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Retire Early
Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler
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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. |
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Can You
Really Retire by 40? Here's How Young Professionals Are Doing it
Latanah Justo
Let’s be honest. The dream isn’t just retirement—it’s freedom. The idea of
working hard into your 60s only to finally start living? That sounds like a raw
deal. A lot of young professionals today are flipping the script. They’re asking
the big questions early: What if I didn’t have to wait? What if I could retire
way before the so-called “normal” age? And what if I didn’t have to become a
crypto bro or win the Powerball to make it happen?
This isn’t about chasing some fantasy or turning your life upside down. It’s
about making intentional moves, especially during your 20s and 30s, that open
doors later. It takes a little strategy, a little patience, and a lot of
clarity. But if early retirement is something that keeps showing up in your
thoughts while you’re stuck on Zoom at 4:59 PM, you’re in the right place.
Let’s talk about how to start.
Start With Your Why, Then Reverse Engineer Everything
Most people start with a number, but that’s backward. Start with your why—the
real reason you want to retire early. Maybe you want more time with your kids
while they’re still little. Maybe you’ve got dreams of traveling the world
without scheduling time off through HR. Or maybe your passion just doesn’t pay
the bills yet, but you know you want space to explore it someday.
Once you’ve got that in focus, you start working backwards. What kind of life do
you actually want? What does a Tuesday look like if you don’t have a job
anymore? That kind of vision gives your goal shape. It tells you how much you
need—and how little you might actually need to be happy. Most people are
surprised to learn that the number they need to hit isn't as massive as they
thought. It’s just that they’ve never been taught to zoom out.
When you see the end point clearly, you can start creating a timeline that makes
sense for your income, your lifestyle, and the trade-offs you’re willing to
make. Early retirement doesn’t have to mean eating instant noodles until you're
45. But it does mean knowing what really matters and being bold enough to work
toward it now—not someday.
Make More, Spend Less, Invest Often (But Be Smart About It)
There are really only a few levers to pull when you’re building early wealth,
and most of them are already in your hands. You’ve got your income, your
expenses, and how you grow the gap between them. That gap—that’s where the magic
happens.
If
you’re serious about walking away early, you’ll want to grow your income faster
than you grow your lifestyle. That could mean taking on freelance work, moving
up in your company, or starting something of your own. You don’t have to become
some side hustle guru, but you do have to make more money if you want the option
to stop working earlier than most.
Then, don’t blow your progress on lifestyle creep. That’s the trap where every
raise gets eaten up by a bigger apartment or a fancier car. Keep your cost of
living lower than you could afford. It’s not about deprivation—it’s about
choice. And you’re choosing time.
Then comes the part that trips people up: investing. The younger you are, the
more powerful your dollars become.
Compounding works best when it has
time on
its side. So start early, stay consistent, and don’t panic when the market dips.
Risk feels scary when you’re used to watching every penny, but wealth grows when
you give it breathing room.
And
while you're
making career decisions, keep your long-term lifestyle in the back
of your mind. Promotions are nice, but not if they trap you in golden handcuffs.
Stay nimble enough to choose your path, not just accept the one that’s handed to
you.
The Secret No One Talks About? Get Help From People Who Do This for a Living
You
wouldn’t try to build a house without a contractor. And if you did, it might end
up crooked. The same goes for your finances. You’re smart. You know how to read.
You can look up Roth IRAs and ETFs all day long. But sometimes, you need someone
who sees the bigger picture and knows the traps before you fall into them.
That’s where wealth management firms come in. And no, they’re not just for
millionaires with yachts. More and more of them are working with young
professionals who are looking to fast-track their financial independence. These
aren’t your parents’ stuffy suits who only talk about tax shelters. The good
ones? They speak your language. They understand that you want more flexibility,
not just a bigger pile of money. And they’ll help you map out a plan that
doesn’t feel like a straightjacket.
It’s easy to assume you should do everything yourself. You’re resourceful.
You’re capable. But a good advisor can catch things you didn’t even think to
look for. They don’t just talk numbers—they talk strategy. And that’s exactly
what early retirement takes.
Stack Your Habits Like You're Building a Foundation
We’ve all been there. You read something inspiring, you make a spreadsheet, you
feel fired up... and then two weeks later, you’re back to takeout and forgetting
what your plan was. The goal here isn’t just enthusiasm—it’s consistency.
Think of early retirement like
building retirement funds brick by brick. No one
gets there overnight. But every small move counts. You don’t need to do
something massive today. You just need to do something that moves you a step
closer. That might be transferring an extra $100 to savings. It might be
skipping a subscription you don’t actually use. It might be watching a video
about low-cost index funds instead of another round of binge-watching.
It’s boring sometimes. That’s okay. Boring is where your freedom is born. And
once your habits start to layer on top of each other, things shift. You stop
having to think about every decision because your system starts doing the
thinking for you. That’s when the momentum kicks in. That’s when you start to
feel the weight lifting—even before you’ve retired.
Make Peace With the Trade-Offs and Keep Going Anyway
No
sugarcoating it—early retirement takes sacrifice. Not necessarily suffering, but
you will give up things other people say yes to. There might be times when you
feel behind your peers, especially if everyone around you is chasing the next
status symbol. But remember what you’re trading for: freedom. That’s not
nothing.
You’re choosing a life with more time, more space, more autonomy. That doesn’t
happen by accident. So yes, there will be decisions that feel heavy. But you’ll
get better at spotting what matters and what’s just noise. And over time, the
trade-offs won’t even feel like sacrifices. They’ll feel like choices you were
glad to make.
What’s waiting for you isn’t just early retirement. It’s waking up when your
body is ready. It’s spending your days how you actually want. It’s living on
your terms, not someone else’s schedule.
And
that? That’s worth every smart move you make today.
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About the Authors
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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