About Early Retirement

Who doesn't want to retire early? The idea that any work you have to do will be at your choice and discretion is seductive for most people, and here's a little more information on retiring early from your day-to-day job.

Significance

To retire early, one needs to have a significant amount of funds, an eye for the bigger picture and a general game plan. Essentially, your funds need to last you through day-to-day costs, emergencies and vacations. Generally if you plan to retire early, you need to have enough bankable, liquid funds that you can live off the interest they provide.

Time Frame

There is no set age that defines "early retirement"--essentially any time before age 65 is early. Saving for and preparing funds for retirement can also take an undetermined amount of time; it can fluctuate greatly from person to person and salary to salary.

Size

The amount of money you need to save for retirement is considerable. For the youngest currently employed generation, it is estimated that they will need to save more than $1 million for a comfortable retirement, especially because it is projected that Social Security will run out entirely.

Considerations

When planning for early retirement, it is a wise business plan to have self-sustaining income--either by accruing interest and living off that or by setting up businesses or enterprises that can self-sustain--and investments that keep money appreciating and accumulating.

Warning

Before choosing to leave the work force, it is necessary to examine all the possible downfalls of not having a stable income. To retire early you are relying on yourself, not the government, so if unforeseen circumstances come up, you may be far removed from the work force and without options.