In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age
of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this
financially independent lifestyle, they invite you
to take advantage of their wisdom and experience. |
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Retirement
Reflections
Entering our 33rd year of
Financial Independence
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
Billy and Akaisha at La Mirador, Lake
Atitlan, Guatemala
In January we began our
31st. year of Financial Independence. Few people can say they have 30 years of
self-funded retirement by age of 68, and have
a higher net worth after spending and inflation than when they started. This is something of
which we are quite proud.
As we have
aged, one thing we have learned is that long term is getting shorter every day.
Life is to be enjoyed now, not someday – the older we get the more we appreciate
that view. Life is continuously full of opportunities and
we want to take them.
Opportunities abound
For example,
a couple of years ago we were approached by a startup company who sponsored us for several
months in
Saigon, Vietnam in exchange for sharing our past experience in the
restaurant and service industry and for exposure to our readers through our
popular website and blog. That was a fabulous trip, and it got us back over to
Asia again.
Akaisha and Billy at a cafe in Saigon,
Vietnam
Then we were
approached for a partnership, offering tours to Europe and
South
America. Can
you imagine? There are
always opporrtunities!
These are
just two examples of why we say that life is full of
chances to grow and
learn something new if you want
to take them. And neither of these recent options could have been presented to
us if we were still working.
Portfolio
Getting Stronger
Since the 2008 financial meltdown the markets certainly have performed well thus
increasing our portfolio. And for a longer term view the S&P 500 closed at 312.49 when we
retired in 1991 producing a better than 8% annual ride plus dividends. So our
advice is to
get
invested now and in a couple of decades looking back you will
have wished you had invested more. Probably a lot more.
We suggest
for people to
track
their spending now then multiply that number by 25 to get a
rough estimate of the portfolio amount they need to retire. Once you know that
amount, in simple terms, assuming the same 8% growth in the future
and you
withdraw
4% for living expenses, this leaves you 4% to cover inflation and
growth so you are all set.
The 4%
rule is a guide not set in stone and ours bounces around depending on the
markets and our expenses, but on average we have been able to maintain it easily
below 4%.
Our
data over 30 years gives us security knowing that if one year it is higher we can make adjustments
the following year to correct it. Then again the markets could move higher
helping us out as well which is usually the case. Plus we now are receiving
Social Security, so payments and dividends cover our expenses. You
can read
our
reasoning behind this decision here.
Akaisha on a sailboat in
Boracay,
Philippines
Practical
considerations
Another note
is that because we have a good percentage of assets in retirement accounts, when
we turned 56 years old we used IRS rule 72T to withdrawal an annual amount close
to our estimated Social Security payments thus creating a bridge until we
actually qualified. Now that we are receiving benefits we have turned off that
spigot and are letting the IRAs grow once again.
The age of
72 is now coming into our sight and RMD, required minimum distributions, are the
next issue to deal with, but we still have time and no one knows what the tax
laws will be then.
With that
stated, we still maintain a core holding of buy and hold (DVY, SPY, VTI)
which sends us a steady stream of dividends in our taxable accounts as well as
tracking the market. But in our IRA’s, where we have no tax issues regarding
trading, we have been more active using market seasonality with the idea of
side-stepping larger declines. Some years have been better than others but we
have been taking about half of the market risk than being all in all the time
and that is comforting.
Where to
retire, cost of living and healthcare
We are not
alone anymore, with Boomers retiring at 10,000 a day, we see more retirees
everywhere! But in terms of the foreign locations that we visit, the retirement
community of
Chapala, Mexico is growing at a fast pace. The Colonial town of
Antigua,
Guatemala has also attracted its share of Expats, and there is a solid
and active retirement community in
Chiang Mai, Thailand,
and Panama.
Akaisha and Billy in
Caleta de
Campos,
Mexico
Pacific Coast
We would
recommend Mexico,
Panama and
Guatemala for their proximity to the
US as well as being on similar time
zones as family and financial markets in the States. We would say that Thailand
is attractive for its excellent medical care, warmer weather and uniqueness. All of these locations offer excellent lifestyle for cost
of living.
The longer we are perfecting our skills,
the cost of living doesn’t seem to pose much challenge
and we continue to live on less than $30,000 annually
without a struggle.
Regarding
healthcare outside of the States, in 2012, Akaisha
almost lost the ring finger
on her right hand in a
de-gloving
accident.
