Retiring at 41 Years Old

Can you thrive in a recession?

2009-02-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to thrive in a recession?

If you listen to all of the politicians, the answer is no. I am not saying that there is no reason for concern, but I also do not believe that we need to spend trillions of dollars in order to correct the problems that we are having.

There are some things do not have any control over. Yes, you might lose your job. Yes, there might be a credit freeze. Gas prices may go up or down.

The most important thing you can do is to make sure that your bank account is in the black.
Make sure you are saving for a rainy day. Make sure you are not increasing your consumer debt. Live on less than you earn.

I have read in some books (by a respected author) that these words of advice are foolish. Debt is good. Spend all you want - just make more!

Nonsense. The economy goes in cycles. Up and down. It simply cannot go up and up forever.

People in previous cycles would save money for the lean times. That way, they would have enough to weather the slump and then be fine when the economy imrpoved.

This time is different - people didn't save. They spent more than they made, promising income they hadn't earned yet in return for consumable goods.

Bad idea.

Think about it - if you had 6 months' worth of expenses sitting in the bank, would you worry as much about your job? Maybe, but not in a panic.

Now think about this - if you had NO money in the bank, would you be stressed? Probably. Panicking? Maybe.

Or even worse - no money in savings, in debt up to your eyeballs, and possibly jobless soon. That is when the sleepless nights start.

People have asked me - "How on Earth can you be thinking of having your husband quit his job with the economy like it is?"

The answer is that we are preparing. With no debt and sufficient income, ANYONE can "retire" from the rat race!

Bought a second car

2009-02-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

We no longer have any debt, except for our house. We owe less than $10,000 on our mortgage.

We now own 2 cars (with no car payment) and are working to pay off our home. We are also looking into expanding our business and buying some rental properties. There will be some stupendous deals in real estate soon.

I highly recommend this video about car payments and driving free cars.

So what now?

2009-01-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it was a great feeling when I paid off the debts from the loan company.

I shook the finance company manager's hand and thanked him for letting us do business with him. He looked a little surprised, but then broke into a smile and said if we ever needed a loan to come see him personally.

This is a new period in our lives. We have reached a tipping point. While we are not debt-free yet, the only debt we have is our home, and that brings me a lot of comfort in the times we are in.

I am reading a book called Surviving Financial Meltdown by Ron Blue and Jeremy White. It is a very recently published book (2009) and it brings the current financial picture into clear perspective.

Recessions are not new. Financial turmoil is not new. Gas prices rise and fall. Jobs come and go. Good health is not guaranteed.

But the key is to prepare. Can you prepare for everything? Of course not. But you can prepare for what you can prepare for.

If you do what you can do, God will take care of what you can't do.

Debt is simply soul-crushing. Not the "good" debt - reasonable debt that is secured with collateral - but unsecured consumer debt that is not backed by an asset worth what the debt amounts to.

Think about it. If you only had your house loan for debt, and that was only 30% of your net income - how much better off would you be? How would that change your financial decisions? Would it change the job you had? Would you even have a job working for someone else, or would you simply work for yourself?

My family asks me how we can even think of having my husband retire "in these financial times."

My answer is that he will retire when we have done all we want to do - no debt, 6-12 months of expenses in the bank, my business prospering.

I believe that we are planning well for a future that will be a blessing to us, and that God will bless our efforts.

And we will trust in Him. :o)

Only debt left is our mortgage!

2009-01-29T16:04:00.000-08:00

This is an incredible time for us.

Tomorrow we will carry out the next part of our plan. This will be a huge step forward in having my husband retire when he is 41 years old.

Tomorrow morning I will go down and pay off our car loan and another personal loan that we had out. This will mean that the only debt that my husband and I have is our house, and we owe less than $10,000 on our mortgage.

Our next step is to finish paying off our mortgage. We believe we will have that paid off before June. While we are paying off our mortgage, we will also be working towards building up our emergency fund so that we have at least six months’ worth of funds to cover our expenses.

Our goal is to have Hubby leave his job in December of 2009.

Free newsletter!

2008-12-20T11:22:00.000-08:00

Writing has been very good to me, and it is allowing us to plan for my husband's "retirement." (Okay, really he just quitting his job and staying home with me! LOL)

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Our decision to have Hubby retire

2008-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

I have been working from home for a while now.

Hubby is a disabled veteran and it is difficult for him to work. After realizing that I was making enough working from home to pay the bills, we sat down and seriously began planning for his retirement.

We chose December 31, 2009, so that we have time to do several things:

Pay off all of our debt - house, cars, etc.
Find health insurance from an independent source.
Have 6 months' of exepnses in the bank.
Make a minimum of $100,000 in 2009.

Meeting all of these criteria will make the transition eaiser for us.

I will be posting about our progress.

Questions? Comments? Post them here!

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