How To Retire Early

 

Couple A is retiring early by using rental income to move overseas and travel.

 

Save your money and invest it in income-producing assets that appreciate in value (like real estate or a business), rather than saving X per cent to reach some magic number decades from now. The Smiths had built up a nest egg mostly comprising of the property they purchased over the years. They now rent out their house, which was half paid off, a condominium and a commercial warehouse they had used for stock. “Property is a big reason we are able to do this”, said Barbra.

 

Couple B saved $1 million by choosing to live in a place with a low cost of living to retire in their 40s.

 

Shortly after making the decision to retire early, the couple sold their 300 square metre Brooklyn apartment and bought a 150-square metre fixer upper in Colorado. It meant a significantly smaller mortgage. “Those extra 150-square meters added absolutely nothing to my happiness”, Sam added. They also noted that their location in Colorado is a big part of the reason they’re able to retire in their 40s with a million-dollar portfolio. “If you lived in San Francisco or Manhattan, I don’t think you’d be able to do it, but we live in a very low-cost area in Colorado. Life is pretty cheap here and we can get by on about $2,000 a month”.

 

Couple C retired in their 30s by avoiding home ownership in an expensive real estate market.

 

Their advice includes investing your money instead of blowing it on a house — at least in pricey cities like Toronto and Vancouver where homebuyers are often saddled with a big, fat mortgage. “As soon as they sign those papers, stick a fork in them, they’re done”, said Chan. “They’re not going to have any money for the next 20 years and they’re going to be stressed out at work to pay their mortgage”.

 

Each of these stories are somewhat unique in that all of these couples approached their early retirement strategy from a different angle. One used real estate as their main source of income, one downsized houses and moved to a differen state to be able to save more money while another completely stayed out of the housing market.

 

But beyond their investment strategies, they all shared a very similar approach to personal finance. To retire early you have to do at least one of two things. Save lots of money or have little need for lots of money. The ideal situation is obviously a combination of the two. At the most basic level, those are the only two things that matter. Every other decision branches off from these two starting points.

 

The problem with these types of stories is that many people are just using them to look for tactics: What per cent of my income do I need to save? How much of my pre-retirement income do I need to replace to survive during retirement? How long will my money have to last? What should my withdrawal rate be when taking distributions for retirement? What should my ideal asset allocation be to ensure a safe retirement?

 

While these strategies can be important to the longevity of your early retirement plan, they are completely useless if you’re unable to save or control your spending habits. And one of the biggest advantages about a high savings rate and low spending rate is that you don’t have to worry as much about replacing so much of your income.