Is Early Retirement a Viable Option?
After dedicating your entire life to work, wouldn’t it be nice if you could retire at 60 or partially retire at the young age of 55? If you rely on the right personal financial software program to help you map out a plan, you can do just that.
Full Retirement
Why wait until age 65 to enjoy the fruits of your labor? Just imagine traveling, gardening, visiting family and friends, and a host of other things that you can do without feeling the financial crunch of not working. It all comes down to careful planning.
The challenge for most people is putting a doable plan in place. While they aspire for early retirement, they have no clue how to make everything come together flawlessly. For your dream to come to fruition, you need help determining how to dip into your retirement fund without paying a high price.
An innovative personal finance software program will guide you through the steps of socking away more money than you thought possible. As a result, you can put your career behind you sooner while having more money to do all the things you want. By utilizing the right strategy, you can quickly build your retirement fund, which allows you to retire completely at age 60.
Semi-Retirement
The other possibility is to semi-retire at age 55. In this case, you can work in a field that you genuinely have a passion for without struggling financially. For a better understanding of what semi-retirement might look like, consider the following scenarios.
- Animal Rescue– With a heart for rescuing animals, you could work for a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping dogs, cats, horses, and other creatures find forever homes.
- Coffee Shop– You’ve always enjoyed stopping by small coffee shops to unwind and sip on a cup of hot java. In semi-retirement, you could open your own business with the freedom to set the hours of operation for the mornings and possibly weekends.
- Art Gallery– As someone who appreciates the fine arts, you might take a part-time job in this field. On the days you work, you would converse with other art enthusiasts while surrounding yourself with beautiful paintings, sculptures, and other displays.
Although you’ll still earn a paycheck, the amount would drop significantly compared to what you made before. However, because you used the best personal finance software available to plan for early retirement, there’s no need to worry about finances. In fact, depending on the amount of money you saved, you might be able to use what you earn to travel, dine out, go to concerts, or whatever you love to do.
Personal Finance Software
The right personal finance software covers all the bases. You’ll learn how to set a milestone and reach it. In addition to the money you set aside, the program addresses tax issues, investments, how much you would need to save each month, and helpful tips, among many other things. The program will also help you determine which is a more attainable goal: full or semi-retirement.
With the full retirement option, if you begin the saving process at a relatively young age, you could easily retire with $2 million in the bank. At that level, you could do just about anything that you want. Going the semi-retirement route builds a nest egg for several more years while giving you the chance to work part-time or own a business.
Planning Tips
The sooner you start planning your retirement, the more money you can save. Typically, people just starting a career give little to no thought about retirement, but they should. Even if you go to work as early as age 20, if the company offers a retirement plan, invest in it. Otherwise, choose an outside investment option, such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds, like a money market account.
If you either want to retire completely or partially, one of the biggest assets that you can count on is your home. When you purchase a house, create a plan to pay the mortgage off in less than 30 years. For instance, if you make one additional payment annually toward the principle only, you’ll reduce the payoff schedule from 30 to roughly 18 years. To do so, you can simply put aside additional money each month or make the extra payment as one lump sum.
What it comes down to is smart planning, which is where the best personal finance software program helps. As soon as you enter the workforce, you want to concentrate on two things: enjoying your job while advancing in your field and planning to retire early.
Summary
While the thought of retiring early sounds enticing, it’s essential to understand your options before you make any hard decisions. Excellent personal financial software serves as your guide from the time you start working all the way through retirement itself.
Keep in mind that just because full and semi-retirement are viable options doesn’t mean you have to stop working. Using the same personal financial software, you build more substantial savings yet continue your career as long as you want. Regardless of the direction that you ultimately take, a reputable program will help you achieve incredible financial security.