Before going on vacation, I wrote a piece about retiring at the age of 35. When I wrote this post (it was end of July), it was simply a crazy idea: I would sell everything, buy an RV and go with my family on a never-ending trip. This is definitely in the line of ERE (Early Retirement Extreme) and would require several sacrifices.
This post generated several comments and I thought I would continue my thinking out loud with you on this blog. After all, maybe I had this idea due to being over worked and after two weeks of vacation, I would change my mind and hop back into my comfy home and go to work with a smile. But this is exactly the problem; why do we have to wait for thee two darn weeks to recharge?
What’s the Point of Retiring at 35 and What it Means
I didn’t use a provoking title of retiring at 35 just to catch your attention. And I don’t intend on retiring as most people might imagine retirement. My goal is not to sit back on a rocking chair on the front porch at the age of 35. It is not also to chill out and stop working. I really want to retire from “The Matrix”. I don’t know if you recall this movie, but the story is about machines taking over the world and putting all human beings in a virtual world that looks like exactly like today. Humans are dormant and live their life without asking any question. I feel we pretty much all do the same; wake up in the morning, workout for the most courageous (I’m not always part of this group!), go to work, have supper, rinse & repeat until the weekend or go on vacation.
I’ve been against this lifestyle since the age of 28. This was the first year when I made a 6 figure income and realized that my life outside work was more important. I started to work 4 days a week (and still am) to benefit from more free time. At the moment, I’m not like many individuals who hate their job and want to quit to escape their reality. In fact, here’s a few tips:
#1 I like my job and I’m good at it
#2 I’m not under too much pressure and work about 35 hours/week
#3 I live a happy married life and my kids are super fine at school
So really, why do I want to quit all this? The short answer is: because it’s boring. I don’t feel that I’m alive right now. You can call this mid-life crisis (mind you, I’m only 33! Hahaha) but I think I’ve decided to swallow the blue pill and wake up out of the Matrix. I want to move around, create something, feel alive, do something different than everybody does because this is the way it goes.
The RV Plan Revisited
At first, the idea of selling everything to drop my lifestyle and live in an RV sounded very promising. After further thought and discussion with my wife, we decided to modify this plan a little bit.
It is obvious our kids will need stability at one point in time. We can’t really drive them across America without a solid home base. This is why we decided to make a few modifications to the original “retire by 35” plan.
We will sell everything and buy a RV. Renting my house seems complicated and wouldn’t allow me to buy an RV. The first goal around this plan is to be debt free and I can’t do it without selling my house. Plus, I have started to find my house a little too big for our needs (which we all create in our minds anyways, right?).
We will start with a one year trip. This is the big modification; we are thinking of doing all of Canada, the US West coast, then Mexico and finish up with 2-3 months in Costa Rica. Then, we expect to come back through the US East coast and finish with the Maritimes to come back to our place 12 months after we left.
This should give me enough time to build a real business with Dividend Stocks Rock. I launched my investing platform back in December 2013 and the potential is enormous. So far, I’ve seen very interesting growth and can definitely see DSR paying my bills if I work hard enough on it. Just do the math; it’s $14.95 per month, if you reach 1,000 member mark you make…. Right away over 100K per year. This is even more than what I’m making. I currently get about 20 to 30 new members per month while working on this site part time. I just imagine how many new members I can get if I work on it 30 hrs a week!
The thing is I can’t find out unless I sell everything. And if I sell everything, might as well use this “excuse” to have a new start, increasing the bond within my family and go learn about the “real world” instead of simply waking-up, going to work, heading back home and waiting for the weekend!
I Hope to Come Back 12 Months Later Still Financially Free
Once we arrive home, I am thinking of buying a smaller home, living on a smaller budget and living off my websites. No more 9 to 5, no more vacations as I will be able to take vacation when I want and for the length I want too! I can pack my things, hop in the RV and go across America whenever I feel like.
So… now, what do you think about my retirement plan? It does make more sense, doesn’t it?
