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 Every
Woman Needs to Know about Retirement
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
The other day I read
an article about women and retirement. In this piece, the number one premise for
motivation was that we should be afraid. Very afraid. It said that for the most
part, men did the
planning for retirement and that we as women rely on them
blindly.
I dislike reading
articles such as this, first, because it is fear-based but second, it doesn’t take
into consideration the talents women contribute to the mix of partnership and
planning. While it might be true that men are “wired to provide for the
household,” women have moved into professions which pay grandly. Many marriages
today are a different blend of partnership than what our own parents or
grandparents enjoyed. Along with their jobs, many women still run the household,
so why not get involved in
retirement
planning in a proactive manner?

Akaisha Boogie Boarding,
Phuket, Thailand Retirement is a
boring word
The word “retirement”
conjures up images of old people on pensions or perhaps pictures of those who no
longer contribute powerfully to society with their expertise and knowledge. I
prefer the description “financially
independent” for the freedom, influence and
self-reliance it implies.
One can choose
financial independence at any stage of life and it’s an exciting and worthy
goal. The
younger a person begins on this path, the more you have in your favor.
Women, listen up
I don’t buy into any
idea that we don’t financially affect a marriage. Not only is this old
fashioned, but it’s silly. Regardless of what your paycheck is – or even if you
lack one – what you must know is that you can track your spending, manage
your cost per day and that there are four major categories of spending in any
household: housing, transportation, taxes and food. What you do in these
categories seriously affects the bottom line in your family budget.
So let’s look at
these quickly.
Housing
What you do today in
this category and what you choose to do about it during your financially
independent years is
THE largest expense of any household. Yes, most women want
a cozy home, a place they can call their own and decorate how they choose. Is it
possible for you to view this differently? Could you rent? Or purchase a smaller
home? Do you need all the renovations and upgrades every few years, or the lawn
and house cleaning services? What is your house currently costing you per day
for mortgage, insurance, and maintenance? This is an important figure and one
with which you must become familiar.
When you move into
your financially independent life, can you
downsize, rent, house
swap, RV, or house sit
?
Transportation
Americans love their
cars and during child rearing years it is often a necessity to have one’s own
transport available to shuttle kids around, get to the store or pick up supplies
for the home. Do you know how much your car or car payment, gasoline expenses,
maintenance, repair, cleaning and parking cost you per day? When you move into
your retirement, you won’t be traipsing the kids around, so how can you look at
your transportation needs differently? Could you
bicycle, walk, car pool or have
one car instead of
three?
Taxes
Taxes can be another
boring word with images of piles of paper and forms stacked up high on the desk,
meanwhile the sun is shining brightly outside. But you need to know enough about
your tax bracket and what is taxable with your sources of income so that you can
work your taxes in your favor. While Billy and I recommend that you learn how to
do these things on your own, if this is too much of a hurdle, ask your
accountant or financial advisor to help you. Knowing how to structure your taxes
can save you thousands of dollars over time.
Entertainment
The last large
category of expense in any household is food, dining and entertainment. When
Billy and I were working 80 hour weeks, we played hard too, racking up expensive
vacations, eating out at top notch locations and purchasing costly toys. Whether
it’s before your financially independent years or as you enter them, this is one
category where you have complete control. What you choose to spend or save in
this category can definitely affect the bottom line.
Track spending
If you are
tracking
your spending in the above categories and know what your cash outlay is on a
daily basis, then you are in control of your present finances and your
future way of life. One does not have to get fancy or complicated. Anyone
reading this can do simple figuring. Just add up what you are spending and
divide by the number of days you are keeping track. This gives you your cost per
day and it’s a figure that you can manage assertively. If you multiply that
daily average figure out, you will know what your annual spending is. Financial
experts say that we need 25 times our annual spending stacked up in our invested
assets
in order to become financially independent.
We women hold great
influence in our households. Being mindful of and managing the four categories
of greatest spending can place you directly on the road to financial
independence, or cause financial concern later on. Be a full partner and get on
board for financial freedom!
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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