Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 14:50:01 CST
From: "Brent D. Gardner, ChFC" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
Subject: Re: How much do I need to retire early? Help!
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I think it is worth mentioning that there is a growing number of Gen X, and
even Gen Y people who are looking at what lies before them, and are having
second thoughts about more than HALF of their productivity, via taxation,
goes to a government that is spending out of control.

I'm 34, and in my peer group, I know half a dozen from my home town -- with
post-graduate degrees, successful businesses, high income careers (i.e.,
over $80,000 per year, while single with no dependents) -- and they have
been asking theirself "Why?"

What are some of them doing? Downsizing early!

Smaller homes, smaller cars, no debt, no credit cards balances, and a LOT of
free time to do other things besides work.

The adventurous types are converting everything to cash, perhaps learning a
new trade, and looking SOUTH -- as in South or Central America. $250,000
today is enough for a person to live off of for life in certain parts of the
world. I've seen a guy with $160,000 in cash get set up in Sau Paulo in a
1,600 sqare foot ranch home, with all the modern amenities, and have enough
left over that he'll never have to work again. Why? House was $16,000, with
no mortgage. Total living expenses, including taxes and insurance, AND hired
help that cooks, cleans, does laundry, iron clothes, buys groceries, and
cooks the meals, for $270 per month. The hired help is only $8 per week.
I've seen pictures of the house -- it is NOT some shack. It looks like
something from Southern California, built up on the side of a small
mountain, overlooking a suburb, within walking or biking distance of
everything he needs. In the states, this house would be a bargain at
$160,000 (in Wichita -- in other areas, add another zero).

One thing this guy noticed, which I find interesting, is the near total
absence of warning labels on everything. Down there, if you lean your metal
step ladder against a power line, and fry to a crisp, they just bury you.
Friviolous litigation is all but totally absent, although it definitely
contributes to the increasing cost of living here in the USA.

Drawbacks? Well, one needs to learn another language, but that's not a bad
thing. Health care is on par in big cities, but it costs a lot less. If
you're overweight, you need to lose it before moving, because if one thinks
fat people get funny looks up here, try living where EVERYONE is lithe. Oh,
and Christmas is in the summer!  =)

One of my buddies is just finishing up his Scuba Instructors license, and
he's moving to Belize after the summer. He's giving up a pharmaceutical
sales job that pays him in the mid-70s, and his savings will buy a bigger
house than the already nice house he has here, but he won't have a mortgage
anymore.

There's something to be said about a low stress lifestyle.

Brent D. Gardner, ChFC
Chartered Financial Consultant
http://members.cox.net/brentdgardner1378/

"Be ever questioning. Ignorance is not bliss. It is oblivion. You don't go
to heaven if you die dumb. Become better informed. Learn from other's
mistakes. You could not live long enough to make them all yourself." - Hyman
George Rickover (1900-86), Admiral, US Navy, advocated development of
nuclear subs & ships

The Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant
(ChFC), designations owned and exclusively offered by The American College,
signify the highest standards of academic study and professional excellence
in the financial services industry.