My Life after reaching Financial Independence and Retiring Early

“I envision life in retirement differently…”

Hitting financial independence is my generation’s civil rights movement. Moreover, I would not have made it this far if it was not for the blood, sweat, and effort of everyone that came before me. Because of that, I want to do something special, something unexpected.

Financial Independent from the Start

I still remember mornings in Haiti.

The smell of the bakery covers the neighborhood. Black coffee hits the stove. The soft moment just before dawn when you can hear footsteps walking up pavements, just outside the window. These were the days when kids were shaken, showered, and prepped.

Simpler times with irons powered by coal with hand-controlled mist. Mornings when everyone except the toddlers headed out the door. In the Marines, we called it “making yourself scarce.” A time when we captured the power of the sun. For some reason, that life is what I dream of.

Even 36-yrs later, I still don’t dream of labor. I dream of living with purpose.

Financially Independent and Retiring Early!

My wife and I plan to retire by 2035. This would put us around 25-yrs earlier than most. It will be just around the time when our peers start to take retiring seriously. The old YOLO motto was flawed.

Life expectancy is going up and so are retirement expenses.

At this junction, you should start considering how much retirement income is coming in to support your expenses. Here is a hint; it will cost as much as $100,000 per year to sustain the median household’s expenses today. If that sound like a lot, it is more reason to double down with a financial plan today.

If you doubt this amount, just remember to multiply by 75% to account for expense reduction (post-work) and as add in an annual 5% inflation per year. You will find that the median of $64,000 ramps up to $100,000 annually.

Most would need as much as $1.7 million in retirement savings to weather the storm. Even more, reason to do something about it.

Our Hyper Net/Max Financial Plan for Retirement

For our household, so far, the retirement income plan includes the government pension of $44,000 annually with COLA increases, at least $30,000 in dividends from the after-tax account, and $30,000 from Social security and/or rental income. This is way before our required distributions from our 401ks and ROTH IRAs.

Life in retirement isn’t so hard with a great financial plan. If you want to get started here are the top 10 best financial books you need to read.

Why plan so much for retirement?

Turns out, we will likely have to take care of our aging parents and our kids. With no inheritances in sight and my wife living with Type-1 Diabetes, we cannot afford a plan B. With all that said, constructively, we are giving ourselves ample room in the budget by living abroad where costs are cheaper.

Life in retirement comes down to the type of lifestyle we want and the choices we make today.

A lot of retirees enter into this space with no real plan beyond work. Many suffer from a lack of purpose and depression because of it. This is why it’s important to create SMART+ER life goals asap.

Because there is so much more to learn in retirement

Education is paramount.

With an increase in time fueled by retirement income, I will be focusing on learning as much as possible. First, I will double down on earning a Ph.D. Depending on how that goes, I will see if teaching is something that I would like to do for fun.

Additionally, I want to head to culinary school with a bit of hospitality training. This might lead me to dabble in curating International travel and Air BnBs at extensive villas. Alternatively, I can jump back in Certified Financial planning with a WeWork-style office space for your professionals.

Finally, I will take the nursing course so that I can better care of those around me. Too often, we risk too much and lose for lack of knowledge. For me, this is all about going back to more holistic living where people learned and labored in unison.

You can’t lose more knowledge.

In retirement, I plan to spend the remainder of my life learning and teaching others. Might dabble in books and public speaking, anything to spread new ideas.

I’ve always been BIG on travel

Travel is likely to be number one on everyone’s bucket list. I have dreamed of adventures worldwide likely due to Carmen Sandiego and way too much James Bond as a child. Although I visited over 20 countries, it would be ambitious to see if I can visit them all.

There are so few people granted the opportunity and mean to travel the world, while fewer have the passion.

With a knack for languages and great intuition, I have never known a place that homes could not be lived and built somewhere else.

As such, my wife and I have our hearts set on living abroad.

She says Spain, but I am on team Brazil and/or Portugal. Since she has not been with me to Brazil just yet (2023), I am sure I can win her over.

To be fair, I could see ourselves living in Lisbon (Portugal) and taking quick trips through Spain. Either way, it’s all about speaking Portuguese.

That is the beauty of travel, the ability to live and experience other cultures. I am a big fan of big palisades and lifestyle tweaks that forces the family to spend more time outdoors than indoors. Do not worry, our kids will have a choice to live abroad or stay in state sides with family.

My wife is soft-hearted, so she might travel back and forth. In this case, life in retirement is flexible and without restrictions. Craft it in a way that makes sense for you. I can definitely see some summers traveling with the grandkids and loading up their passports.

The rest of my time is All about Service and Business

Across the globe, most people wake up around 5 am and are out by 7 am. There is no such thing as a “not a morning” person. I want to reward that behavior by investing in local entrepreneurs, especially small cafes.

In South America and the Caribbean, these cafes are the centers of productivity in the morning. I want to be part of that energy. Can’t forget to incorporate bakeries that jump-start the pulse of culture. After that, I would like to modernize spaces such as Barbershops with Loft areas where people can work or network.

To add to this, I would also love to innovate on after-school campuses where kids could learn beyond school and where parents can be at ease that progress is being made on their behalf. Beyond making money, I want to help others.

Life in retirement can be a life of service.

The goal is to reposition wealth and opportunities for some families so that they can branch out and help others. As you can see I have a ton of ideas which also include Real Estate.

The why of being Financially Free and Retiring Early?

I am retiring because “I never dreamt of labor“.

I live for change and constant improvements while retaining the essence of what works. My wife and I will be fine in retirement and to be frank, could do nothing and it will still be more than enough. However, I was born to change the world by running my relay faster.

I am merely here to give the next in line, no excuses for what is and can be possible. This is what being financially independent means to me.

Everyone has his or her Why and maybe it is to retire early and relax. It is your money and you earn what you want to do with your time. For me, I dream of big smiles, morning conversations, and helping others reach their own potential.

This is Why that energizes me. My life in retirement is merely the start of doing way more.

About Author