As a follow up to my post from last week, I read an interesting article on the Early Retirement Extreme (ERE) movement. After I posted a link to the article on Facebook, one of my good friends, who is actually planning on retiring at 55, immediately responded. You would think she would be supportive of the article. Instead, she seemed angry and questioned whether anyone could save 75% of their income without making 'a ton of money', considering 30% of her income goes to taxes and tithing. I pointed out that the ERE folks are simply suggesting that *ideally* we should try to save 75% of our income. For most folks, that's not feasible. But she couldn't seem to get past that 75% number.
Anyway, my takeaway from the article is that early retirement requires a lot of discipline and commitment on the front end, so you can enjoy more freedom and options on the back end. But please, don't get hung up on that 75% figure. It's an aspirational goal, not an absolute requirement :-)
I like how the article ends by summarizing what it takes to succeed in early retirement: "Having meaningful activities to fill the day is key to successful retirement at any age..." I guess that's what I was trying to say in my last post. I want to live my life with purpose and meaning regardless of my age or stage in life.
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