We’ve always planned far in advance. We focused on getting to the comfortable retirement that modern America tells us we should want. Retire about 65ish. Enjoy the second home. Travel.
But what happens when you get the American Dream early and discover that’s not what you want? That the modern American Dream is not only unsatisfying but actually makes you feel trapped.
That big house the bank tells you that you can afford (so you get it). And that second home that you think you want; so you get that too. Now, however, you are trapped. Saddled with illiquid assets, regular monthly mortgage costs, taxes for the privilege of owning that real estate, power, insurance, and maintenance costs. And guess what… always feeling stuck working, with the worry of layoffs always around the corner.
A New American Dream - Rethinking Retirement
By our mid 40’s we realized that our thinking is heavily influenced by four major topics.
- Global Travel – multiple trips to places like France, England, Holland, Belgium, Norway, China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam have given us an expansive view of people in many parts of the world and we consider ourselves Global Citizens first and Americans second.
- Our Health – we’ve come to believe that the American food and healthcare systems are absolutely terrible for optimal human health. One poisons you and the other gives you enough drugs to keep you alive (but never cure you — a sick care system). The media laments the “healthy” adult who died young but never defines how health is measured. We have a definition – low Trigs, high HDL, low or no insulin resistance, very low visceral fat – and we have made huge strides toward optimal health since turning 40. We do the opposite of what modern medicine tells us.
- FIRE or Financial Independence (Retire Early) – We accidentally got to FIRE by maxing out 401(k)’s from the beginning of our careers and having no debt other than mortgages….. if we let go of two houses and a small business. We don’t really regret any of them. They were experiences, but they don’t fit our needs any longer.
- YoLo (definition) – We’ve seen too many of our contemporaries who never make it to that dream retirement due to poor health. Or they are stuck working forever without the flexibility to either travel or spend extended time with family (aging parents, children, or grandchildren).
Planning for a Global, Active Retirement
So…. we are planning as we always do. In this case, we are planning for 2027, when we will, as proud parents, see our confident and capable son off to college. Then we will hop a plane to some far flung locale, likely in Southeast Asia, and slow travel from country to country for 30 to 90 days at a time for some unknown amount of time. Maybe a year, or five, or ten. We might even transition to permanent slow travel.
We aren’t going to fully plan out when and where we will be. We expect to have lots of flexibility to return and help parents if needed. Or help out our son and his family with a newborn for an extended time (if that’s what he chooses). Or, who knows….
This website is a way to share an alternative view of retirement with friends, family, and anyone else who wants to try a dramatically different lifestyle post retirement.
The blog will initially focus on the process of downsizing and experiences with our son before he graduates high school. We’ll share thoughts on the problem solving of making sure we have a plan for legal, financial, insurance, and communications. Assuming all goes reasonably close to plan it will transition to documenting our nomadic life as well as the actions we are taking to live to 100.
Hope you enjoy….