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.

It's in the Genes

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Billy and Akaisha at a restaurant in Panajachel, Guatemala

We have spoken before how retiring early challenged the belief system of everyone we knew. This should not have come as a surprise.

Doing something different from the crowd always stands out, and those who are separated from the herd often get eaten. In Japan, there is a saying, “the nail that stands up, gets hammered down.”

Back in the “olden days” when we lived in caves and in small tribes ourselves, there developed certain instincts that proved beneficial to the tribe, and to the tribe’s survival. You can see the same behavior in animals today. Males competed vigorously to obtain top status of leader or ruler, king of the tribe or herd. In other words, the Alpha male. This status provided him mating opportunities that far surpassed the other males (ensuring that his strong, healthy genes went into the gene pool), and gave him first dibs on food.

Women, on the other hand tended to the offspring, strengthened relationships with other tribe or herd members (to insure her offspring would survive should she die), and did the food gathering thing, while the males did the hunting thing.

Any herd or tribe member that stood out for any reason (illness, getting wounded, being born deformed), or those that did not follow these survival patterns, risked being left behind. Vulnerability has been, and always will be, scary.

Today, most of us do not face these survival issues so glaringly. Certainly those who are considering retiring early have a mental or financial advantage over those who hope to merely get food on the table. However, those tribal instincts from long ago can rise up unexpectedly. 

They can take any of the following forms.

For males, the scramble for status in the tribe takes the form of having expensive toys. Or perhaps it is the “right” address for his family to be looked upon favorably. It is his constant need to appear virile in any form - cars, money, business connections - that keeps him tied to his job, and fearful of letting go. Often, his identity is wrapped up in his job and what he produces for his household. (More women are sliding into this role these days as well.)

For a woman, her nesting instincts have always been apparent. Her home is her castle and reflects who she is.  Her jewels, the car she drives, her stylish clothing all prove she has a male that takes care of her abundantly, so her offspring live well.

Just as in tribal times, anyone who does not keep up with these encrustations of wealth and well being, are often shunned from the herd, or left vulnerable to fend for themselves.

“You cannot retire early! You’ll get bored!”

“What about healthcare?”

“What if your kids need money?”

“I’m not giving up my house!”

These are challenges that any early retiree must be willing to face with awareness. Pick apart the fear surrounding them, find a suitable risk/benefit ratio, and move on. 

Whenever Billy starts craving for a red convertible, or a Lamborghini, totally unsuitable for our current lifestyle of perpetual travel, I smile, pat him on the hand and say, “Dear, it’s just the Call of the Wild.” 

Similarly, when I groan about not having an herb garden or an extra bedroom for family members to stay, he will gently take me in his arms and croon in my ear, “Resist that Call of the Wild! I will protect you!”

Ahh yes. Being separated from the herd is different.

It’s not for everyone.

However, for us, the dividends paid in adventure, exotic locales, personal growth, strengthening, creativity and personal expression of our uniqueness satisfies any sanction of the herd that we may feel we need.

These are personal decisions that every early retiree must face and decide. What those answers are, is up to you. To separate from the herd means being radically distinctive from the herd mentality.

And that makes for the road less traveled.

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Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.

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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