My first blog post…initial plans for the path ahead
I’m expecting to retire in the next two to three years, at age 55 or 56. My husband and I are planning to sell pretty much everything and travel full-time in a truck with a 30-ft fifth wheel RV. How did we make this decision? What has our planning process been like? What are my biggest areas of uncertainty?
Is retiring early a good idea?
There is data showing that retiring early can lead to depression, boredom and cognitive or physical declines. Not to mention the financial impacts of having to span the years prior to drawing on our retirement plan savings. But ultimately for us it comes down to two concepts:
You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. – Jim Rohn
No one ever said on their deathbed “I wish I’d spent more time at the office” – Harold Kushner
None of us know how much time we have left, and even if we have long lives, the clock is ticking on the number of healthy, active days when we’d seek out adventure and potential discomfort that may often accompany our nomadic lifestyle. While it scares me to take this leap so early, it feels like the right thing to do.
Related to the first quote, it should be mentioned that we have reason to believe that our finances are generally in line to support an early retirement. There will always be the potential for a large, unforeseen financial need, such as a major health issue. But between the investments outside of our IRAs and the expected sale of my company, we should be able to bridge the gap between when we retire and when we can start drawing on our IRAs. It will be an odd sensation to see the funds decreasing over the years, versus most of our lives when the expected goal was to increase our savings.
Because our finances appear to be on track, the biggest wild card is our kids. We got married early but waited 12 years to start a family and we currently have a college freshman and a high school junior. The college freshman has enrolled at a university whose tuition fits very comfortably within the amount available in her college savings account. The high school junior has a few likely schools on his list that would be affordable as well. In order for me to feel comfortable entirely adopting a nomadic lifestyle, both kids need to be on a solid path…happy with their school and course of study. They could spend summers with us on the road, but we also hope they’ll take the opportunity to study abroad for at least some of the summer break, and this has been planned into the budgets. But it can be a tricky transition into college and until we’re pretty sure they’re in good shape on their own paths, it’ll be hard to take that leap into retirement.
Have a plan, but stay flexible.
There’s a lot that could change in the next couple years, but it feels good to be on track.
Consistent with the “Plans Optional” theme, I need to develop greater comfort with a little less certainty, and adopt more of a “go with the flow” approach. That doesn’t mean heading into retirement without a clue as to how we’ll make it work, but hopefully I’ll start to see the joy in having a flexible approach.