefully be FI by 40... but as the previous posts alluded to, it depends on wife, kids (when that happens and what there view points are) etc.

DoDa

Having paid off our house in our late 30's my wife & I worked part time enjoying both work & long weekends (climbing & mountaineering), then in 2011 took 27-months off to travel.

This was life changing as we loved every minute of our time off and now back at work we are working full time, saving 70% of our salaries and plan to 'retire' at 50.

We are in an unusual position in that we have a a trail run at being retired early, so know exactly how we would fill our time and how much it costs.

We have enjoyed our careers but as we get older find it harder to work and play hard, so having more time to pursue our hobbies is the answer.

I have always invested and we have joint assets in excess of £800K. We could finish now if we down sized our house, but love living were we do and so accept 2-years more work to stay put. The house gives us a good safety margin too.

racing_blue

I totally buy into the idea that reduced consumption can improve the individual and the planet. And the goal of financial independence - divorcing the choice to work from the need for money. That's one I'm aiming to hit by age 50 with a fat pot of £££.

I admire people who feel a need to hit that goal much earlier - but tomorrow is never guaranteed. If you want to walk the coasts and mountains, there is no time like the present. Today's dream may have gone stale by tomorrow, too.

Ryan_Futuristics

I've got to admit there are times I fondly miss being stuck in an awful office job ... The excitement of finishing work on a Friday evening - the triumphant journey home after enduring another week, and then really appreciating your weekends

In some ways it probably beats making your first £1m ... Life has to be a balance between indulgence and obligation ... I grew up in the public school system - mentally well-adjusted, non-alcoholic parents who were probably the minority


I think one important thing to takeaway is: don't have all your FI eggs in one basket ... Any asset class can suffer catastrophic losses - and something you're holding now probably will at some point

Again, being around the public school system, it is so common to meet people who've gone from multi-millionaire to the dole office, and always because they had everything invested in one asset class

Property and stocks ruined people in the previous crash ... It's easy to say "hold on" as a casual investor, but the reality at the time is you really don't know when you're going to hit the bottom (and you may have to withdraw money for things like food and school fees)

When we experience a crash in any asset class, you'll be bombarded with headlines telling you you'll lose 90-100%, and it won't pick up again for 30 years ... and *sometimes* they're right

So sometimes selling is the right thing to do (often it isn't)

Basically: your only option is to be diversified ... QE presents a particularly challenging environment, too, as many asset classes are likely to be overvalued together ... Hence the popularity of alternatives, like GARS and Newton Real Return

C-dog

Just checked my accounts and next week it'll be 2 years since I started properly saving towards FI. 45% towards the goal as of this morning. I'll take that.

Right now if I lived life to the max and spent every penny I earned, the invested money would still grow to a decent sum. I won't though.

Isn't this just exciting.....

gallygirl

C-dog wrote: »

Just checked my accounts and next week it'll be 2 years since I started properly saving towards FI. 45% towards the goal as of this morning. I'll take that.

Right now if I lived life to the max and spent every penny I earned, the invested money would still grow to a decent sum. I won't though.

Isn't this just exciting.....

:T Empowering :T

lalman

Ryan I find that inaction is the most costly investment. Many of my friends see what I am doing... see it as a positive but don't take the necessary steps to do it themselves. I agree that assets go up and down, and QE has inflated asset prices but you could say that about nearly if not all assets across the board.


I can't keep worrying about assets being too expensive relatively and holding on to cash in fear of it losing some returns... that's why its called a risk I suppose.


Personally I am buy and hold investor that tries to pay off my property asap... to further reduce risk... so when the downturn eventually does hit I can hold on to it and weather the storm!

N1AK

Gadfium wrote: »

There's a bajillion things to do and see on this planet of ours without having to go to work every day to while away the hours. Learn a new language, teach yourself the guitar, train to be a private pilot, take up photography, to name a handful.

Good luck finding the money to do that after retiring at 33

The issue with all the very early retirement stories I see is that they aren't what they initially imply. Hell even I:

• could 'retire' tomorrow if my wife was willing to keep working
• could 'retire' now if I didn't count running a successful small business, writing about retiring early, as working.
• could retire next week if I was willing to move to a very cheap region of SE Asia and do nothing that cost anything.

I enjoy travelling a lot, it is something I would like to do extensively when I retire, but there's no way that I could retire before 40 and:
> Afford to travel a lot after retiring
> Afford to travel much at all prior to retiring

I don't find it hard to believe that someone who went into a high paying career straight from school/university, then spent virtually nothing for 10 years, and then wanted to spend almost nothing in retirement would be able to retire at that age. I simply question whether that's really a realistic situation for 99.8% of people and whether it's actually the best idea for the tiny fraction who it is realistic for.

C-dog

I've explained my plans to friends a number of times and each time they look at me blankly and plan to live for today. Even my brother who knows every detail of my plan responds with "I could be dead in 4 years".

These are educated people, late 20s / early 30s and contribute 3%-6% to pensions to get the company match. But thats it. Some people just don't want to get it and you know what, thats fine.

Gadfium

N1AK wrote: »

Good luck finding the money to do that after retiring at 33

£10k ish over 18 months?
http://www.goflyuk.com/private-pilots-license-pplnppl/