{"id":2738,"date":"2015-05-04T17:19:32","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T21:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedividendpig.com\/?p=2738"},"modified":"2019-01-24T20:11:42","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T01:11:42","slug":"dividend-investing-and-retiring-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedividendpig.com\/dividend-investing-and-retiring-early\/","title":{"rendered":"Dividend Investing and Retiring Early"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hank and I determined it would be wise\u00a0to\u00a0start\u00a0at the beginning\u00a0as to why I wanted to retire early. \u00a0He sent me a few questions that he thought were pertinent.<\/p>\n

Why do you want to retire early?<\/b><\/h2>\n

While on a business trip last week, I calculated that I spend 60% of my waking hours at work, 10% in traffic and only 16% of my conscious time at home with my family Monday thru Friday. \u00a0(check out our shared google work\/life calculator spreadsheet<\/a>\u00a0to calculate your own life\/work balance)<\/p>\n

\"Work<\/a><\/p>\n

I want to retire early to reverse those percentages. \u00a0I\u2019d like to spend quality time with my family, not tired just got home from work time with them. \u00a0Beyond that, I want to retire from the corporate corn hole game and stressing about things I have very little control over.<\/p>\n

I think Ferris Bueller said it best: \u201cLife moves pretty fast, if you don\u2019t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it\u201d. \u00a0After 2 decades in the workforce, I\u2019ve missed plenty of life without looking around. \u00a0I want to retire not because I\u2019m lazy or feel entitled to a relaxing life after only 20 years in the work force, it’s that I want to spend the quality time with my family before old age and sickness becomes an issue.<\/p>\n

Has that always been a goal of yours?<\/b><\/h2>\n

No, but I wish that were the case. \u00a0If I had started down this path out of school I would be \u201cretired\u201d now.<\/p>\n

I guess I first learned of this alternative lifestyle about a year ago. \u00a0I was on a trip several time zones away and my wife called me in the middle of the night. \u00a0She was having a scary migraine (she has different levels of migraine pain, but scary is the one where she is worried of an aneurysm) and there was nothing I could do to help.<\/p>\n

At that moment, I knew I needed to come up with a new plan. \u00a0I did what most people do and looked it up on the internet. I found and read about people living what I now consider the ideal lifestyle. \u00a0I ran through some numbers and realized I could also retire early. (I\u2019ll show the rough calculations spreadsheet in another post)<\/p>\n

What will you do in retirement? What’s your dream? <\/b><\/h2>\n

Whatever I want. \u00a0As I mentioned earlier, I want to spend more quality time with my family. \u00a0I don\u2019t have a traditional sit on my butt, play golf and die slowly retirement plan. \u00a0Heck, I\u2019ll still be relatively young.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to spend more time woodworking. \u00a0I\u2019d also like to start a small business of buying, repairing and selling distressed homes for new young families. \u00a0I\u2019ll keep active and be productive; I\u2019ll just do things on my own time.<\/p>\n

Will you still work a little? Why?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I might continue to work at my current job, just not the same hours. \u00a0Perhaps work out a part time scheme. \u00a0I do enjoy many parts of my job, just not the hours.<\/p>\n

Buying, repairing and selling old broken down homes sounds like a fun pastime. Especially since I could work on them whenever I wanted.<\/p>\n

In my later years, my wife and I would like to move to Florida and maybe get a part time job working at Disney World. \u00a0We met a nice man who was a retired USPS postman who gushed about how much he enjoyed the job and hours of working at the theme park. \u00a0That seems like fun.<\/p>\n

In my opinion, the moment you stop living for a purpose is the day your life is over. Nothing good comes from boredom. \u00a0I\u2019ll keep busy and productive; I\u2019ll just do it on my own schedule.<\/p>\n

Is this a new goal? Have you been planning since age 22 for this? If not, do you feel behind then?<\/b><\/h2>\n

It’s somewhat of a new goal, roughly a year or so in the making. \u00a0I do feel behind, close to 10 years behind. \u00a0But that\u2019s the beauty of this; you\u2019re never too far behind to catch-up and earlier is better than later.<\/p>\n

However, if I had been planning this since I was 22, I would be retired now. \u00a0If I had started this at 22 I also wouldn\u2019t have made some huge financial mistakes recently like purchasing my house that\u2019s much larger than we need.<\/p>\n

If only had I started at 22 I would be playing a board game with my family instead of writing this on a plane many time zones away from the people that matter most to me.<\/p>\n

What do you plan on giving up \/ forgoing now in order to have an early retirement?<\/b><\/h2>\n

I won\u2019t buy as much stuff. \u00a0But frankly, I can\u2019t imagine anything better than not having as much stuff right now. \u00a0I won\u2019t need as big of a house because I won\u2019t have as much stuff to put in it. \u00a0I also won\u2019t have to spend as much time cleaning and maintaining a big\u00a0house or the expense of the large property taxes. \u00a0I’m sure there will be plenty of other “sacrifices” like not eating out and\u00a0canceling cable<\/a> but\u00a0nothing I can’t easily live without.<\/p>\n

I watch fight club a lot on long flights (its ironic that airlines choose to show this movie as it’s about removing the cultural and corporate influences from our lives that the airlines need to thrive) and the Tyler Durden line, \u201cThe things you own end up owning you\u201d always spoke to me.<\/p>\n

I think we\u2019ve so ingrained in our culture that working till we drop to buy more stuff is the American dream. \u00a0Well, not for me, not anymore. \u00a0\u00a0I think if anything, my quality of life will increase without as much stuff cluttering it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hank and I determined it would be wise\u00a0to\u00a0start\u00a0at the beginning\u00a0as to why I wanted to retire early. \u00a0He sent me a few questions that he thought were pertinent. Why do you want to retire early? While on a business trip last week, I calculated that I spend 60% of my waking hours at work, 10%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":""},"categories":[109,107],"tags":[110],"yoast_head":"\nDividend Investing and Retiring Early - The Dividend Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thedividendpig.com\/dividend-investing-and-retiring-early\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dividend Investing and Retiring Early\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hank and I determined it would be wise\u00a0to\u00a0start\u00a0at the beginning\u00a0as to why I wanted to retire early. \u00a0He sent me a few questions that he thought were pertinent. 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