Early retirement without a fortune
- Thread starter oracle
- Start date
For those wanting to retire early on minimal income and who want to have a productive reason still to get out of bed in the morning then it could be worth having a read of various writings on the following site:
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com.au/
It is one of the most popular blogs in Australia.
She released a book recently which is also quite a good read.
Cheers - Gordon
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com.au/
It is one of the most popular blogs in Australia.
She released a book recently which is also quite a good read.
Cheers - Gordon
This is a great blog! I really like the focus on "mindset" and the target audience - the "whiney" middle class.
I have been into this line of thinking for a few years & only recently got serious about "living it". Everyone here should have a look at this blog. Great stuff.
Having read a few posts there (mrmoneymoustache.com), I wholeheartedly agree. This is just the consumerist contrarian gold I've been looking for.
That is what Kathrynd does - not swapping but sitting. That is why they have no accomodation overheads of "homeowning" costs and can suvive on $12k a year.
All power to them - we're looking at similar but to Tassie for a few weeks.
Even in Canada we still live on $1000 month, but that is because we don't have any mortgage payments on our home. We purchased a 5 unit building with our "kids" (young adults) and they take care of the other costs.
Hope you have fun housesitting Lizzie
We have always enjoyed seeing how others live.
The looking after the pets was fun too.
Planning to live, at least part of the year, in south east Asia later on. Most attractive places so far: Indonesia, Phillipines, Thailand, Malaysia. For us it's likely to be more of a discovery / adventure process than a retirement. It will be cheaper, but the main motivation is to experience something different. We might end up living in one of those places permanently. Who knows.
Why do Malays dislike Indo's so much la
I've spent a lot of time in Malaysia and I think its a very "straight" and boring country outside of the underground scene in KL. I hope you're inferring friendly rivalry like Oz vs NZ or the UK vs Wales/France.. or the US vs Canada.
I have a few friends living in Bali. Some retired, some working.
One- a retired Pommie, lives like a king on his pension. He got bored though and now does some amazing charity work helping people in villages that don't see the tourist $$.
Another bought a boutique hotel and lazes around the pool a lot.
I have a few friends living in Bali. Some retired, some working.
One- a retired Pommie, lives like a king on his pension. He got bored though and now does some amazing charity work helping people in villages that don't see the tourist $$.
Another bought a boutique hotel and lazes around the pool a lot.
Not a place to retire or semi-retire when you've got the school age billy lids though?
Really interesting thread this.
We had a trip to Penang and met lots of Brits living there. With the exchange rate, the buying power of their pensions is quadrupled. Real estate was surprisingly pricey though. There is also a minimum amount you must bring with you as lump sum or income to get residency. Great lifestyle though. Don't need heating, ever. Air con optional if you have fans. Marvellous food and good medical. Horrible traffic but cheaper petrol.
However, not a great option if you have grandkids you'd like to see a lot of.
We had a trip to Penang and met lots of Brits living there. With the exchange rate, the buying power of their pensions is quadrupled. Real estate was surprisingly pricey though. There is also a minimum amount you must bring with you as lump sum or income to get residency. Great lifestyle though. Don't need heating, ever. Air con optional if you have fans. Marvellous food and good medical. Horrible traffic but cheaper petrol.
However, not a great option if you have grandkids you'd like to see a lot of.
Thought I'd relate the very different experiences of my parents, who divorced in their late 60s.
My Dad owned his own business and made a lot from selling it. Bought an annuity and a bunch of blue-chip shares with fully-franked dividends. Retired to the mid-north coast and was very comfortable on about $80,000 per year. Lived simply but did go to movies, the RSL, buy books, occasional o/s trips (business class). Died suddenly at age 81.
Mum hung onto the family home in Sydney, bought some shares and lived very frugally, amassing a lot of savings. Put off overseas travel, home maintenance and buying nice things for herself. Then got dementia and eventually had to go into aged care. The family home was so rundown is had become a liability and a decision was made to sell it, because it was virtually a knockdown, quite unrentable.
Centrelink deemed all her assets and concluded she should make a contribution of close to $115 per day for her care. She is the only resident of the facility still paying tax; each month her total expenses approach $4000, etc. Thank God she is too far gone to realise what her little room is costing her.
The point I would make here is that - had she spent up more and had fun while she was younger - she might even have had a small pension entitlement now, be getting subsidised medicines, and so on.
There is an excellent Super Simulator that Telstra has online, where you can look at all different scenarios for life after retirement. Very interesting.
My Dad owned his own business and made a lot from selling it. Bought an annuity and a bunch of blue-chip shares with fully-franked dividends. Retired to the mid-north coast and was very comfortable on about $80,000 per year. Lived simply but did go to movies, the RSL, buy books, occasional o/s trips (business class). Died suddenly at age 81.
Mum hung onto the family home in Sydney, bought some shares and lived very frugally, amassing a lot of savings. Put off overseas travel, home maintenance and buying nice things for herself. Then got dementia and eventually had to go into aged care. The family home was so rundown is had become a liability and a decision was made to sell it, because it was virtually a knockdown, quite unrentable.
Centrelink deemed all her assets and concluded she should make a contribution of close to $115 per day for her care. She is the only resident of the facility still paying tax; each month her total expenses approach $4000, etc. Thank God she is too far gone to realise what her little room is costing her.
