my number is 35

[nokkieny]

I am 27 and have long sought a stress free life by 35. Currently my main source of income is an online retail business, I make good money, but I don't enjoy the work. I have been steadily moving towards shifting tasks to employees, but I am not great at giving up control over aspects of the business I feel need my personal touch. However, I am improving. Part of my plan is to sell the business or be virtually hands off by 35.

What do I hope to have at age 35? NO STRESS and Passion, I don't want to look back when I am older and wish I had done things differently. My vision to fulfill this goal would be to work in a business I own, with the option to not be there, but likely work 20-30 hours a week because I am doing something that fulfills me. I would like to have enough saved up to where goal #1 is not to make as much money as possible, but rather to derive joy from accomplishment and providing a product/service that truly gives value to my customers.

Is this retirement? Not sure, but that's what I like to call it. I suppose I am to young to have visions of wanting a cliche retirement. But the reason I do like to call it retirement is because regardless of what I end up doing, I would like to have saved enough to retire.

I hope to learn from people on the forum who have "been there done that."
I will be looking for info to help me figure out how much is enough, and a huge part of that will be really digging into how much income I realistically need, Instead of just assuming a couple million will be enough.
Would also like to better understand fixed income options, how much inflation will really cost me, places to live when not tied down to a certain location and strategies people use to enjoy retirement efficiently.

My name is peter and just wanted to introduce myself, realize this may be somewhat ambiguous but I want to dig in some more before I start asking specific questions.

[growing_older]

Welcome. Retirement can take many forms. What you describe sounds like an Early Semi-Retirement ESR and that can be attractive. Whatever goal works for you is likely to be the most motivating for you. There should be lots of ESR here.

[FIGuy]

Hi Peter,

I take 2 things away from your post. The first is that you want to enjoy work. This is crucial to a good life IMO and something I'd move toward now, rather than at 35. Otherwise, you'll probably hang in there for "one more year" which they call OMY syndrome here. You may find yourself at 45 still working toward that stress free life you want.

The second thing I get from your post is that it sounds like you want "financial independence" or "FI". This is simply when you can cover your cost of living with passive income. I believe being FI is one of the biggest stress reducers in the first world lifestyle. Far too many people trade the peace of mind that FI brings for a nice car and new furniture every few years. I honestly think that's very sad as they deal with a persistent low level stress their whole lives in trade. Reading several books on the psychology of consumer choices helped me make more conscious decisions. Fascinating subject too.

You may enjoy some of the lifestyle blogs dealing with this. "Mr Money Mustache" is a very popular example.

[Ready]

Peter,

Welcome to the forum. No stress is a somewhat ideal but unrealistic scenario, as stress comes from many different things beyond our careers. But I did semi retire a year ago, and my stress level is much lower than it was when working full time. I think a little stress is a good thing, as long as its not overwhelming. It motivates us, and helps us to enjoy the little victories and the really enjoyable parts of life that much more.

Good luck with your plan and feel free to ask questions as they come up.

[FUEGO]

Hey, Peter. Once you have "enough" (whether it's a million or a few million), you can do pretty much whatever you want every day.

I ended up retiring at 33 with "enough". Since then, I've picked up a couple of freelance writing gigs that pay pretty well (on an equivalent per-hour basis). I don't spend more than a day or two month on this "work", and some months no time at all. The work is akin to writing a long ER forum post, which I already do for free occasionally. If these freelance opportunities dry up or become onerous, I'll drop them and find something else interesting to do (possibly paid). But I don't think I'll ever want to work more than a day per week at max in the future. Who knows - maybe I'll get bored at some point and work more.