9 Moves to Help You Retire Early — Even if You Don’t Make Six Figures

You don’t have to wait until you’re in your 60s to retire. If you set yourself up early enough, you can call it quits at any age.

The idea is to be fiscally smart, which takes a lot of diligence. But what if you don’t make six figures, it’ll be impossible, right? Nope. Believe it or not, you can do it. It just takes some finesse and know-how. Then, you’ll be on your way to not just calling it quits early, but also enjoying your golden years without worrying about money.

We’ve gathered some tips from the financial pros on how to make your retirement happen sooner, rather than later.

1. Know Your Retirement Goals

This is a critical first step to take when considering early retirement. You need to know what you plan to do, where you plan to live, and how much you will need to sustain your preferred lifestyle.

Once you have these figures in hand, you can speak with a financial planner or use a retirement calculator to determine how much you’ll need to save to make early retirement a possibility.

2. Downsize

While this is typically recommended during retirement, here’s the thing: you cannot live an extravagant lifestyle today on five figures and expect to have enough to retire early. The best way to put money away for the future is to downsize now.

That means lowering your living expenses, including your cost of housing, buying a used car instead of a new one, and making good decisions with your money. Cook at home instead of dining out, for example.

3. Add More to Your Retirement

This should be a no-brainer. If you want your money to have time to grow, you need to add more to the pot. This means upping your contributions—hit the max, if you can—and automating your payments. Doing this will ensure you don’t forget to contribute.

But, here’s the good thing. Even if you can’t contribute the full amount now, you can work your way up to it as you make other adjustments in your life.

4. Pay off Your Debts

You do not want to go into retirement owing anyone, except maybe your mortgage company. The time to get your debts squared away is now.

Craft out a budget and plan to get rid of those unnecessary debts (seriously, you don’t need more than one credit card), and then toss that extra money at—you guessed it—your retirement fund.

5. Boost Your Income

What? But you just said… Yes, but more money will get you to your goal faster. Maybe you can’t make more in your chosen profession unless you ask for and get a raise or promotion.

However, you literally hold all the cards when it comes to your finances. If you want to retire early, logic suggests you work a bit harder now and maybe take on a side gig. There are plenty you can do from the comfort of your own home, so you can’t even use that as an excuse.

6. Consider Starting a New Business

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the last point, but here’s why it’s a good idea. Yes, it will cost you money upfront, but if you do it right, it’ll pay off in the long run.

Starting a business while you’re still working will give you the ability to grow it while you have money coming. Then, hopefully, by the time you retire early, the business is making you money and it’s now your income, passively or not. Your retirement funds will simply be the icing on the bonus cake.

7. Trust the Process

It can be tempting when you’re investing in your retirement funds to pull the money out when the market fluctuates. Don’t do it. You’ll be sorry you did. The market always, always, always fluctuates, and it always rights itself.

Don’t take your money out of your fund for any reason. Let it get fully vested, especially if you have employer contributions.

8. Don’t Borrow From Your Retirement

Life can smack you hard in the face sometimes. We get it. But the worst thing you can do is take out a loan against your retirement. Because, eventually you do have to pay that money back.

Yes, you’re paying yourself interest in the meantime, but you’re making it harder to retire early at the same time.

9. Stay Healthy

This is one of those things not always necessarily in our control, but you can do your part by opting to make healthier life choices.

Join a gym or do workouts at home, either work, and it’s a personal choice. Eat healthier and avoid excess sugar or salt. Get yearly physicals to help detect any issues before they escalate.

Benefits of Retiring Early

If you think there’s a lot to be gained in retiring early, you’d be right. After all, you’ll have more time to accomplish your goals and/or check things off your bucket list. Some perks of retiring early:

• More time to enjoy the things you love
• (Hopefully) less worry about health issues
• More time to travel
• Opportunity to start a new career if you desire

Downsides to Retiring Early

Retiring early isn’t always the fun people seem to think it is. Sure, you no longer have to show up at the job daily, but there are some downfalls to retiring early as well, including:

• Boredom
• Smaller Social Security benefits
• Decline in health if you don’t stay active and mobile
• Retirement funds now need to last longer

The bottom line is the decision is yours to make. If you’re going to retire early, you’ll want to make the best of it, and doing so requires starting to prepare today.