June 26, 2020
A dream that is increasingly out of reach for so many people is retirement. The world has changed so much since the days of “Leave it to Beaver” when dad went off to work and mom stayed home to care for the kids. One salary was enough to feed all, and you could count on a wonderful retirement, complete with gold watch. Shannon and Debbie are enjoying the road to retirement on a formula that differs from the norm. Read on to find out what that is, and if it might just suit your lifestyle goals.
Retirement is Great And Fulfilling:
Shannon and Debbie are a fun loving couple who are enjoying their next bite of life as partial retirees. My conversation with them was enlightening. In the personal finance world, the accepted formula to calculate if you can afford to retire is something called the 4% rule.
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The 4% rule of retirement explained:
The 4% rule is based on historical data dating back 50 years of stock and bond returns. Supposedly, you can live on a withdrawal rate of 4% of your portfolio every year in retirement to live a comfortable life. That assumes you will live 25 years in retirement. So, say you have a million dollars at your disposal, you can withdraw $40,000 per year to have a good life. Adjustments can be made on ether side to suit your lifestyle.
This is one of the reasons why retirees move to countries with lower cost of living, like Mexico for instance. To maximise their retirement dollars. With the average life expectancy in the U.S. for instance almost 80, retiring early means you need lots more money. Other variables like healthcare can sink the best intentions.
I really enjoyed my podcast episode with them. Personal finance has always fascinated me, and l think a lot of people can benefit from reading the articles they have on the blog. Very informative, detailed, and most of all refreshing.
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Some of the highlights of the retirement is great and fulfilling podcast :
- What led Debbie, and then Shannon to early partial retirement.
- How Shannon coped with his job loss.
- Calculating an alternative formula to the 4% rule for retirement using their accounting background.
- Sharing that knowledge with others that were underserved by the FIRE experts.
- Using their experience to help others cope with job loss.
- Hitting all aspects of retirement life.
- Pandemic and “Groundhog Day” for the world
- Remaining flexible with your plans.
- Post retirement marriage advice.
Listen to the “retirement is both great and gratifying podcast” here:
You can connect with Shannon and Debbie here:
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Other podcasts of interest:
Asia travel during the pandemic
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Valencia Is Out Of Lockdown: Good and Bad News
The country as a whole has been out of quarantine as of June 21 as l stated in the last blog post. Further decisions have now been left in the hands of the governments of the autonomous regions. While this is indeed good news, I haven’t noticed that much difference in the number of people in the streets for instance. It still seems a lot quieter and makes me think people are still staying at home and only doing their essential shopping.
I went out for the first time in a social gathering a few days ago, a going away dinner for a friend who was moving back home after her sabbatical. The restaurant was filled to the 75% maximum capacity and there were a lot of people dining al fresco. Weekends, at least are back it seems.
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There have been causes for alarm in some hot spots. Huesca, a city in the Aragon province for instance, has gone back to Phase 2 because of recent outbreaks. I think this is going to be happening a lot more with the influx of people from other countries. It’s worrying, truth be told.
One of the things being decided right now is if tourists from the U.S. and some South American countries will be allowed to travel to Europe because of the dismal way the pandemic has been handled by the governments. It’s a tough decision because on one hand, the economy thrives on tourism, and on the other, the safety of the citizens is of utmost importance.
It will be a huge loss for the country. Over 80 million people visit Spain yearly (with at least 3 million from the U.S. alone) , so you can just imagine what a big dent it will cause. They had discussed raising taxes (what a shocker!), both income tax and value added tax (IVA). So far, that idea has been shut down, but l won’t be surprised if it ultimately comes to pass.
Government Auto Aid Package:
In order to stimulate the economy somewhat, the government is encouraging people with cars older than 10 years, especially diesel ones to turn them in for scrap. In return, the buyers will receive anywhere from €400 to €4,000 euros towards the cost of a new zero or low emission car. You can find out the details here if you’re curious. Personally, I don’t think many people will take them up on it.
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Masks, masks, everywhere:
In my neighborhood, we are observing people without masks (mostly younger), while the older people have them on. I must say it’s a high percentage of people wearing them still, including us. They are needed to shop at the grocery stores, in regular stores, the mall and on public transportation. The fines are high, up to €600, so most carry them, and wear as needed when the minimum distance can not be maintained. This makes me feel good. There will always be some twats, but most are good.
Pullmantur Bankrupt:
I had been trying to get a refund since our cruise for early June had been cancelled. A voucher was all we could get, and l found out the reason why a couple of days ago. Our cruise line Pullmantur, went into receivership so we are s**t out of luck on our substantial deposit. I am guessing we will eventually be given vouchers for their partner company, Royal Caribbean. We’re over it now, but it stung a bit. Our friends who had sailed with them gave rave reviews.
Did you say you haven’t had enough of me yakking? Check out this video of me with my unsolicited advice for wannabe expats :-).
Feeling hot, hot, hot:
It is hot and muggy in Valencia right now so we are more than happy to stay in. Spain is supposed to have another record hot summer this year. Global warming in full force l reckon. I’m happy for the breeze we get here.
How are you coping with the heat? Are you being good and wearing your mask when you go out?
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Thank you, Kemkem, for the awesome experience of our first podcast! You made it fun and interesting with such a great style.
Thank you too. It was so much fun and interesting. Nice to know people don’t need a gazillion dollars to retire comfortably as it’s not one size fits all :-).
How interesting and exciting! Hubby and I ‘retired’ October 2018 but we will never be able to quit our decorating and fabrication of window treatments totally because after 53 years in our business it’s a part of us that we just can’t give up. Plus now we are teaching our great granddaughter the art of sewing.
Yeah for you having a business you love so much. After that many years, it would be hard to give up. Partial retirement is perfect for you, and your lovely granddaughter hopefully will have the same passion.