Great Idea. GO for it!!
The quitting part sounds great and fun, and DSR’s potential sounds really great, but the income source is still to young to take the chance with a young family. The real problem here is that you haven’t worked your DSR business through the lean years of the market when your subscription base will decline, just like they always do, for every online stock market subscription service. You will need to survive periods like that to determine the real worth of your set of subscribers (ie. whether they’ll stay with you in good times AND bad) and it seems like it’s very early days yet for DSR with only the rising part of the market cycle on display. For this reason (to me) it is still not a really great idea to quit what you currently have, at least, not yet.
If you feel it’s the right time to do it, go for it! I hope you keep us informed of your travels! Good luck to you and your family!
Hey Jake,
you are right; DSR is very young (not even 1 year yet!) and I need to build a stronger base of client before I call financial freedom. I expect to work on my plan for the next 18 months and leave in May 2016. At that time, I’ll have enough money to guarantee I can live for 1 year in my RV. I will at least taste this new type of life and see how it goes later on 🙂
Hey Michel,
I will certainly add this perspective on the blog once I’m on the road but it will only happen in 18 months or so. Next year, we will put the house for sale no matter what (worse comes to worse we will downsize… lifestyle inflation is curse for our society!).
Hi DivGuy,
I just came back from a year of traveling the world.
Like you, I’m in my 30’s, I sold, donated and gave away a lot of my “stuff” that I didn’t need or want because none of it meant anything to me. I got a small storage locker for the things that do mean something, the things I would never let go of.
I rented my condo to use the monthly income to help pay for my travels. I arrived back in Toronto just a couple of weeks ago. — I had some outstanding experiences.
I get excited for those planning on doing something similar. You will learn a lot about yourself, about your family, and the world. You’ll have terrible days, but those bad days will make the amazing days that much more amazing. No feeling is final.
I wish you best of luck planning or following through with your plans, but keep an open mind to changes to the itinerary because some of the best experiences are the ones that are spontaneous.
A bit of advice if I may; traveling is all about the people you go with and the people you meet while you’re there. A place can be the most beautiful on earth, but without great people, it means less. A lot less.
From another dividend investor, world traveler, and from someone who seems to think the way you do in this regard, have fun planning and have safe great experiences as you travel.
Best,
Jeff
Hi
Your blog post reminded me of our life. We accidentally retired at 45 bought an RV and never looked back. It turned out when we sold our retail business we had to take back a sizable agreement for sale, so it seemed we would just take a couple of years to travel and see how things worked out. That was 24 years ago.
We RV’d for 10 years then decided we would like to travel around the world more. So we sold the RV bought a house and started travel to South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, Europe, Eastern Europe and Turkey so far. We haven’t given up on RVing as we have a Campervan and used it for extensive travels in Canada and the U.S..
It may not be a lifestyle for everyone but we’ve definitely enjoyed it and look forward to many more years of adventure.
Happy Trails
Garry
Hello Garry,
wow… this is very inspiring! I hope I’ll be able to achieve the same trip!
cheers,
Mike.
I realise this is an old thread, but saw the link in your year-end “The Best of The Dividend Guy in 2014.” Love the idea of giving your kids a different perspective. As a child who grew up in five countries in two continents, I can say that I never really knew any different and just went along with it without (much) complaining. Today, I look back and think how lucky I was to have had all those wonderful experiences and also the opportunity to see things many have never, and sadly, may never see in their lifetimes. So I say follow your heart, and do it with the same gumption, enthusiasm and intelligence as you have shown in your other endeavors/life choices and you cannot go wrong. At the end of it all, what would you like them to say at your future funeral? That you led a boring but safe life? Or that you knew how to grab life and live to the fullest? All the best to you and your family!
Hello Tikiri,
Thx for your kind words. I want to show my kids that everything is possible, only your mind and train of thought can stop you from doing amazing things.
We are very excited! next step: putting the house for sale in May 2015!