How to Retire Early

Perhaps some of you are way ahead of me in the realization of great writers and thinkers (of our time) on the web-internets.  For that I will offer a digital high-five, such highness of the five that we both need to jump at least a bit off the ground.  If you have a blog you love, please report it in the comments section.

I recently came across the blog of Mr Money Mustache and wanted to share a few thoughts on living wealthy.  I think MMM probably says it best in his well-formulated blog, but I will summarize some ideas he discusses that have resonated with me with a short commentary.

- Something I've noticed with downsizing is how much more rich I feel, even with less things.  Distilling things down to the essential removes many distractions.  What makes me happy?  Living my values - nurturing relationships, contributing to others, pursuing my passions, always working on my health, spending ample time in nature, creating, always learning new things...

NOT HAPPY

HAPPY

- Recognizing marketing and price manipulation and the desires it creates.  For example, often restaurant menus hike up one of the dishes far beyond what it is worth so they can raise the price on the other meals.  The less expensive meal you chose seems more like a deal compared to the highest-priced item.  Another example, adding something completely useless like a chrome-trim package to a vehicle so you pay thousands of dollars more.  Final example, anything that attempts to make you feel like less because you own less things (or less expensive things).

$20 creole crab cakes makes an $11 crab cake sandwich seem really cheap.

One could spend thousands of dollars on an "appearance" package for their vehicle and many people do.  I would rather have financial freedom by asking myself what value this brings to my life versus what can I do with the money that will bring me more happiness and peace of mind.

- Ease and convenience and full comfort in my life are not great goals.  They encourage a lack of problem solving and creativity.  They encourage unnecessary dependency and a sort of mind shutdown where all critical thinking stops.  This results in going through the motions and minimal to no course corrections in one's life.  We need course corrections.  We need our brains to work and think for us.  It's why we have this large brain at the end of our spinal cord.  The spinal cord is adequate to operate many of our reflexes and relay information, but as far as I am aware, there is no evidence of intelligence other than the intelligence of single cells and the communication between all cells of the body.  Not the same thing as our higher brain though is my point.

I'm not sure if Benjamin actually said this but it's good.

- Vehicles are expensive.  Really.  The two areas that suck our resources the most are typically our housing and vehicles.  Looking at my vehicle, it's not the most economical choice.  That said, I'll probably keep it around since it is paid off, it has a 1,000,000-mile manufacturers warranty, and as it ages the taxes and insurance will continue to drop.  It's also a great vehicle for Colorado, off-road and 4WD to fit my lifestyle.  What I do not like is the maintenance and fuel costs, but that can be minimized by driving less.  Looking at my current situation, I have to drive to Pueblo/Denver a few times a month for work but otherwise I can minimize mileage in-town by planning a little better.

I plan to have this vehicle for the next 70 years...

- Minimizing the non-essential is an ongoing process.  New things are always coming into our lives so it's nice to have a routine of re-evaluating your possessions, your time/schedule, and what you're allocating your money.  Where we spend our time and money will say a lot about what our priorities are and it's easy to get caught in giving our resources to things we don't really care about.  It's okay to admit you don't care about something.

I don't care about looking fancy.

- The more I save now, the less I will have to save in a lifetime due to compound interest. We all know this but I have decided to take a fresh look at the easiest way for me to retire a millionaire.  I've done a little math and if I contribute 500/month to my retirement accounts until age 65, I could have between 1.5-2 million dollars saved for retirement.  If I earn a military pension, likely 2k/month but it could be more if I stay in past 20-yrs, this would give me easily 50k a year to live on past 100-yrs old.  Ideally I would save more than 500/month in my 30's and thus have to save even less overall.  I'm currently thinking of ways to bring in more money without ruining my current lifestyle that I love so much.  Currently I am my own boss outside of my military obligations.  I do part-time contract work but I have amazing flexibility in when I work.  I have a lot of time to work on my passion project, Natural Performance Rehab, LLC.

I get to work with a smart and caring friend on a business where we change people's lives.  Healthcare done right!

- Stay out of debt.  I am fortunate that I managed both my undergraduate and graduate school education incurring zero debt but this was not by accident.  I sacrificed some personal choice and one could argue my safety temporarily (deployment) in order to attain an education without debt.

- Lifestyle changes now might mean early retirement.  In some ways, I have already engaged in early retirement because I have left much of the rat race.  Other than the military, I have no real obligations to do my work a certain way and thankfully I have now made the military part-time in practical terms.  This means a more relaxed-pace of life with different focuses.  Looking at it this way, I have already retired from many things I didn't enjoy.

In some ways I am already retired.

I work out in the middle of the day in the middle of the week with all the other retired people ;)

- Part of having enough for retirement is considering the lifestyle you want to live during retirement.  This is what I am experimenting with now.  Not only has this helped me to dramatically lower my living expenses so I can work on passion projects like my business and still save money for retirement, it also means that I will likely need less money to be happy in retirement.  Thus over a million dollars in retirement should go a very long way for me.  The headline news here is that I have found it takes very little to make me happy.  I live in Colorado with great access to nature and outdoor activities.  If I have my basic needs met and I am in good health, I am in want of nothing.

- Finding and connecting with like-minded people can make the journey to financial freedom much easier and/or more enjoyable.  I shouldn't perhaps use the word easy as self-discovery is not typically an easy thing to do.  The easiest thing to do is lay permanently on your couch and binge on the glowing screen.  But...still I find it helpful to share information such as Mr. Money Mustache's blog.  If we follow what the average American does...if we think, save, buy, eat, and live like the average American we will find ourselves fat, sick, unsatisfied, distracted, manipulated, depressed, dependent, and without adequate retirement savings.  I recommend thinking for yourself.  Look around you and decide who you want to be.  The what to do is much easier when you know who you are.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  What are your feelings and ideas about attaining financial freedom?  Do you have any mentors or role models in this area you'd like to share?