early retirement planning

Have you ever thought to yourself: What's the least amount or minimum retirement savings I could get away with? Don't be bashful about asking it.  It's a perfectly valid question to consider; especially when you think how little retirement savings most people actually have. (In case you're wondering, its $107,000 for Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 according to data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).) While the major media outlets would have you believe that you need somewhere between $2 and $3 million dollars, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that you could possibly become financially independent and consider leaving full-time employment for a whole lot less. In fact, if there's one thing … [Read more...] about What is the Minimum Retirement Savings You Could Comfortably Live On?

If you have any aspirations to retire early some day, then this is the post you’ve been waiting for. It’s my annual update to our plan for financial freedom. Trust me – you’re not going to find another plan like this anywhere else. For some time now I’ve been saying that my wife and I plan to retire when I turn 45 years old. How do we plan to pull off such an ambitious goal?  That’s what this plan is all about. We put numbers to paper and actually see what our cash flow will look like all throughout the future.  Hence the name of the blog, this is our “money design”. If you have any desire whatsoever to retire at 45 (or any age really), but you’re not really sure how  you're going to do it, then this post is for you!  I'll … [Read more...] about Our Ultimate Plan to Retire at 45 and Achieve Financial Freedom

In a lot of ways I think that I’m so much better off for being so active in my own finances and early retirement planning.  All around me I see people who have not taken control of their financial future - and it devastates them. They are stuck working at jobs they hate until well into their golden years.  They have to miss family engagements.  They are under the servitude of others until their health no longer allows them or qualifies them to be. It’s a sad way to go out, and it’s not something that I will ever allow for myself or my family. But despite my best intentions to achieve what others feel is unachievable, Is there a dark side to my obsession with planning for an early retirement? … [Read more...] about Could Early Retirement Planning Be Ruining Me?