How to retire early: Financial Concerns

[Dick Slackman]

The first concerns that come to everyone's mind when retirement is discussed are the financial ones. How can I get enough money to retire? How much is enough? Will government and company pension plans be around to help?

For those who have retired, how did you address these issues?
For those considering retirement, what other concerns do you have?

Let's hear your thoughts...
Thanks,
Dick

[Dick Slackman]

I'm sure there may be many ways to address these financial questions. This is how I did it. I followed these basic principles.

1. Live modestly
2. Save prodigiously
3. Invest your savings

I hope to write more about each of these topics later on, but at least this is a start.

Thanks,
Dick

[Dick Slackman]

A lesson learned in retrospect is that I overlooked one major technique for moving towards an early retirement. I did not effectively look for additional means to generate capital. While I did maximize the capital generated from my "regular" job, I didn't go beyond this.

Thanks,
Dick

ps. Maybe this also means that you don't have to do everything right to get the right final result.

[Dick Slackman]

I just finished reading "The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss. He raises some very interesting points pertinent to retirement & financial planning, many of which run counter to what I have practiced. For example, he proposes developing businesses that are setup to run without much intervention (this is where the 4 hours of work per week comes in), and using them to fund a lifestyle that includes quite a lot of leisure. He proposes outsourcing & off-shoring the everyday tasks of your business & personal life. Rather than planning for retirement after years of working he proposes making "retirement" a part of your entire life.

I think his ideas are worthy of consideration and investigation. I'm not certain wheather many people can implement his ideas successfully. I would recommend this book as a thought provoking read. Here's a link to his website: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/

Thanks,
Dick

[Dick Slackman]

I re-read "The 4-Hour Workweek" trying to understand the book from two different perspectives.
1. How can I use his ideas in my life?
2. How did he write this book?

Ferriss has some really good ideas on working more efficiently. His ideas on email management and work management should be easily applicable to my life and most office situations. His ideas on business entrepreneurship are impressive in scope and perspective. His ideas on off-shoring business and personal work will be interesting to test.

As to how he wrote this book, his ideas about working and business should apply directly to the development of a book. If he followed his own advice, he should not have done much of the writing, rather having others do the research and drafts while he wrote the final versions. I wonder...

Thanks,
Dick