For as long as I can remember, I've always had this picture in my mind of working merrily till I'm 65. I thought being retired would be boring so I would try and keep working for as long as possible. That and the thought of having coffee at the local coffee shop day after day would drive me nuts. I've been working steadily since I was fourteen and recently I've realized something; I had it all wrong.
My family thinks I have become obsessed with money since I've started investing on my own, but I think subconsciously I'm looking for a way to speed up the process of getting out of the rat race. I'm tired of being artificially woken up every morning at 5:30am with an annoying buzzer just to get to a job where I'm just a number and at any given moment I could be laid off. "Why don't you change your job?" is the obvious response, but it's not that simple. Due to living in one of the most expensive countries in the world, I have become dependent on the amount of money I make each year; especially for only going to a secondary school for a total of nine months. If I were to quit work, and go to school for 4 years, I would end up making half of what I currently make plus I would be in more debt with student loans; if I even qualify for them.
If I were to find a career I'd love doing each day, the novelty would wear off and eventually it would become a job once more. My only escape would to retire as early as possible, but I would need to save an absurd amount of my net income each month. If I were to eat beans and lentils, trade my car for a bicycle, and go on staycations at West Edmonton Mall, I might be able to pull off early retirement. I might also end up being divorced! My wife on the other hand likes to plan expensive vacations, would rather starve then eat luncheon meat, and has consistently brought up the subject of hiring a maid for our new house. She even refers to this fictitious maid as Rosa. I've talked her out of getting a maid, but it seems almost every night she ambushes me with some new vacation plan and how it will only costs $6000 dollars.
My only chance now at retiring early would be quitting my job and becoming a stay at home dad. I figure I could do a little day trading in the morning right before Regis and Kelly and I'll have all the household chores done in time to catch Days of our Lives. Then each night I would have a gourmet meal ready for my wife when she walked in the door. It's nice how plans always work out in your head, isn't it? I guess I'll stick to dividend investing and think about the dividends piling up while I'm slaving away.
To my dozens and dozens of readers: When do you plan on retiring?
9 comments:
I plan on getting out of the rat race by 40, but earlier would be better, too! I recently posted about this, too. You need to defer some income and consumption to the future to have a realistic shot at it... or make a tooon of money. ;)
Early retirement aka the dream! I would love to start my retirement tomorrow ie do what ever pleases me for money instead of the 9 to 5!
Alas, Like you, there is a standard of living i would not want to give up in order to reach this goal, I am not too excited at eating bananas for lunch several days in a row....
Lots of variables will impact the plan, as these variables become known, i'll be able to give you an answer :)
We are retired. We retired early, according to some people, 57 and 55. If you set a goal to retire at 65, that is when it will probably happen but if you set a goal to retire at 55 that would probably happen as well. Both scenarios require lifestyle adjustments and quite possibly how "lucky" you are at investing, Google "luck in investing" for more on that.
I have always believed in the "old" Wealthy Barber adage of "pay yourself first", no matter how little that might be.
Debt will delay retirement, we have always payed off mortgages as fast as possible,weekly payments and lump sum additions as well, we did have a 13% mortgage from a bank at one time, and NO credit card debt, use their money but pay it off every month. Moliere the French comedy writer wrote "Debts are nowadays like children begot with pleasure, but brought forth in pain". The current debt load, personal and government, is unsettling but on the positive side, people will have to work longer to pay their debts thereby contributing more to CPP and the tax base.
I might suggest you stay away from WEM for a holiday as that place is the epitome of consumerism and debt. imo
If your wife would rather starve "than" eat luncheon meat "then" maybe she should give up on expensive holidays.
Thanks for your articles on dividend investing.
GPSGUY55
For me, retirement is when I get out of the rat race just like you. Although I am happy with my job, the day-to-day grind of working for someone else is what I want to get out of. Aiming for 55 (at the latest) so I got 19 years to go.
Probably at 50.
Invest It Wisely: Wow 40 is pretty early. We are planning on having kids so I'm aiming for 55. I might retire at 35 if I can rob an armored car!
Beating The Index: I know what you mean about decreasing your standard of living. Life is short, so although it's good to have a solid plan for retirement, I'd rather enjoy life
while I still can.
GPSGUY55: My wife and I use credit cards as a free 1.5 month loan which we always pay off full. I hate WEM and avoid that place like the plague. I just mentioned it for added humor. Thanks for enjoying my articles!
Passive: I'd rather enjoy my life now while I'm young and slave away while I'm old....wish it would work out that way lol.
Dividend Monk: That's a solid plan. I hope it works out for you!
Thanks for posting, everyone!
Fully? 55. I've got just under 20 years to make my dividend payers fork-out about $30 K/year in dividend income. Once our new home is paid off and our dividend income is in place, coupled with our pensions, we're done! :)
For me? Early to mid 60s. I guess I'm still at the stage where I think work can add excitement to my life. If I were to get out of the rat race early, I'd wind up starting a small business of some sort anyways :). However, I am aiming to have the option of retiring by the time I am 40.
I've never thought of retirement as the end of work. For me, I've always thought of retirement as the freedom to make life decisions based on desire, and not on income.
My family has always worked until they could no longer physically continue, and I assume I will do the same. But by my late 40's I plan on having enough assets to choose my job and lifestyle without consideration of income. To me that's retirement
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