What to do when I retire in 12 years?

[drelly]

I had a couple of acquaintances kark it out of the blue - unexpected and that's what made me look at doing what I want to do now rather than waiting till I was 65.
It wasn't that hard - we live on about $36,000 per year, sold a property that was giving us grief and the interest and principle from that is enough to give us $36k per year until we reach 65. After 65 we only need to top up the pension by another $10k to live like we do now.

That's really interesting because we all hear so few stories about how anyone has actually retired and so many about how everyone is trying to get there. What were you doing when you were working?

[gavinc]

I was an IT/communications technician - installing vhf/uhf repeaters, satellite comms for remote areas.
A lot of overseas work.
The key in my view to retiring early is to get rid of all "wasteful debt" credit cards, car loans, appliance loans etc. When others were thrashing the "negative equity mantra" I was putting every spare dollar into paying down the mortgage not accumulating more rentals. Choose your wife carefully - a big spender could ruin your plans
No kids also helps

[PTILoveYou]

With around $ 2 mil in assets on today's value and a wish to see New Zealand how would you go about it?

I could travel by house bus and roam, purchase a property in the North Island somewhere and use that as a base for six months and alternate with one in the South Island, renting it out on a six month lease alternatively with the SI one.

Those are two of the things I have considered. And, I'm just at the start of considering the options so suggestions welcome.

how much net passive income do you get out of your assets.

your life style after retirement depends on that.

[drelly]

Choose your wife carefully - a big spender could ruin your plans
No kids also helps

Well I'm buggered twice then! Funny thing was that I told my wife how you retired on $36k a year and she said "I bet his wife doesn't like shopping"!!!

[Keys]

how much net passive income do you get out of your assets.

your life style after retirement depends on that.

I would anticipate the assets have no debt by then. It is crystal ball gazing to come to those figures. Suffice to say, I expect that, on today's market, my income would not drop from what it is now taking into account the debt reduction which I will not have to fund.

[PTILoveYou]

I

I would anticipate the assets have no debt by then. It is crystal ball gazing to come to those figures. Suffice to say, I expect that, on today's market, my income would not drop from what it is now taking into account the debt reduction which I will not have to fund.

well if thats the case, dream big!

if im financially free, i would travel the world, live overseas for months at a time, live in posh hotels etc.

who wants a holiday home that ties you up there? much better just rent a holiday home anywhere in the world, anytime you want!

[Davo36]

Yeah, ok, thing is it's not like that at all Gary.

How many wealth people do you know who

travel the world, live overseas for months at a time, live in posh hotels etc.

You actually get bored of that sort of stuff really quickly.

Most people who have been driven to create a property empire and make money, are driven to go on and do other things.

And so comes the question, What other things? In short, what happens is you reach an existential crisis.

Becoming financially free is not a destination, just another step in the journey of life. (How cheesy does that sound lol).

[elguapo]

if im financially free, i would travel the world, live overseas for months at a time, live in posh hotels etc.

Living in hotels sucks generally, posh ones are even worse. Some people enjoy it, but I just find it a real drag. As Davo says, it get boring very quickly.

[cube]

What to do when I retire in 12 years?

You and Glenn could set up a Property Manager's University

That should get rid of your 2 mil pretty quickly.

[Gladdynook]

I'd be happy taking a couple of 4-8week holidays a year to foreign soil. Living permanently in hotels may get tiring, but there are plenty of other styles of accommodation. ie Villas. Many are fully serviced so similar to hotels but you still have privacy and some outdoor areas to relax in.

House swaps also work really well for longer periods of time. Certainly something we'll be doing in the near future.

Travel is top of my list, along with spending more time with family. Rest assured i have plenty of hobbies to keep me occupied when at home too.

Having written up a property improvement task list (home and rentals) should keep me busy for the first few years.

[charlotte30]

I will reach the age of GRI this year and will leave my job. The income from my rentals is more than enough to live on. I intend to travel more and enjoy the freedom of time. I have pondered the question of cashing up but decided to keep my properties as a hedge against inflation. I have EQC rebuilds still to deal with and I intend to purchase more property. When I started property investing, I envisaged cashing up and living off the proceeds. On reflection I think it is a poor use of money. I have friends who are still investing in their mid 70's.

Cheers
Charlotte 30

[speights boy]

^
One of the aspects of investing in the sharemarket is you can do it on your laptop, in the retirement village, during happy hour.

[Davo36]

^
One of the aspects of investing in the sharemarket is you can do it on your laptop, in the retirement village, during happy hour.

Lol, well you could set up internet connected cameras on your properties too!

[ScottSI]

Retirement keys, all very serious.

I know a range of retired investors and they all do things differently depending on their personalities, here are a summary of some of them as I have learnt a lot from them. Some are into toys some are not, some travel, some don't.

1 - Retired at 39, couple, had 3 residential, 2 commercial, now only holding 2 commercial. Have 110 acres inland, have massive gardens and tinker. Complete an overseas trip about every two years and a few NZ trips every year, have Bach at beach.

2 - Retired at 55, large expensive house, flash car, 2 trips at least a year overseas, lot of tramping, social group stuff. Selling down residential portfolio as they get older and using the cash, holding commercial properties.

3- Retired at 56, cashed out and holds all funds in bank. Has 200 acres and raises runt beef cows for pocket money. Very social, whitebaits for a couple of months a year, 1 overseas trip every year.

4 - Retired at 60 in theory but still active. Has big house, car, boat, Bach etc. Spends most of their time at Bach, socialising or seeing grandkids. Still investing as that is their thing.

5 - Retired at 60 (last year), and heading off to Europe for a year. They have bought a campervan, holding residential properties for income.

6 - Retired at 44, has large lifestyle property, still holds property in South Auckland, goes overseas most years and when in NZ tinkers in his sheds, self manages.

A lot of them seem to join walking groups, garden groups, or have sheds and land to play on. Most do some form of travel but generally stay in modest accommodation and fly economy.

All are self made investors also, and they all earn more in retirement than I did working as a school teacher thus why I started in property to build my retirement fund.

One thing everyone of them has said to me "I wish I had done this sooner!"

Regards

Scott

[PTILoveYou]

Living in hotels sucks generally, posh ones are even worse. Some people enjoy it, but I just find it a real drag. As Davo says, it get boring very quickly.

Well that's just one idea, but I generally prefer to stay in hotels rather than backpacking when I travel =)

Different people have their unique tastes, but the main thing is to have enough passive income to support those dreams.