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Most people still believe that they are dependent on what Government pension plans or their previous company will provide for them when they are ready to retire. Or that they have to work until 65, 68 or even until they drop dead to the floor. That debt, cost of living and steady consumerism and expenses will never allow them to live a more relaxed life and enjoy their day - with whatever comes to their minds.
Do you belong to them?
If so - fret not. There is help on the way. It just takes a bit of mental exercise to make a plan for changing your life. Almost everyone can survive in a more relaxed and joyful surrounding than your present cave and state of mind.
Don’t believe me?
You can do something to get out of your current misery, the never-ending cycle of working, endless purchasing and consuming and making your way to the Bank. I bet you have asked yourself many times already, if what you currently do is normal?
Let me assure you - it’s not!
Maybe you still need more reasons to live a simpler but more fulfilling life with less consumerism?
Don’t be a Pretender any longer! Money alone can’t buy you happiness!
So what can you do to break the cycle, to retire early and probably live like a modern, traveling Nomad for the rest of your life with less money, but also less responsibilities? Here is how:
‘1st Secret’
Basically the idea is to live more with less. Start with Downshifting. How?
Don’t spend so much on useless things you might never need to live a fulfilled live. De-clutter your life!
Sell all your useless crap to someone more stupid on sites like eBay, use your Free Local Advertising Paper, do a Garage Sale or ask around friends and family, if they need some of your Electronics, Suits and other Clothes, Furniture, Apartment Accessories or other things, which keep you from being mobile.
This way you’ll get at least some money back from what you wasted it on.
It could literally even be your Flight Ticket out of your high-cost country. Give away what nobody wants to buy, donate to the Red Cross or other Charity Organizations. You will feel much better without it and with the peace of mind of having helped someone in need, who will need and appreciate it much more than you.
‘2nd Secret’
Secondly it helps a lot to move to a country with cheaper Cost of Living than your home country. Even better - if it has a weaker currency too. So if you come from a colder western country in Europe, North America or elsewhere, why not thinking about to move somewhere close to the Equator?
You won’t need heating, a house built for eternity and other expensive expenses and with cheaper Cost of Living you will save a few dollars more every day.
If the situation changes, you can always move on to a different place. Rent, don’t buy.
Did I mention that the climate near the Equator is warm all year round? 
There are plenty of friendly countries to chose from, check out Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras, Nicaragua in the Americas - or Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam or the Philippines in Asia.
The Philippines for instance have the great advantage of having a population which can speak English fluently and who have adopted the American Way of Life to a great extend. Still you can live there on a budget of about USD 500-1.000 per month with a higher standard of living you could enjoy in the US of A on that money. On top of that, the Philippines just relaxed their Visa Regulations for Long-Term Visitors. So it’s really a great place to start, to get out from where you are now and to jump in with less risks than almost anywhere else.
Don’t want to take my word for it or need more information? Checkout for instance these sites here, here and here about living and retiring in the Philippines or here, here and here about living in Thailand. Use Google to find similar sites for other countries which interest you!
‘3rd Secret’
To finance all that you will need your income in hard currency (Euro, Yen, Dollar) but your expenses (and point of living) in a country with weaker currency (peso, rupiah, dong, baht), probably even in a country with high inflation. Then you can make it with little money for a long time.
Existing assets or income is necessary of course. You have to make your income independent from your labor power, as this is the most limited resource. You won’t earn what you earn now in a low-cost country anyway. And after all you want to retire, right? So try to invest your current money in secure and conservative products, which bring you passive income, like interest, rent, dividends. If you still want or have to work with your bare hands besides that; check out your options in the country you are interested in.
Things get much easier, if you can manage to open up new streams of income; for instance owning a house in a high-cost-country which you can rent out to someone, trading Stocks, Funds, Options or Currencies online, earning interest or dividends from other conservative investments.
You can work via the Internet as well; by doing surveys, buying/selling via eBay, or other Online businesses, which pay out best case via Paypal or others. Even blogging could be an option, if you can write in your niche and can attract enough readers.
Reliable Online Income is tough though, I’m still working on it and so far it just covers the costs and maybe a coffee or beer once in a while.
—
That’s basically it. The best thing - it really works! There are plenty of foreigners living in Island Paradises around the world and enjoying it.
Do you really believe they are sooo much smarter than you? I have good news for you - they are not!
How *you* do it - depends on your interest and current situation. Think it through!
Find something what you like and try to make money out of it. Read more books about this topic. Calculate your needs. This website can only help with some ideas, but of course they don’t apply to everybody. You have to make it your way. After all it’s your own life you decide upon.
