We recently got to the point that we decided that we wanted to sell our home so that we could see the world by cruise ship!
A few people have recently asked us how we are able to just get up and go at such a "young" age... So, we put together our 7 tips on retiring early, so that we could be in a position to cruise the world.
1. We defined our financial goals early on.
We worked with a financial planner who was able to put all of our information together, to determine how much money we had; to look at our spending habits; and for us to be able to know how much we realistically needed to be able to see our dream of retiring early so that we could travel as much as we wanted!
We also created a few scenarios where we would “retire” at different ages. We considered all factors such as housing costs, healthcare, travel costs, etc. We had a clear vision that we stuck to, and planned accordingly.
2. We had a plan.
We made a lot of calculations of various things, such as “Should we max out our RRSP contributions?”, or “Should I collect a pension early?”, or “Would selling our house be a good idea?”, or “Should we buy this or that investment?”
There were a lot of decisions being made on how we could maximize our own dollars. For us, we benefited a lot from sharing our plans with our financial advisor.
3. We prioritized our debt repayments.
Yes, we put every purchase that we can on credit cards BUT we pay our credit off in full as soon as we can, so that we don’t pay for the extra interest cost.
We also try and find ways to save extra spending dollars, so that it makes it a lot easier to continue working toward our goals.
4. We invest in long term assets and cultivate income streams.
We have always loved Real Estate, and learning about other ways of gaining passive income, such as having dividend investments, an online business, or rental property income.
We spent some time speaking with a bank representative, and we also like to discuss real estate with many real estate brokers.
5. Keep ourselves educated.
We have fun by staying informed and knowledgeable. We like to read, attend seminars, or simply surround ourselves with people who share our interests and aspirations!
We like to try new things and take advantage of new or exciting opportunities.
6. We maintain healthy habits.
In the past few years, we have really prioritized our healthy day to day habits. We like to go out and get fresh air and sun, but going for walks, hikes or bike rides.
When we are on a cruise, we like to participate in as many activities as we can; meet people; make friends from all over the world; and we strive to have a balanced life!
7. We like to have fun.
Retiring could be a very scary idea, but it could also be very achievable in your earlier years. We have had a lot of fun with our planning and daydreaming.
Dream big! Our dream is to see the world on a cruise ship… it doesn’t have to be YOUR dream. Do what makes YOU happy and have fun with the idea, and turning it into reality.
What do you do about out of province/country health insurance?
So nice meeting you both this morning! Love your story and wishing you lots of happy adventures.