I was chatting to my colleague –personal finance expert and global Investment Director of The South African Investor – Alexander Green the other day. During our conversation, he told me about an incredible story Kiplinger.com recently carried. It’s all about retirees Billy and Akaisha Kaderli, who live in an adult-active community in Mesa, Arizona in the US.

“What’s so amazing about that?” you ask. Well don’t tell anyone, but they don’t meet the community’s minimum age requirements. Although they retired 16 years ago, they’re both just 54.

How did they do it?

Keep reading… Alex reveals the full story.

In the name of happiness,
Your Insider

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Obsessed with the latest gadget or a bigger house, chances are YOU'RE standing in your way of retiring early…
By Alexander Green

Most folks would say Billy and Akaisha are living the dream, playing golf, travelling the word and socialising with friends, whenever they want. They aren’t rich, though, merely frugal.

And they’re a fine example of early retirement planning leading to an “extreme early retirement.” You can enjoy it, too – provided you’re willing to make some admittedly tough choices.

How they planned for early retirement

In their late thirties, Billy and Akaisha decided they were working too hard, enjoying it too little and paying too much in taxes. Most people would stop there and say “well, that’s life”.

But is it really?

Or is it more about the choices we make about saving and spending?

“Every time I looked at a latte or a new pair of shoes,” says Akaisha, “I decided I didn’t need them. If you’re clear about what you want, it becomes easier. You can either buy this or be days closer to your goal.”

Contrast this point of view with the materialistic mindset of many of us, who often find ourselves stuck on what psychologists call “the hedonic treadmill.” Instead of thinking about financial freedom, we’re obsessed with thoughts of a bigger house, a fancier car, that hot new restaurants and, of course, a high-definition 50″ flat-screen TV.
 
Now I’d be the last to argue that these things don’t make life more enjoyable. And, who knows, a bigger house may be the best investment you ever made. (Although if you pulled the equity out and spent it, it really hasn’t brought you any closer to your financial goals.)

We spend a lot of time talking about making money in this eletter. But without saving, let’s face it, there’s precious little to invest. Yet statistics show that most of us are saving virtually nothing.

How the experts view retirement planning

In the investment classic Financial Genius, now undeservedly out of print, Mark Haroldson boils down investment success to four factors:

•    Plan
•    Save
•    Invest
•    Compound

Yet many folks never make it to step two.

In The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley reports that most Americans with a net worth of a million dollars or more followed a remarkably similar path.

They maximised their income, minimised their expenses, lived beneath their means, and religiously saved the difference. It sounds pedestrian, I know. But if you do this for years you just may wake up and say: “Honey, we’ve got a seven-figure net worth!”

It means making sacrifices, however. As we go through life, we quickly find that expenses rise to meet the income available. In our wonderfully capitalistic society, there’ll never be a shortage of fabulous products and services vying for our attention.

The truth is, almost everyone can save for retirement

During a TV interview last year, the interviewer suddenly popped this question on me. “What do you say to those people out there who say they just can’t save ANYTHING?”

Little did he know I’d just returned from a two-week investment tour of China. During the trip, I saw many labourers who made less than $150 a month. Yet the average Chinese worker – acutely aware that his government provides next to nothing in social security – saves over 30% of his income.

“Too many of us don’t save anything,” I said, half-jokingly, “because we’re spending money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like.”

Judging by the look on his face, that wasn’t the answer he was expecting.

Look, I know that when you’re poor and starting out in life, saving may not be an option. When you get older and you have kids (and sometimes parents) to support, saving can be awfully tough, too.

But most of us could get by – by hook or by crook – on 10% less than what we’re living on today. If we pay ourselves that 10% first, it can mean an awful lot 10, 20 or 30 years down the road.

Just ask the Kaderlis… When they finish the back nine.

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Are you really satisfied with your bank balance, your love life and your state of health?

I’m writing to you today to free you from a life of tolerable plainness, silent torture and stale routine.

The truth is, satisfaction is the bane of mediocrity and the longer you accept what is, the harder it’ll be for you to free yourself of it!

Right now, a world of informed individuals have begun to understand there’s no need to accept a life that isn’t everything they’d always dreamt it could be and more.

You deserve to be one of them!

If you’ve always felt like you could achieve more, like there was some greater, more colourful life awaiting you just around the corner, this may just be the pathway you’ve been looking for!