Retiring while still young may seem like a fairy tale but it is actually possible. There are people who managed to retire really young and to have the opportunity to really embrace life.
If you are dreaming of that same opportunity, you need to understand that achieving it means creating a specific mindset that will get you where you want to end up. Here is what that mindset consists of:
1. Work on your discipline
This is not an easy task. Being disciplined means having to be determined and fighting the urge to be impulsive every single day. You need to work on this skill in order to be able to create a certain plan and stick to it. In other words, you will have to constantly be in control of your finances and budget and also being in control of the emotional need to buy unnecessary things. Setting a perfect goal won’t be worth a thing if you lack the discipline. It is something that many of us need to learn, so start practicing it today.
2. Materialistic things can’t be your final goal
People who wish to retire early don’t do it for financial sake. They are those people who value spending quality time with their family and friends, taking up hobbies that interest them, reading good books and trying out new things. They are not interested in buying an expensive car or go on a luxurious trip across the world. They know what real values in life are.
So, forget about the materialistic things – don’t pay attention to what your neighbor drives or what fancy things they have in their home. You concentrate on what matters – your closest ones, your health and the pure joy of life. Only then will it be easier for you to start preparing for an early retirement.
3. Don’t be afraid of hard work
True, it’s not all about the money but you need to think of the financial side of your plan. Early retirement means you will have earned a sufficient amount of money to actually make it happen. In other words, you need to be ready to work, and to work really hard. Work does pay off in the end – all of those long working hours and weekends, developing skills before anybody even mention you would need them, being on alert and ready to help at your job at all times – all of that will be beneficial to you in the end. You need to understand that work won’t kill you – it will make you a better person who will manage to enlarge the circle of people who know that you are hard-working and responsible.
4. Be smart with the investments
Sometimes it’s about being bold and take a calculated risk. You will manage to retire early far more easily if you invest a part of your money into a smart investment. The stock market is a good idea because it can bring you a lot more than you have initially invested over a longer period of time. If you do your research carefully, you will manage to find affordable and pretty safe investment opportunities in mutual funds, stocks and exchange-traded funds. It’s also possible to have only one smart investment that could turn out to be far more valuable than you expected. It’s possible for that to happen with a yellow diamonds investment or some other rarer form of investment. Just remember – never invest everything you get. Always make sure you left enough to be able to stand on your feet again in case of a failure. That’s also a part of the mindset you need to have.
5. A minimalistic approach to life
There are so many things in our lives we don’t really need. We don’t need that many pairs of shoes or shirts, we don’t need the latest iPhone and we don’t need to have a big car. The list of the things in our homes that are actually unnecessary is actually pretty long. Switching to a minimalistic way of life is so much more than being frugal. It is a state of mind. Minimalism teaches you how to declutter your home and your mind from the unimportant stuff and noise from the outside world. Once you start following the ways of minimalism, you’ll realize how you feel much better with fewer things inside your home. It automatically means you need to worry about fewer things and you have more time to focus on your early retirement and your closest ones. And the additional benefit is that you will save up more money that you expected because you will simply learn to enjoy the life without so many gadgets, clothes and technical appliances that drain your money.
Final comment
The moment you start changing your mindset, you will be on your way to an early retirement. Start working on that as soon as possible.