About
The Path to Financial Freedom
I'm a pretty normal guy. I'm 31, have a wife, two kids, a house in the burbs, the standard American thing. And don't be mislead, I'm happy. But, at some point every (work) day I look around and think to myself, 'is this it?' Get up early, commute to work, shuffle around the office, commute home, squeeze in a couple hours with the family, and go to sleep. Repeat until Friday. Now let's see here, would I rather be spending time with my wife and kids, pursuing my own interests (travel, investing, history, nutrition, religion... run a marathon) and generally leading a relaxed and balanced life? Exactly. In early 2006 I finally realized there's a realistic (and responsible) way to do it... achieve financial independence, break the chains of worklife and retire early. As my good friend Bill says, until you achieve financial independence, you're just a wage slave.
By achieve financial indepence, I mean accrue a large enough asset base that I no longer need to work. Conventional wisdom says that you can withdraw around 4% of your savings each year without impacting your principle or feeling the creep of inflation. So, with a million in savings you can reasonably expect to retire and draw $40,000 a year indefinitely, including increases to account for inflation. I haven't actually landed on a specific figure for how much money I'll need, but a million is a straightforward number that people aim for. While I'm still years away from making a decision, the advantages to early semi-retirement make that an attractive avenue if you have the right job.
About This Site
For anyone planning to retire early there are a multitude of considerations to take into account. Many of these are financial... how to put the money away, how to invest it, etc. There are tricky items to plan for like health care. When do you take the leap from the workforce? I've tried to consolidate the information that I've found most useful.
About Me
After receiving an MS degree in computer science, I got a job at a Fortune 500 company at the ripe old age of 24. It didn't take me long to confirm what I already knew-- (corporate) work sucks! But, I did recognize that I was fortunate enough to be working for a company that provided above average pay for my field, stability, and an excellent 401k plan. So, I decided to stick around. A few years passed and I started to ask myself, what's next? At first I thought a career change would make me happy, but after talking to friends in the jobs that appeared more interesting, it became pretty clear to me that job hopping wasn't the answer. And besides, by this point, I was vested in my company's 401k plan which meant I was getting a free $500 a month plopped in my account.
Not long afterwards, while at a conference, a senior colleague clued me in to the world of early retirement. While I had long been a propopent of financial independence, the concept of early retirement was totally new to me. I immediately bought a copy of Bob Clyatt's Work Less, Live More which set helped set me on the path to early retirement.
Today not only is my obsession with breaking the chains of worklife stronger than ever, but working towards a goal that I know will give me financial freedom keeps me motivated to take on the daily grind.