How To Retire Early

Are you tired of commuting to your office? Does your nitwit boss irritate you? Do you find your job sickening? If you find yourself vigorously nodding your head up and down to all these questions, then perhaps the time has come, when you should take control of your life and retire early. To retire early, you neither have to wait for a good fortune to come your way nor do you have to loiter around for a beguiling buyout offer. All you are required to do is to prepare a sound early-retirement plan. Here are a few tips that will help you to create a foolproof early-retirement plan.

Manage Your Expenses

Studies state that 38 percent of people retire earlier than planned. If you also intend to retire early, then saving should be your foremost priority. Try to save as much as one third of your annual income. For this you would have to manage your expenses stringently. Here are twelve things that you can do to build a stack of money quickly:

Slim down your credit card bills

Rent a smaller house

Purchase a pre-owned car

Downsize your mobile bills

Stop frequenting hotels, restaurants, multiplexes and shopping malls

Shop at ‘One Dollar Store’

Go for generic clothing-line

Look out for scholarships to support your child’s studies

Find out ways and means to get tax benefits

Motivate your un-employed spouse to start working

Take-up a part-time job to earn extra money

Fiercely guard any bonus or inheritance you receive

Invest Wisely

You cannot plan to retire early by merely accumulating capital drop by drop. You need to discover methods to multiply your amassed wealth fast. Search for investment schemes that are not only safe, but also yield good results quickly. One option may be investing in real estate. Thousands of people have turned rich overnight with their real estate investments. Real estate is something whose demand is increasing with every passing day, but the amount is not. Therefore, you can also strike gold with your real estate investment. Tax-protected vehicles as Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and employer-sponsored retirement plan, 401(k) are also safe means to proliferate accumulated wealth. Shares, equities, bonds and mutual funds are other options to reap rich benefits in a short duration of time.

You can select any one of the above investment plans. However, don’t forget to check the fees and commissions involved. Often, shrewd brokers chunk out a major portion of your investment-returns as their fees or commission. Carefully read the fine print in the agreement. The best way to avoid all these kinds of hassles is to learn the tricks of the trade yourself. You can easily add as much as 2 percent to your investment-benefits by managing your funds yourself.

Plan Your After-Retirement Career

As you solidify your financial foundation, you should start thinking about your post-retirement career. After leading a hectic lifestyle, it is essential for you to take up something after retirement that will keep you busy as well as help you to earn a few bucks. Converting a hobby into a profession is a good idea. For instance, if you are fond of writing, then you can kick-start a freelance writing career. If money, stocks and shares intrigue you, then you can become a part-time financial advisor. You can even set-up your own business. One thing that you should keep in mind is that post-retirement you should always do something that you really enjoy. Don’t indulge in things that compelled you to retire early.

There are several reasons like poor health, lack of work challenge, peer group pressure, financial status, the need to fulfill a childhood dream, marital compulsions, etc. that may coerce you to retire early. No matter what the reason may be, it is always beneficial to weigh the pros and cons of early retirement in an unbiased manner. Discuss openly with your spouse, children, friends and relatives. People close to you know your state of mind, and they will help you to make the right decision. Remember, your decision will deeply affect your family’s life. Hence, try to keep the emotional quotient out during the decision-making process.

After considering all the aspects of early retirement, if you strongly feel that you should also retire early, then the first thing that you should do is to plan out your retirement. The above useful tips will certainly help you to create a smart early-retirement plan, and live a good life ever after.