Can you believe it's been a year since I retired?It seems like it's been longer (in a good way).My last retirement update was at six months and from here on out I'll probably only have annual reviews (maybe every six months if something exciting happens).To make this summary easier to read, I've put my thoughts into categories.Here's what's happened since my … [Read more...]
Why $3 Million is Not Enough to Retire On
One of the questions I get emailed quite often goes something like this: I read online that you have $3 million and retired at 52. How did you do it? I am in about the same situation and I'm afraid I don't have enough. That's paraphrasing, but those are the general thoughts.There are actually two questions here that I'll address: 1) How did I manage retirement on $3 … [Read more...]
Picking the Right Early Retirement Health Insurance: Samaritan Ministries Delivers
Summary: This post tells how Samaritan Ministries' health sharing ministry has performed for us as early retirement health insurance.To catch everyone up on this series, in part one I talked about the health insurance options we considered as part of early retirement.In part two I discussed why we selected Samaritan Ministries for our health insurance.In this last … [Read more...]
Picking the Right Early Retirement Health Insurance: Selecting a Winner
Summary: This post tells which health insurance option we selected for early retirement and why.In part one of this series I listed the various health insurance options we considered to cover us during early retirement.In this part I'll tell you which one we selected and why.And there's a suspenseful ending, so be sure to read all the way through. ;) Early … [Read more...]
Picking the Right Early Retirement Health Insurance: Reviewing the Options
Summary: This post gives thoughts and suggestions on how to pick the right early retirement health insurance.Religion and politics. Two things you're not supposed to discuss in public.On this blog I try to avoid these like the plague because, in the end, I don't think anyone cares what I think on either topic.But I'm going to have to wade into both to talk about … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Generate Retirement Income
In How to Retire on $1 Million or Less we discussed the 4% rule and whether or not it is a worthwhile guide for withdrawing assets in retirement.I also noted that people who have other sources of retirement income don't need to rely on drawing down assets as much as those who don't.What are those potential sources? I'm glad you asked! :)In this post I'll detail ten … [Read more...]
Key to Early Retirement: Margin of Safety
One of the things I worry about for extreme early financial independence retirees is that they play the numbers too close.In other words, I think some would be in trouble if something unexpected and costly pops up. And as we know, we should expect the unexpected when it comes to money emergencies.For example, let's say a 30-year-old has $1 million saved. Using the 4% … [Read more...]
How to Retire on $1 Million or Less
Summary: This post tells how to retire on one million dollars or less at age 35 or lower.I've noted from time to time that I read a ton of money blogs.One popular sub-group is the FIRE bloggers.In case you don't know, FIRE is an acronym for "Financial Independence Retire Early". These blogs focus on reaching financial independence and retiring at a very young age -- … [Read more...]
Post-Retirement Career and Activity Thoughts
On my post titled 7 Steps to Millions More: Continue Learning and Developing Skills, one reader left the following comment: This could maybe even be its own post but how do you feel you apply this concept into your life now that you are retired? For instance: 1. Do you still try to learn and grow in your career field perhaps because you are still interested and just enjoy … [Read more...]
Explaining Early Retirement to Strangers
Last fall I shared responses I received from people when I told them about my early retirement.These were family members and friends -- people I know well (of course.)They know me and our family and while they may have been surprised, it wasn't a total shock given what they know about us.But there's an entirely different dynamic when you explain early retirement to … [Read more...]
