In my 20s I was making so much money, retirement in my 40s looked plausible.
Then I got married, switched careers, had children, bought a house, two riding lawnmowers, four cars, two dogs, two cats, landscaping, a new roof, a saxaphone, a trumpet, music lessons, AAU basketball fees, a new floor, a new water heater, a new washer and dryer, a new garbage disposal, automatic garage door openers, shelving, painting, birthday gifts, annicersary gifts, Xmas gifts, vacations and getaways....it goes on and on.
Once you 'settle down', your salary increases slowly, but your expenses have a tendency to skyrocket, unless you are very, very careful.
So to anyone reading this that is in their late teens and early twenties, I would give this simple piece of advice:
If you want to retire in your 50s, control what you spend in your 20s.
It's that simple.
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Whatever.
Last edited by RogueWriter : 06-04-2008 at 09:03 AM.
I probaby retire when i can't move no more i love my work even though it's heavy work and already got hurt on the drop before but i love it Lot of people i work with is like family to me.
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Sharing 50% profit for helping to sell on ebay. PM me for more info.
hehe, unfortunately I've always made more money hustling here and there than I ever have at a real job. But it does make working easier if I can think to myself that I could quit at any time, lol!
At 60 in 4 years time, I can draw my company pension, but I will keep working at something, just not 5-6 days a week as the financial pressure will be lowered.
I don't like to say "retire",...I prefer "don't need to work"! Anyway, I got fired in 1995. The company gave me some money which I managed to live off of for a few years and in 1998 I bought a used computer to learn what they were about. In 1999 started to buy a few domains...had to empty my unlocked RRSP money and sell my used car but finally after lots of stress and long boring hours at the computer, started making a profit in fall of 2002. Now, thanks to domains I don't have to look for a job (if I watch my spending)...good thing I got fired, otherwise I'd still be poor and stuck in the daily 9 to 5 blues! ...have just started to trade stocks online, ...always wanted to be one of those stock trading guys,..will see how that goes...already down about $6,000 after about a month. ...I was a bit too hasty to buy stocks before learning enough.
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Let the fools have their tar - tar sauce!
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In short: Never.
I'm a self declared work-a-holic. I would just like to gain the freedom to work on something i like (i.e: my own company) rather than working for someone else.
I haven't come up with the nerve to really take the plunge into my own venture, though. Mostly due to a lot of consulting for businesses and having seen the downside of business all too often.
But unfortunately I have to keep working as I can't afford to retire yet 
