Not the most compelling sales speech in the world right?
This may not sound like what most people are selling: “By following this strategy, you can retire in 3 years or less”.
The problem is, I do not want to retire in 3 years or less.
Can you imagine what it would be like to go from working 9-5, 5 days a week to working 0 hours a days, 0 days a week?
I would be so bored after the first month that I would ask for my job back!
By retiring over a span of 10 years, it gives my body and mind a chance to adjust.
So why 10 years and how do I plan to do it?
Well, allow me to explain.
Taking the Leap
At the moment, I work 9-5, 5 days a week.
Contrary to what you might think, I actually don’t hate my job!
Being a Designer has always been my dream profession.
So why would I want to stop my dream job you may ask?
Well, for a few reasons:
First of all, if I continue down this path, I will never develop my own ‘assets’.
All I’d be doing is building someone else’s busines, but never my own.
At the end of my career, I would have nothing to show for it.
It would be like renting a house for my entire life, without ever owning the house.
So the first step would be to go from working 5 days a week…to 4 days a week.
That’s right, that would mean going to my manager and asking them to work ‘part time’.
Now the question is, why would I do that and what would I do with that extra day/time?
I’m glad you asked.
Starting my Side Hustle
By having that extra time, I would now have the opportunity to start working on my ‘side hustle’.
That could be starting a business, investing in property, trading the markets, etc.
Whatever it would be, I would now have a full day every week dedicated to developing my ‘asset’.
However (and this is an important point), unlike a job which gives you an immediate income at the end of each month, a side hustle is not the same:
I may have to wait up to 2 years before I start making any income from it (these things take time to grow).
Why take a day off you may ask, why not just work evenings/weekends?
I don’t know about you, but I actually want to enjoy my evenings and weekends.
Why should I have to work more than 40 hours a week?
Personally, I would rather reduce my income temporarily until my side hustle eventually matches (if not exceeds) my current job income.
Rinse and Repeat
So why do I say 10 years?
Well, my plan is to take a day off every 2 years, so that in 10 years I would be living entirely off of my business and investment income that would only continue to grow.
You may decide to retire in 5 years i.e. take one day off every year.
However, from my experience of businesses and investments, these things take time to grow.
Which is why I don’t see myself replacing my day job income in less than 2 years.
Once I match my income, my next goal would be to double my income every two years.
So not only would I be not working in a job after 10 years, but I also would have 10 times the income as to when I started.
This sounds great, so what’s the next step?
When to Start
I would plan to talk to my employer to work 4 days a week instead of 5 towards the end of this year, so that I would start working 4 days a week from the start of next year.
This is also coincidently the point when I would be expecting to receive a bonus as well as a salary increase from completing my project, so even with one less day per week, I expect to be earing the same next year as I am currently.
Do I feel anxious? Of course, it is a scary feeling.
However, I know that if I don’t do it, I will forever be trapped and never be in control of my income.
I am expecting this journey to be very hard, pushing me to the limits, but 10 years down the line, I know it would have been worth it.
What do you think of this retirement plan? Do you have a different strategy? Let me know!
