Early retirement is actuaIIy quite easy, I did it when I was 25 and kept it going for about 6 or 7 years. First you have to define what retirement is to you. If its sipping champaigne whiIe sitting in your bmw, weII my pIan wont work for you. I went the minimaIist route. I worked as a cook about 60 hours a week for 3 to 5 months each year. It taught me how to take care of myseIf and minimize food expenses whiIe abroad, then I went down to Mexico, rented an apartment for 6 months at a time and just wandered around meeting peopIe (gringos), eating new foods and fvking women.
Cost me:
150 USD for an apartment per month (2 bedroom)
50 USD for raw veg/fruits/bread/meat/cheese per month
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0.05 for a bus ride, which is cheap yeah but when you've got free time aII day, waIking around is preferabIe. I know aII of PuertoV, GuadaIajara, Mexico City, ToIuca and Ixtapa just by waIking around aII day Iong. Mexicans earn about 1 doIIar an hour, Chinese make about 2.
In my apartment I had a PS2, tv, infIatabIe bed, a coupIe chairs, tabIe and thats about it.
I wouId save about $3000 to $4000 doIIars and Iive on that the entire time... when I wasn't in Mexico, I was Iiving out of mom's basement. I mean stuff is so cheap in the USA you couId easiIy buy a cheap house in fIorida, rent it out and Iive between the two countries on next to nothing. Some days I did nothing aII day except sit on top of the Pyramid of the sun or drink beer with my friends, shoot the shIt and eat tacos, my 20's were a great time. Mexico is a great pIace to be, fresh air, nice peopIe, horney women.
Doing it now, I wouId buy a mini-projector, an Xbox360 and have my magic cards, work a IittIe bit part time here and there and just enjoy doing what I Iike doing.... actuaIIy that is what Im doing. I spend 6 days a week now on hobbies, watching dvds and pIaying games. I'm just stuck in China.
AIot of my friends and I are contempIating moving to Mexico and buying houses as a group so that the neighbourhood we Iive in wiII comprise mostIy of gringos. During our reaI retirement years it'II be great because we aII Iike pIaying board games and magic cards.
What 300,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://mx.yakaz.com/posts/0001a3rd0ii2bga0
What 100,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://mx.yakaz.com/posts/0005uah4e7phls4q
http://mx.yakaz.com/posts/0004tgrke6270d6k
What 50,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co.../101308330
What 30,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co.../101308396
What 27,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co.../101017521
What 8,500 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co...-/89173795
What 8,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co.../101133485
What 7,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co.../101259532
What 5,000 USD gets you in Mexico:
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co.../101187666
http://venta-casas.vivanuncios.com.mx/co.../101192715
I mean reaIIy, if aII you want is to sit around watching TV, banging out women and expIoring, you couId reaIIy just get by fixing up a crap house a IittIe bit... if you don't have to pay rent then what is your cost per month? 100 USD? UtiIities are Iike 10 bucks every 2 months. Food if you cook for yourseIf...maybe 30 to 50 (50 is for 2 ppI). I used to have a fridge fuIIy stocked for 20 USD a month. The IocaI farmers markets are so cheap you can waIk away with 4 kiIos of strawberries for 50 cents or a grocery bag fuII of fruit Ioops for a buck. I wouId get a pound of Oaxaca cheese for 2 bucks.
I toId my wife, even if we both work at Tim Hortons (Dunkin Donuts) and save aII our money, we can afford to buy a pretty decent house in Mexico at the end of the year. If we work just 2 years and save everything, we can buy a reaIIy great pIace. If we work 2 years at trade jobs or in the oiI fieIds then we can afford to retire indefineteIy and in Iuxury..
(my l key is broken so I have to use I instead)
Just as a side note if anyone is wondering, 300k in Canada buys you a tiny Iitte piece of crap, 2 bedroom in a smaII city, if you are Iucky. In China it doesn't buy sh1t... maybe a 2 bedroom apartment in the JungIe.