I think that one of the biggest challenges in life is turning obstacles into launching pads for success. It is not going to be easy, but it can be done. Good advice from your guests and really interesting life stories!
Nice to see you on Youtube as well. There is ton of advice you can offer based on your personal experience and so many people wanting to hear it all. Can’t wait to hear and see more.
Yes, a lot of successful people have so much failure before them, lost jobs etc. so it’s nice to see people go on to overcome those failures instead of giving up. It’s so nice to have people willing to share the good and bad times.
I’m enjoying the YouTube videos so far, so l think l will do a few more at least. From the comments l got on the guest interview l did, maybe l do have a couple of things to say….haha! Gonna write you to see if you figured out that remote thing we were talking about so you can tell me… no clue! 🙂 :-).
I always wondered about that 4% rule.
Yeah… definitely not one size fits all :-).
Kemkem, thank you for introducing me to Debbie and Shannon, such a great couple who turned lemons into lemonade. I have taken early retirement and now two years since I have retired, I could not have been happier. But certainly, retirement can also be challenging for many people, and as they have mentioned here loneliness and boredom can be a big problem. It is important to find meaning, fulfilment, interesting activities, hobbies etc. Having the financial side sorted is also very important. Another great podcast.
Thanks for listening Gilda. They are indeed a great couple and it was so nice speaking with them and hearing their views on retirement. It’s always crushing when you lose a job, but he handled it with aplomb and came out strongly on the other side. I know you’re enjoying early retirement and it has been great keeping up with you and Brian. It is definitely important to find things to occupy your time, and people who are on your side, as opposed to the naysayers. I always say one must have their ducks in a row, starting with the financial aspect :-).
This blog would have been so useful when we were looking into early retirement in 2011! So much great advice and I found the concept of FIRE very interesting – little did I know that what we’d been practicing during our working life would become a movement! Lol. I know that Richard and I both worried about boredom when we first decided to retire early (I was 55 and Richard was 62) but our passion for foreign travel, meeting people, learning about different cultures, learning Spanish and writing a blog insured that our days were varied and more that filled with interesting experiences. We also worried about the 24/7 experience and found, much to our relief and like Denise and Shannon mentioned, that being best friends and good communication made our early retirement years some of the best years of our marriage. Retirement is a new chapter of life with some bumps in the road but keeping open to new experiences, spending time with friends and finding hobbies that keep you entertained and occupied truly make these years golden! Another great interview Kemi!
It definitely applies here. Hindsight and all but you guys did a terrific job of squaring things away and making the best life and you definitely enjoyed, and are still enjoying life. Yep, the movement is well and strong, despite the constant tearing down it gets from the press.
Funny, I never really considered the fact that we would be together 24 hours a day and so didn’t fret over it. I think the excitement was such an overriding factor. The fact that we enjoy being together, but also having the space when needed helped. I had mentioned in a past blog how at least a 2 bedroom was optimum for us as we each could have alone time if needed (me on the computer, and him with his cameras and football) :-). It definitely helps to be best friends and it’s not all rosy, but a heck of a lot of fun.
Thanks for listening, Anita! :-).
That was a good podcast. I’ve got their website bookmarked. As for FIRE that’s a term that annoys me. The bloggers who claim they did the FIRE thing and retired are pretty much liars. They’re still blogging or on YouTube or using their website to generate income. So although they might have hit Financial Independence, they did not Retire Early because they’re still working to bring in money. Maybe they changed what they were doing before, like if they were a car salesman or fire fighter and now they’re a blogger or vlogger and making some bucks at it. So all they did was retire from a previous job and keep working at something different on their own terms. Anyway that’s my FIRE rant.
I guess you need to hope that Royal Caribbean doesn’t pull the plug or there will be no vouchers to use!
Hot? I wish. I’d take warm. Or at least warmer. It’s so cold that my furnace has come on twice today, overnight and after I was up this morning. I’m wearing jeans and a warm hoodie. And when I go outside – a raincoat. For two days now. Though, it got warm enough a couple of times in the past week for me to wear shorts and ditch the sweater.
I just got a cap shield, that attaches to my baseball cap and I prefer wearing that to a mask because it’s lightweight and doesn’t make me hot or difficult to breathe. I wear the cap shield or a mask when I go into stores, though it’s not required by government law. A lot of people are wearing masks when they’re shopping, just for their own health and safety.
The US is definitely having trouble getting the coronavirus under control. Washington state to our south had 571 new cases and 10 new deaths in the past day. BC had 12 new cases and no deaths. Fortunately doing well on people dying. Sometimes a week or more will go by and then there will be a new death. It’s no wonder Canada is in no hurry to open the border to US visitors.
Thanks Cheryl. I had a great time speaking with them. I think when FIRE did start, it really meant to retire early and do nothing, but l think the fact that a lot of these people were really in their 30’s and 40’s and sometimes 20’s, they needed something else to occupy their time and then started making money through their blogs and books, it became just another job. There certainly is huge money to be made for the ones with big followings and others aspire to do the same, so the concept has changed to financial independence and career change maybe. The main point being that they are now sole business owners because it becomes just that, but it’s on their own terms.
Yeh, I have written off our deposit in my mind. If something comes of it, then okay, if not… c’est la vie. I can’t believe it’s still that cold where you are. I definitely hope it warms up soon for you so you can enjoy a bit of summer. I’ve seen those cap shields, they look funny to me, but l am sure it helps with the heat. I just always think of bee keeper and l can’t help cracking up.
Insane how out of control the virus spread is in the U.S., and they had so much time to respond… yikes! I wouldn’t be in a hurry to open the borders to Americans any time soon.Not until they get a good handle on it. Such a shame that everything turns political there. What has happened? 🙁