I’m just 32 and I think about retirement quite often. More specifically, I think about early retirement. I think I’ve developed a plan to retire at around age 42-45. Recently, I started reading a book called Get a Life: You don’t need a Million to Retire Well by Ralph Warner. I like the book because it includes real life studies based on people who have already retired, and what makes them happy during retirement. Some of the things that I thought would keep me happy in retirement seem to be (as this book has it) things that keep people happy for short amount of time. I definitely don’t want to be bored or unhappy when I retire, so I have things to think about. I know I don’t care for my job that much, as it really doesn’t bring me any satisfaction…it’s just means to an end (and that brings me to another book I’ve read several times, but I’ll save that for another post).
After reading the Get a Life book and also reading The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris, I’m starting to think about another option. Stay at my current job until retirement age (55), collect full benefits and take a series of mini-vacations during the time I’m employed. The trick would be avoiding any overtime the job throws at me, which would be a challenge. It’s hard to turn down money sometimes.
Ok, a little more about the mini-vacations. I currently work about 14-15 days a month, not including overtime. This breaks down to about 7 daytime shifts and 7 nighttime shifts. Not all the days and nights are together, but it does allow me for 7 straight days off every month. I can take 4 days of vacation prior to these 7 days off, and get a total of 14 days off. I could do this roughly 3 times a year with my allotted vacation. After the turnaround is over that I’m currently working on, I’m doing my first mini-vacation of the year and heading to Peru, Ecuador or Colombia…or a combination of 2 of the 3! My friend that helped me run the marathon is going for her vacation and I’ll meet up with her while she’s down there. I’m pretty excited about the trip! I’ve never been to South America before except for a quick stop on a cruise ship. This time it will be filled with seeing the unseen sights and staying in hostels!
There is one thing that I do know if life now…nothing is for certain. So, all my plans, ideas and dreams could change at any time. That’s something that I never thought I would factor into my planning, but it wouldn’t make sense not too.