We were in Antigua, Guatemala at the time, and in an instant, we were facing a
severe health incident. First we got her to a state-run hospital in town and the doctors
there took care of the bleeding and wrapped her up. Then 2 days later we got a
hold of the Guatemala City head of plastic surgery who took over all the
procedures and prescribed hyperbaric chamber treatments, saving her finger.
Akaisha
and Billy celebrating a birthday in Antigua, Guatemala
We are still
quite impressed with our experiences in
Medical
Tourism
wherever we have needed them, finding qualified doctors with modern equipment.
As a matter of fact we just recently finished receiving full physicals, colonoscopies and
dental work in Thailand where there is some of the best health care on the
planet.
With our ages, we are now
qualified for Medicare, which is not available to us outside the US. So we will
continue to utilize local services as our primary plan and when we visit the
States, we'll take advantage of Medicare, should we need it.
Is it
dangerous to travel overseas?
Security is
always an issue regardless of being in the States or in another country. It has
been our experience that people are friendly everywhere and, for the most part
want the same things as we do – to live in peace, to raise their families, to
make a decent living, to share with others. This is not to say that some cities
are not dangerous and one must use their common sense in navigating around. But
we have dangerous locations in the States as well, with drive by shootings,
robberies and untoward behavior.
Yes, there
are some cultural differences one must contend with
when living abroad, and from
our observation, that poses more of a day-to-day challenge to Expats than the
safety factor.
Misconceptions
Probably the
biggest misconception about retiring early is that it cannot be done
successfully; that we would run out of money, be socially isolated and bored or
that we would have to deprive ourselves of luxury in order to manage an early
retirement. Over the last 3 decades of self-funded retirement and travel have proven
those concerns to be overstated. But then, we are disciplined in
tracking our spending and assertive in managing our Cost per Day average.
The biggest
incorrect idea about retiring abroad is that one can avoid paying US taxes.
But, being US citizens, we pay taxes no matter what our location.
Billy commandeering a lancha on
Lake
Atitlan, Guatemala
Helpful
tools
Like we
mentioned above,
investing early and with as much as you can is key. Then let
the market do the work for you increasing your wealth. For younger readers,
time is your
biggest asset and something not to be squandered. Get started now.
We employ
the K.I.S.S. method (Keep It Simple Stupid) for most of what we do. The way we
manage our retirement remains simple; Track our spending, manage our Cost per
Day. This can be done with paper and pencil.
Of course we
follow the market, trade low cost ETFs and keep abreast of news all via the
internet. But in our opinion, one does not need to get fancy to accomplish a
satisfying retirement.
The biggest
concerns or sources of anxiety we have
Of all the
things that could possibly keep us up at night, our biggest source of anxiety is
the death of a spouse. We are not 38 anymore, with the idea that death is at
bay. All four of our parents are gone and in the last 5 years we have lost many
friends. To be single again and without our best friend at the age of 60 or
beyond is disconcerting. Facing one’s demise is Life’s ultimate challenge, one
that is not singular to us. It brings us to the viewpoint that Life and Love are
to be enjoyed now, while we can.
In terms of
other practical concerns, getting help with
assisted living,
end of life care
and such, is far more affordable overseas than it is in the States.
What our
website offers
If you are looking to retire, whether that time is down the road or in a handful
of years, let us state that our
Preferred Links Pages offer hundreds of resources on the retirement topic
and will be very helpful to your planning. We have a
Retirement Issues Page which covers all sorts of subjects having to do with
retirement and financial independence. Our
Digital Bookstore lists all the books and reports we have written up to this
point.
Our weekly
Newsletter is free and is a great way to stay in touch with us
and what we are doing. We also offer a
Mentors Subscription Service if you would like to take advantage of our
expertise on a person-to-person level.
Akaisha and Billy at Mom Tri's Resort,
Phuket, Thailand
Again, we encourage you to follow your dreams. There is no one way to retire and
if you would like to read about other retirees and interesting characters you
can
click here. For fun and for some firsthand views of our travels, be sure to
subscribe to our videos or click on the
country of
your choice listed on the home page of
our website.
We answer all of our email, so if there is a question about financial
independence, world travel, or medical tourism that you might have, feel free to
write us any time at
TheGuide@RetireEarlyLifestyle.com
We have
always taken the attitude that if we could retire early, you could too. We
encourage you to stay on course for the lifestyle you desire, and never, ever,
let anyone steal your dreams.
Wishing
you every good thing on your road to
financial independence,
Akaisha
and Billy
For more on
Retirement Topics,
click here and
here
About the Authors
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