Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

What Am I Doing Wrong?

Q&A from a Reader

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Billy and Akaisha in Cartagena, Colombia

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli, early retirement advocates, open this Q&A session with a common misconception. Their adventures don't solely define them - they're also financial planning experts.

Billy and I have been traveling the world for over 3 decades.

This has given some people the impression that we are a traveling site, but our successful early Financial Independence has been a series of decisions.

We chose to downsize our living quarters, chose a simpler way to interact with the world, and have not fed a complicated personal infrastructure. This frees up a lot of money to spend elsewhere.

Some of these decisions were the result of a different perspective we have been fortunate to cultivate during our global travels - which is why our 5th Edition is named "A New Perspective."

Below we have an email from one of our Readers -who we believe represents a lot of people in North America right now.

He asks some very good questions, and we give some very good answers.

Take a look below.

Hello,

I love your information. I am 62, have wanted to stop working for the last 12 years. I made a poor choice selling our home in 2020 based on realtor advising we got great deal and market was going down.  Who knew the market was going to do what it did.

Short story - our current situation is we do not own a home. Monthly expenses (and we do not live lavishly) are approximately $10,910.  Most of that are things like car expenses, rent, travel, health care stuff, food etc...

You do it on 40K. I am impressed. I believe we could do it cheaper if we had a home base solidified, I think we would be set. Or I am clueless. Our retirement income without touching investments would be $105,527 a year so what are we doing wrong?

I envy what you do, and even if we don't want to be year round travelers I am thinking with high rents, and high costs to buy a home, it is difficult to stop work and say all will be good. Oh and we have zero debt. We live near our children because we are family oriented in Massachusetts which taxes away.

I think we are missing something or our financial planner is missing something, but she sort of tells us we are good in the green but I would love to be told we have more than a $500K cushion.

Thanks for reading. I am frustrated with our economy and the cost of living in supposedly, the freest country in the world.

D.

Hi D.,

Thanks for taking the time to write.

Important financial categories

We mention in our books that the highest categories of expenses (in order) are Housing, Transportation, Taxes and Food/Entertainment.

Revise your spending in any of these categories and you'll "find extra money" to use elsewhere.

It is an American and Canadian custom to own a home yet there are other viable alternatives. I realize that you sold your home earlier, but a home is not necessarily the best investment, especially if you want to retire.

You might consider other more affordable options.

Read:  Discover Worry-Free Housing. There might be an Active Adult Community in your area which could offer you much for your spending dollar.

Take a look at our Housing Page for other ideas.

Transportation

The second category of highest spending is Transportation. Do you own several cars? motorcycle? pay for a boat slip?

Take a look at our Transportation Page for more options.

We have been car-free for decades now, and the money we used to pay for fuel, parking, maintenance, licensing, cleaning, insurance, etc., easily covers our use of Uber, Lyft, taxi, subway, train, bus or other modes of transport. If you look at the Transportation page you will see car-free cities, walkable cities and other ways of getting around. This will save you a considerable amount of money yearly.

Taxes

The third category is taxes. Yes, these taxes are everywhere and whether it's on food, state income tax, federal income tax, taxes on cell phone usage, fuel, alcohol or countless other things we use - you might consider arranging your taxable income differently, Or move to a state with better tax rates, or a state that has no state income tax.

We understand and respect your dedication to family. These days with Skype, facetime, WhatsApp and other VOIPs one can visit with loved ones often with video chat. The money you save on the above categories can pay for transport to visit family in person or pay for them to visit you.

Life is all about choices, and if you have wanted to quit work for the last 12 years, maybe you could consider all the alternatives you have available to you. You and your spouse must work together on an answer that works for you both.

The last big category of spending

The last category is Food/Entertainment. If you are eating out often, or picking up the tab for your family, don't like to cook at home, or eat packaged foods regularly, this all adds to that category. If you take expensive vacations, or are paying for your kids to come along or even paying for someone's college loan, these are things you must consider soberly.

Can you keep up this pace of spending indefinitely?

Tools to use and changing one's perspective

Another tool we recommend is to Track Your Spending. This will give you the confidence and control of knowing where your money is going and how much you are spending each day on which categories.

Do you know how much a day you are paying for housing? For transport? For taxes? For your food/entertainment?  What about your yearly spending or even better - how much is your daily average?

As you make some of the changes I have recommended above, you will see your daily and yearly average go down. It's a satisfying feeling to be in control of your finances and know that you can make the necessary decisions to have a satisfying retirement with the money you have.

There are many things you can do if you are open to them.

The above is what I have to offer you.

You might also consider purchasing our book The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement, 5th Edition, A New Perspective for more insight, alternatives and data. See Table of Contents here.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask.

Take care, and again, thanks for taking the time to write.

Best Regards,

Akaisha and Billy

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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