How to Retire Early as a Christian Millennial.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Most people assume that retiring early is unachievable or out of reach, especially if you are starting out late, like say in your 30s. This, however, could not be further from the truth. Granted, it would have been better if you started early. However, there is no better time to learn how to retire early than today. With that being said, let’s look at the benefits of retiring early.

The benefit of early retirement.
The cons of early retirement.
Factors to consider as you dream of early retirement.
How to retire early as a Christian Millennial.
Conclusion.

The benefit of early retirement.

Say goodbye to office deadlines and have someone to report to.
Say goodbye to having fixed schedules and routines.
Devote more time to your hobbies and passions.
You could go on vacations when you want to.
Have more time to spend with your family and friends.
Escape from other related work costs.
Spend more time building your own projects

The cons of early retirement.

Inability to access your pension until you are at least 55 years.
You may have a sense of loss of status associated with your previous job.
Early retirement could lead to you experiencing boredom and a sense of fulfillment, especially if you enjoyed working.
Lack of structure and social life could damage your mental health.
Can be lonely if you don’t have a companion to share that time with.
It can take time for your retirement investments to mature.

Factors to consider as you dream of early retirement.

What is your retirement income? How much money do you need to save up before you can have early retirement? What number will be comfortable for you factoring in the lifestyle you want to live?
What is your retirement budget? How much money will you spend monthly? What is your withdrawal rate?
Can your current annual income get you to your early retirement plan?
What are your retirement goals? Why do you want to retire early? Is it so that you can spend more time with your family? Do you want to travel the world? And will your income sustain that lifestyle?
Will you get part-time work after retirement or will you start your own business or passion project? If not are you comfortable living a life of no structure for the rest of your life?
Do you have money to cater to your needs as you get older? After all, you could end up living a long life. Can your income sustain you in your latter years? Health insurance and financial security are key in your latter years as you will not have the vitality you have right now to work.
Do you have a companion to do life together with? Are they up for the same idea?
Do you have passive investments that can cover your monthly expenses? Do you have investment accounts?
Where will you live when you retire? This is key as some places are more expensive to live in than others and require you to have more disposable income.
Have you done any retirement planning?
You should also consider inflation. Do you have inflation-proof investments?
Considering other unforeseen life circumstances is key as well. Things like unexpected ailments and natural disasters should be factored in as well. You should also consider economic and political crisis as well
You should also think about tax advantages and your taxable income. Retirement accounts can have specific tax benefits that other investment accounts do not. You can decide between different retirement accounts that will allow you to pay taxes on the investment either now or later.
Do you want to make contributions to your community and church? Can you accommodate that in your retirement income?

Answering these questions is key before you plan on early retirement.

How to retire early as a Christian Millennial.

You need to have an early retirement strategy that will help fund your retirement lifestyle.

Paying off your debts is one of the best ideas if you want to retire early.

There is no point in you having to retire early if you are yet to pay off debt. The first goal is to become debt free. In paying off debts, you could consider the debt snowball or the debt-avalanche strategy. whatever method you decide on, ensure that you pay off debt before you can consider early retirement. Having a fully funded emergency fund is also key. We know that financial freedom starts with you having a fully funded emergency fund. Once you do this, then you can go to the next step, which is.

Save more than the average person if you want to retire early.

Before you can consider retirement, you need to have a retirement goal in mind. Having a nest egg will come when you save. And in order to achieve this, you need to save. After all, how will you achieve that figure if you don’t save? Saving means cutting back on expenses. The goal is to go low now, to go high later. Having a less expensive car, downsizing your living spaces, and minimize on your spending habits will go a long way. You can also choose to make small changes here and there, like canceling some subscriptions and saving that extra money. Use any windfall to go to your savings account as well.

I would recommend you watch this couple that retired early with 2.5 million dollars at 39 years. And they did so in less than 10 years. To learn more about them, check them out here. Mind you, their jobs were not in finance or IT as you would think. This shows you the power of saving. You could opt for a 50% savings rate of your income for a season. To learn more check out my blog on a complete guide to having a savings account. Remember to check the interest rates on your savings account. To accomplish this, you need to have a budget, as this is a good place to start. Being conscious of the amount of money that is coming in and where it is going is essential if you want to retire early. To learn more about budgeting, check out this blog post here.