The point I would make here is that - had she spent up more and had fun while she was younger - she might even have had a small pension entitlement now, be getting subsidised medicines, and so on.
There is an excellent Super Simulator that Telstra has online, where you can look at all different scenarios for life after retirement. Very interesting.
Nibbles55,
Concerning your mum, IMO, her attitude towards money/ frugality is something she would have great difficulty changing.
Could be one of the reasons your parents divorced, was over the spending of money?
Did she view money as security?
Some people do not like to travel...my mother for one.
My parents were not frugal.
My dad retired at 55, and had lots of interests.If he wanted something, he bought it...whether he could afford it, I honestly don't know. Money was never discussed in our house.He did travel, going o/s several times, without my mother. Went on a tour group to Egypt and a couple times to France with my oldest brother. Always upgraded their vehicles every couple of years.
My dad died at 73. He had 18 great years.
My mother is now 82 and has some dementia, and eyesight problems. Not a lot of money, but still lives in her own apt, across the hall from my brother's apt.As long as she can continue smoking she seems to be mostly content.
Concerning your mum, IMO, her attitude towards money/ frugality is something she would have great difficulty changing.
Could be one of the reasons your parents divorced, was over the spending of money?
Did she view money as security?
Some people do not like to travel...my mother for one.
My parents were not frugal.
My dad retired at 55, and had lots of interests.If he wanted something, he bought it...whether he could afford it, I honestly don't know. Money was never discussed in our house.He did travel, going o/s several times, without my mother. Went on a tour group to Egypt and a couple times to France with my oldest brother. Always upgraded their vehicles every couple of years.
My dad died at 73. He had 18 great years.
My mother is now 82 and has some dementia, and eyesight problems. Not a lot of money, but still lives in her own apt, across the hall from my brother's apt.As long as she can continue smoking she seems to be mostly content.
My mum worked her whole life to pay off her mortgage with not much left over. She retired at 55 and was diagnosed with cancer a couple of months later. She died 2 years ago aged 61. She went overseas once in her life, however it was a short trip as she was quite ill by that stage.
She also didn't want to spend up in case she found a miracle cure and had nothing left to live on in later life.
One of the saddest days of my life was the day I received money from her estate. I really wish she had spent up and enjoyed her life earlier. Life is short and should be enjoyed. There needs to be some balance.
She also didn't want to spend up in case she found a miracle cure and had nothing left to live on in later life.
One of the saddest days of my life was the day I received money from her estate. I really wish she had spent up and enjoyed her life earlier. Life is short and should be enjoyed. There needs to be some balance.
Come to think of it, Kathryn, my Dad used to be driven crazy by Mum's attitude to spending. We would go to a nice restaurant and Mum would comment that she could have cooked the same dish "so much cheaper at home". She was a WW2 youngster, lived with the rations and bombings in the UK, all that. Couldn't stand to waste a thing.
Dad, on the other hand, wanted to live a better life to make up for the deprivations of the early years.
Encourage your Mum to keep up the smoking; will ensure death from other causes before the drawn out, undignified death that dementia offers. I don't mean that to sound callous; my Mum's mind will expire long before her body, sadly.
Dad, on the other hand, wanted to live a better life to make up for the deprivations of the early years.
Encourage your Mum to keep up the smoking; will ensure death from other causes before the drawn out, undignified death that dementia offers. I don't mean that to sound callous; my Mum's mind will expire long before her body, sadly.
It's funny how the same type of circumstances will affect people.
One makes sure she will never be without money, and the other wants to spend, because they went thru many years without.
The doctor's said they would never encourage her to give up smoking.That made her happy. She asked me a few months ago if i ever smoked. I said no. She said it is a bad habit. "Yes, my mother smokes", I replied. She replied, "oh, does she?".
Sometimes, I wonder if she knows who I am.
The balance between spending for right now/living it up in the present versus saving for an uncertain length of future is hard and difficult to get right. There is unfortunately no formula. We all talk about saving/investing X percentage of annual after tax income to reach various retirement goals. However, there is no information on what Y percentage should be spent on pure fun and hedonism.
Ideally, on the death bed and just one second before the last breath , one has spent all their money and have racked up maximal credit card debt. However, timing is never that impeccable. More likely, one second after your last breath, your heirs will be fighting over their multi-million dollar inheritance.
Ideally, on the death bed and just one second before the last breath , one has spent all their money and have racked up maximal credit card debt. However, timing is never that impeccable. More likely, one second after your last breath, your heirs will be fighting over their multi-million dollar inheritance.
I remember a few years ago reading a newspaper article about a person spending all their life savings after being given less than a year to live.
They were suing the doctor, as the doctor gave him/her the wrong test results.
I don't know the outcome.
The formula should be based on whatever makes you happy.
Some people would rather work an extra 30 years to (hopefully) have a comfortable retirement in Oz and others like myself decide that life is fleeting and its better to retire in your mid 30's and live like a king in SE Asia.
This is certainly the ideal scenario if you are single with no dependents. It can be timed with some degree of certainty by dividing your net wealth by how many years you expect to live.
A 40yo with net assets of $1.6m could safely live on the income his investments generate and still dip into it for nice items by selling down assets along the way.
An expected life span of 80yo is realistic so the 40yo can safely spend $40,000 per annum until he's 80yo. Plan B if the money runs out before you die is to move back to Australia and apply for the pension.