So, what do you think? Sounds doable or not? Still plenty of questions left? Need more input?
Some additional information you can find in these posts:
- Essential Tips For Self-Sustainable or Permanent Travel
- Is a Nomadic Lifestyle for you?
- How much money do you need to retire?
- Living an Independent Life
- 88 Tips to save Money
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That is an encouraging post. I am getting ready to make the jump. Already making online income, and want do online investing from the beach.
Host country already presents many business opportunities in telecom, solar and wind energy, electric vehicles and more.
Been there twice already.
This is great. I am already working on the downsizing. I am selling stuff online and all that. I love doing it! No matter what the ultimate outcome, I will have less stuff cluttering up my life! It feels like freedom.
[...] Looking to escape the ratrace? Nomad4Ever dishes up The 3 Secrets of Early Retirement. [...]
Here here! I love de-cluttering and am about to do it all again after 5 years living in London. I’ve loved my time here but it’s time to be a nomad for a while. I’ve got no debts and have a good income (for living in Asia) coming in from the net which I hope will grow as I dedicate more time to it. First stop is the Philippines, actually! I’m 30 now and don’t plan to work for the ‘man’ ever again unless I choose to.
[...] There is a great post here on three simple ways (depending on how you define simple!) to live a great life, and more posts here on personal development subjects. [...]
Ha, ha! I’m already living in a country where $500 is considered my most part of the population as a good salary. Actually this is what allowed me to downshift without having to change the country. Plus, having my own apartment, I don’t have to pay rent
Great article! I’d love to retire early and will once my children are through with school. Perhaps our paths will cross in the future.
Joe
[...] 3 Secrets to Early Retirement (and Life like a Nomad forever) [...]
[...] 3 Secrets to Early Retirement (and Life like a Nomad forever) posted by Chris. [...]
i know a friend, he from us and his wife from indonesian. They move their business to bali because the cost for rent space in US too exspensive. Now they run their business from bali.. since its a online business they just need internet connection for voip and browsing.
What a good life.. ^_^
Dexno
http://www.dexno.com
Thanks again Chris for another inspiring post, and a reminder that my aspirations to become a mobile professional are practical and logical. I’m leaving England on 1st January 2008!
It really is simpler than most people realise. I can’t quite persuade my partner to a developing country, but we have at least moved to a decent climate, even though Australia isn’t exactly cheap to live in. The upside is he’s happy to keep working in a well-paying job for the moment. Spend less, spend less, spend less - invest don’t consume - think outside the square!
Interesting read, Chris. Though I don’t have any idea yet how I can retire to a nomadic lifestyle
Let’s see then…
[...] Nomad4ever presents 3 Secrets to Early Retirement (and Life like a Nomad forever). [...]
[...] 3 Secrets to Early Retirement is about the pressure of consumerism and not falling for it. It touches what you can do to save money and escape the Rat Race earlier than anyone else. The secrets might be unconventional and not for everyone, but it might push the button for some. This month saw as well a redesign of the website with a new theme and the Restructuring of the Google PageRank algorithm, which resulted in a downgrade for this site from 5 to 3. I still don’t know for sure, what or why it happened, but Google obviously wants to punish bloggers using TextLinks to earn some money besides using Google Adsense only. [...]
Great Info! Hope everyone after reading this great article can retire early.
[...] can read many tips and tricks on this site on how to plan ahead and retire early to enjoy what life really has to [...]
[...] presents 3 Secrets to Early Retirement (and Life like a Nomad forever) posted at [...]
You cannot be serious…..Nicaragua??
Why not?
It’s a beautiful country with low Cost-of-Living. But then - maybe not for everyone.
Yeah, Nicaragua is great.. I work for an English NewsPaper there
Cost of living is low.. And besides… Every country at the moment has their turmoil.. I’d rather be warm in turmoil than freezing my arse off!
That’s a good one!
@Chris -
I linked to this article on my blog.
Thanks!!
Nice post.
Chris, can you please let me post this article of yours in my website as a guest post. I have you as one of my links. This article really fits my website theme as an expat worker we eXpatpinoys must one day be out of the rat race.
Thanks in advance.
Ben, thanks for the interest!
However, I would like to ask you not to copy my article on your website, as Google would punish us both because of duplicate content. That would mean, that we both move lower in search results and that doesn’t help any of us.
The way to do it, would be to simply quote only the first paragraph or so, add your own thoughts and then simply link back to my original article.
This way you can show your own readers what’s it all about, without creating duplicate content on the net. The whole idea should be to produce your own, unique content.
Thanks for your understanding!
I understand, and thanks for teaching me that.