Think Early Retirement is Impossible? Think Again
The earlier you retire, the longer your retirement will be -- which means more fun and less work over the course of your life. The problem, of course, is that many workers struggle to come up with enough savings to finance any retirement, let alone an early one. You can buck the trend and enjoy a well-funded early retirement by adopting the following approach.
The first thing you need to do when drawing up any retirement plan is to figure out what exactly you want to do during your retirement. After all, some retirement dreams are far more expensive than others. If your idea of an ideal retirement is to lounge around the house reading and watching TV, with perhaps the occasional leisurely walk through the park, your retirement expenses will be a whole lot lower than someone who wants to pursue more expensive endeavors, such as lots of travel or a glamorous nightlife.
Once you've decided what you want to do with your life after you retire, you can start adding up your retirement expenses to figure out just how much money you'll need to finance those retirement dreams. You can start by looking at your current expenses, then remove anything that will no longer apply and add in the expenses for your retirement plans. For example, if you're positive that your house will be paid off by the time you retire, you can remove your monthly mortgage payment from your retirement expenses (but remember that you'll still have to budget for homeowner's insurance and property taxes).
Source: Fool.com
