25 and planning Retirement already

[YoungFlyingSaver]

Hi to everyone,

I am so pleased to find this website! Thank you to everyone who's contributing!

About me...

I am a 25 year old airline pilot from Europe. I have been very lucky in my job career so far, as I nailed a pretty decent job with 20.
Plus, I was able and fortunate enough to get hired in the Middle East this year, which means an even better financial package..
I am single and not married as of yet. I was educated to live a life of LBYM from my parents, which allows me to save about 60-70% of my paycheck, as I am already debt-free.

To my assets:

80k in investments (80% in stocks, 10% in bonds, 10% in gold and commodities)

20k cash

one paid-off apartment (230k in value, which was already inherited from my parents)


About my new job: I have been running through some calculations and came to the point the I will be able to save about 60-70k a year adopting LBYM.
My spending is very sporadic, as I don't have to pay rent, don't eat out a lot, and my hobbies are very cost-friendly. I think about spending before I spend, so I really save a lot. And to the surprise of most people around me, who obviously don't practice LBYM and saving, I have a very happy and fulfilled life!

Now, my plan looks kinda like this: I am planning to retire the latest in 2037 at age 45. If things evolve better, I might even anticipate it to age 40.
I know, a family might eventually change a lot, but the plan looks like that as of now.
FIRE gives me very good changes as I run through this calculation.

I would like to hear your thoughts though and what you think about my situation.
Very pleased to be here and already big thanks to all! Looking forward to be part of the community for a long time

 

[cooch96]

Seems like you have the charmed life. Are you thinking of raising a family in the future? if you get regular pay raises and continue your lifestyle, you could conceivably retire in your 30's very comfortably.

Well done!

 

[Ready]

Your off to a great start. Why do you think you want to retire by 45? Airline pilots generally make a lot of money and have very flexible schedules. I have quite a few friends in the airlines who are senior enough that they can pick and choose the trips they want to fly and drop trips if they don't feel like flying much for the month. And they get great pay and benefits.

In any case, I think you are off to a great start. Keep saving and you will have lots of flexibility to do as you wish.

 

[YoungFlyingSaver]

Thank you very much for your replies!

Raising a family might be on the agenda, but that is always hard to predict. I am very open to it and hope I will have one in the future, but if it does not happen, it's OK too.

Concerning life as a senior aviator, it's true but in my case things are a little different. I'm living in the Middle East far away from home. That means I don't want to spend my entire life down here. It's good to be here to save money and build a FI, but definitely not where I want to spend my life.
Plus, conditions here are not as rosy as you think, the work is very hard and a lot and not the healthiest one...

 

[DrRoy]

Fantastic plan, Saver. Good luck to you.

 

[Greencheese]

My brother knew some people who did the same thing in the US Navy, went to the Middle East and saved most of their paychecks. After a few years there they came back home with a very nice savings account that put them solidly on a path to FIRE. Congrats to the good start, it'll pay massive dividends in the future!

 

[panacea]

You're going to be in great shape given that you already have good saving/spending habits. No matter what happens in the future, you'll be building a cushion and preparing yourself for whatever comes next. Congrats!

 

[Maenad]

DH and I also realized right out of university that we did not want to work until 65. Originally our goal was 35, but then the tech bubble burst, and then we remodeled our house, so now the goal is 45 (3 more years to go).

It's great that you have the long-term goal of RE! Be prepared for life to throw you some unexpected events, and re-assess and adjust as needed. As long as you're focused on what's most important to you, you'll be good.

Make sure you don't descend from frugal to miser (making yourself or others miserable to save money), and make sure you have hobbies and ideas for how to spend your time once you retire, since everyone is going to tell you you'll be bored all day.

 

[Blueskies123]

Good start but at your age you should not dwell too much on retirement, you should be focusing on your career.

 

[2017ish]

Good start! Your plans may well change, but the financial foundation you are building will give you many options regardless.

(At your age, we were talking about early 50s retirement and saved accordingly. A few changes, some major, over the years, but the early planning/saving enabled us to do it at 57/56 nonetheless.)

 

[A Bird In Hand]

You're 25 and you just started planning for retirement? Slacker! I remember writing a retirement calculator during the first year at my first job after college -- I must have been 21.

Kidding aside, you're in a fantastic position. Your parents gave you at least two incredible gifts: a paid-for house, and a LBYM mentality. As a result you have no debt and are saving quite a lot at a very young age.

Since you're not tethered by family just yet, and you still have a lot of energy and motivation, I think it's quite wise to continue earning/saving as much as you can for as many years as you can, so long as you don't start hating your job.

Saving $60k/year + LBYM...I don't think you'll have any problem reaching FI by age 45 (or possibly quite a bit earlier).

 

[Walt34]

Wow, you are off to a great start! Keep it up and you will be able to retire well before 50.

 

[Fedup]

It's a good idea to save but it's a long way till retirement. I mean it's a very long wait. I would live your life but keep an eye out for retirement.

 

[YoungFlyingSaver]

Thanks for all of your kind replies and opinions! I will keep it up and let you know how things develop in the future. I am grateful every day of having a sane LBYM mentality and such an attitude. It makes me much happier than a lot of other people I know, especially the ones who push 50 and barely have 100k saved.
Thank you and I am amazed of being part of this community!