Increasing your income is a good idea if you want to retire early.

Look for ways that you can increase your income. You could start some side hustles. A side hustle will help put extra money in your pocket that you can use to fund your early retirement dream. You could also consider upskilling to get a raise at work. Getting a better job or asking for a raise is something you can do. You could also consider finding part-time work.

Again, the goal is to live like a pauper now to enjoy your later years. Upskilling does not have to be expensive. You can find online courses that you can do that will complement your current skills. Udemy, Coursera, and Edx are just examples of online sites that can help you upskill too. Also as you upskill, consider doing a course that is highly marketable as well. Go with the trend. Let your retirement plans be the motivation behind upskilling and taking on extra work. Remember, hard work pays off in the end.

The next thing is to invest.

Saving alone is not enough if you want to retire early. You must put your money to work. Some places you could consider investing in are:

Index funds. These are investment techniques that track a specific market index, such as the S&P 500. The management of such a fund is passive, as its main aim is to mirror the performance of the index it monitors. They are relatively tax-efficient as they have lower turnover than actively managed funds. Thus, there are fewer capital gains to be taxed. These investment vehicles are less risky as the goal is not to outperform the market index but to mimic it.

Traditional and Roth Ira. An IRA, or individual retirement account, is an account for your retirement that enables you to delay paying taxes until the money is withdrawn. It’s similar to a 401(k), but instead of the account being managed by your employer, this is an account you choose and manage yourself.

Bonds. This acts as a loan where you give the government or corporation money and in turn receive a fixed or floating interest. When considering this as a retirement scheme, you could consider a bond ladder.

Multi-asset funds. Multi-asset funds are made up of different asset classes such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and real estate. They provide an easy way to spread your money among different investments to reduce risk.

Real estate. You could buy property with the hope to sell it later when it appreciates in price or you could consider receiving income by renting it out. There are risks involved so you should be wary of it.

Have a financial advisor or a financial planner.

To start off you need to understand who a financial advisor is. These are professionals who help manage your finances and prepare you for retirement. They will help you understand the financial investments you choose and advice you based on your specific situation.

The benefit of having a financial advisor on your journey to early retirement is that they can help you understand if your current investment is meeting your goal and how you can improve it. They will help you understand complex investment and retirement accounts. And they will also give you recommendations on the impact of economic changes on your investments. On your journey to early retirement, you will need to factor all these changes to the economy and having a financial advisor will help you navigate that. They will also create a financial plan for you that will ensure that you accomplish your goal of you stick to it.

Stick to the plan

There iis no point to having a plan if you don’t stick to it. Retiring early requires that you exercise diligence and discipline. This can look like you having to cut back on some luxuries like screen time to invest in upskillonh or your hobby for the future. So that means less social time. Let your goal guide you. Also be very intentional with everything you do.

Some additional information

Think about what you will do after you retire. Find a figure that works for you and implement investment strategies that get you close to your goal. Don’t follow the trend with your investment since you understand that your goal is to find financial independence. And if the investment strategy already works, there is no need to follow a new trend.

If you have a companion, also ensure that that is a goal that you two share. After all the Bible say two people cannot walk together unless they are in agreement.

Having a bigger why will motivate you in moments where you are tempted to give up. But when your why is bigger than you, stick to it. Don’t forget to factor in the emotional and psychological aspect that comes with early retirement. Are you okay not having structure in your life? Are you okay forgoing the perks that comes with employment?

Diversify your investments to hedge against inflation and other economic issues. This you can do by talking to your financial advisor. Don’t forget to consider your tax advantages too.

Ly before you retire Max out on your 401k.

Conclusion.

It would be great if you would allow money to work for you as opposed to you working for money. Using wisdom and being disciplined will get you there. The Bible tells us that storing up assets for your future will help you during seasons of scarcity. Joseph modelled it perfectly. There is more to life and for you than just the 9-5 rat race. It is possible for you to live your life and enjoy it fully. After all Jesus said He came so that we can have life and have it abundantly.