Editor: Crass Cash
So you've decided that you want to retire. Like 30 years early! While the planning of retirement for many in the baby boom generation was faster than a virgin's first orgasm (guy, not a girl), for a subculture of generation x and y'ers this is becoming a reality. Blogs of people from all over the industrialized world (mostly the USA due to lower tax rates) have been popping up. They shun American style consumerism and shown in great detail their finances and net worth for all the world to see.
Retiring in your 30's presents many acute problems that need to be addressed prior to taking the plunge. The first being that how are you going to draw down principle when you can't because some of it is locked up in govt qualified retirement accounts? Hmmm, maybe this is why Rich Dad is not a big advocate of such plans. I can't get money out of these plans until I'm 59.5 years old without suffering a 10% penalty. As a result I'll have to work around them if I plan to support myself for 25 years until they become free. As a result my cash flow for living will have to come entirely from different sources.
I've talked extensively about having multiple streams of income to help protect you from financial disaster and also to help increase income. Don't have all your eggs in one basket! The income and principle from one of these eggs will be delayed, so you'll have to rely on the others for the time being. As a result you need to make sure that all of your income is generated from straight cash flow and not from principle. I actually advocate this regardless of whether you're 59 or 99.
You also need to figure in other benefits that my be related to your employer, such as insurance. Health, dental, life, etc. all will be needed to be paid by you. You should also have enough in reserve so that you can pay for all of these deductibles if tragedy hits. Insurance that you can get rid of? Disability for one, since you won't need to work for money. You could also potentially cancel your life insurance if all of your debts are paid off. Even though you maybe fine I've found it's best if the spouse receives enough money to pay off all debts at the time of your death. This just makes life easier for him or her. The last thing he or she needs to think about is making payments.
With that said it would also be a good idea to keep a part time job so that you can at least earn enough earned income to keep contributing to your retirement accounts. See if your current employer would be interested in letting you work less and less, down to the point to where maybe you can make enough to contribute fully to both your 401k and Roth IRA each year.
Whether you decide to retire 30 years early or not, here's something that everybody needs to do. Try to see what it's like to be retired from a financial standpoint. A lot of people aren't good with numbers and unforeseen situations so try it out for real. Try living completely off other asset's cash flow and saving all of your paycheck. If you can do this for a year, you may be ready!
Retiring in your 30's presents many acute problems that need to be addressed prior to taking the plunge. The first being that how are you going to draw down principle when you can't because some of it is locked up in govt qualified retirement accounts? Hmmm, maybe this is why Rich Dad is not a big advocate of such plans. I can't get money out of these plans until I'm 59.5 years old without suffering a 10% penalty. As a result I'll have to work around them if I plan to support myself for 25 years until they become free. As a result my cash flow for living will have to come entirely from different sources.
I've talked extensively about having multiple streams of income to help protect you from financial disaster and also to help increase income. Don't have all your eggs in one basket! The income and principle from one of these eggs will be delayed, so you'll have to rely on the others for the time being. As a result you need to make sure that all of your income is generated from straight cash flow and not from principle. I actually advocate this regardless of whether you're 59 or 99.
You also need to figure in other benefits that my be related to your employer, such as insurance. Health, dental, life, etc. all will be needed to be paid by you. You should also have enough in reserve so that you can pay for all of these deductibles if tragedy hits. Insurance that you can get rid of? Disability for one, since you won't need to work for money. You could also potentially cancel your life insurance if all of your debts are paid off. Even though you maybe fine I've found it's best if the spouse receives enough money to pay off all debts at the time of your death. This just makes life easier for him or her. The last thing he or she needs to think about is making payments.
With that said it would also be a good idea to keep a part time job so that you can at least earn enough earned income to keep contributing to your retirement accounts. See if your current employer would be interested in letting you work less and less, down to the point to where maybe you can make enough to contribute fully to both your 401k and Roth IRA each year.
Whether you decide to retire 30 years early or not, here's something that everybody needs to do. Try to see what it's like to be retired from a financial standpoint. A lot of people aren't good with numbers and unforeseen situations so try it out for real. Try living completely off other asset's cash flow and saving all of your paycheck. If you can do this for a year, you may be ready!
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