How are you 33 in 2020 but 40 in 2024?
Fixed. 33 in 2020, working hard until I'm 40, which is in 2027.
You want to spend 25 years living on $30k and then spend life from 65 onwards living on $122k?
Well I can only afford to live on $30k if I work only half the year, according to my assumptions about earnings, etc.
And that's fine. I'm perfectly happy to live in modest accomodation, cook my own food, use public transport, etc, in exchange for having half of my life to myself rather than my whole life to the employer.
And you want to spend those 25 years consistently working half the year and chasing new 6 month contracts? I don’t get it.
I enjoy the thrill of the chase. And I'm pretty good at interviewing and getting work, so I want to play to my strengths.
I would rather begin to retire earlier on a lower income, rather than spend half my life working like a dog so I can *maybe* get to retire when I'm old and grey.
I mean, that's what this movement is all about isn't it?
Anyways, you do whatever floats your boat. Check out a book called the 4 hour work week.
I don't understand that book. I've read a bit about it - it seems like he's talking about automating and outsourcing repetitive processes. Which sounds intelligent and smart, except that I don't have any processes to automate! I live such a bare-bones, frugal, minimalist life already that I can't think of anything I'd want to pay someone else to do.
Hire an accountant? My tax affairs are pretty simple as it is, I can just do it myself.
Financial advisor? I just put money in an index fund.
Correspondence? I barely have any. All my emails are directly work-related, so I'm the only person in a position to write them.
Also, ready every article MMM has written, yep, all 300. You’ve got time. After you read that, then think about the type of life you want and see if your plans change from what you’ve written.
Will keep reading, as he definitely has some good ideas.
But I think the kind of life I want involves some work and some leisure. I do enjoy my job. Just not 11-12 months of the year. I would enjoy my work more if I got to really focus on it for 6 intense months at a time, and spend the rest of the year relaxing, travelling, recuperating, etc.
Imagine if you went to the gym and just started lifting weights non-stop, without even taking 30 sec breather. It would quickly get exhausting and you'd end up dropping the weights. Instead, if you take lots of breaks and breath properly, you can keep the workout going for 1 hour and get much fitter and also enjoy it more. That's how I want my career to be - lots of breaks, lots of fresh air, lots of time to recuperate.
Also, in between, travel a bit and see the world, grow as a human. Then shape your plan more. You need a better, more realistic plan of what your life is going to be.
I definitely plan on travelling, in fact I'm already working abroad, and over the next few years I will be working in 2-3 additional new countries (getting the visa for one of them sorted right now).
I want to work + travel rather than just travel, as I want to keep building up my investment portfolio, especially during these crucial early years where compounding has the most opportunity to work.