I have two goals with my new lifestyle choice: 1) travel the world, and 2) reach FIRE.
Travel
As a young child, my parents took my sister and I on trips across popular places in the US. I’ve experienced snow skiing in Colorado, summer birthdays on the beaches of Massachusetts and California, long weekends at the Lake of the Ozarks, and of course the ever so popular Disney World and Disneyland. Then, as I got a bit older, my mom and I started enjoying cruising around the Caribbean and Mexico as a popular spring break vacation together. Yes, I was a lucky kiddo to have these experiences.
It wasn’t until my mid 30s that I was sent to Dubai and Qatar for work, and that was when the wanderlust bug hit me hard. Seeing just a tiny bit of the world that has areas dramatically different than the places I have lived in the US got my wheels turning. I wanted to see more, talk with more people and learn from them, and then eat all of the amazing foods. OMG the FOOD!! So finally, in my late 30s I booked a couple cruises so I could have a taste of Italy, Spain, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Mykonos and Santorini...and that was when I became HOOKED! The architecture and the culture is nothing like the US, especially what I knew growing up in the midwest. Everyone I met is fluent in at least two languages and people are generally happy to share information about their community. I love learning anything I can about how other parts of the world and the daily routines or customs. It’s helped me realize the tiny bubble I had been living in across the US, and I just want to experience new ways of life and meet amazing people.
FIRE
FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. You can Google the phrase for more details but the gist is this: earn more and spend less to dramatically increase your savings rate ("grow the gap"). In a relatively short period of time, reach your FI goal number so you can retire early, if you choose to do so.
Through my FIRE research, I was introduced to the term geoarbitrage which means, to take advantage of living in a lower cost of living area. Since the US dollar is stronger than many other currency’s, my income can go much farther in most other countries outside of the US. This all makes sense as to why there are a plethora of expatriates (expats), people who choose to live outside of their home country. Especially retired expats, because their retirement income stretches much farther in beautiful countries.
I’ll dive deeper into the financial aspects later, but in short, my preliminary research showed that I should have an immediate savings rate of 70% of my income, or more, if I leave the US and go live in countries that I had started targeting around the Caribbean Sea and Latin America. Let me be more direct with an example. Say I earn $100,000 a year. A 70% savings rate means that I save $70,000 in a year, and live off of $30,000 a year . How many people do you know that save 70K annually? Or 30K, 40K or 50K?
Why focus on retirement? I’m only 40. I want to reduce the amount I work, or stop altogether at a much earlier time in life than many. Why? I want to continue my world travels but increase my time and abilities to give back. I love being a member of Rotary International as I get to help with important world-wide causes that make an important impact. With an understanding about compound interest, I can grow my retirement funds to leave a legacy. I will be able to donate ample time and monies to causes I believe in, start scholarships, funds or programs that help others.
From what I have learned, there are often two common retirement savings goals: 1) save enough to support yourself until death and spend down all your monies, possibly leaving some behind, or 2) save enough to support yourself until death AND leave a legacy; be generous, put a stamp on the future and contributions to future generations. I want to leave a legacy.
So there you have it. I am traveling the world because I want to have new and different life experiences, and work towards FIRE so I can leave a legacy.
This is my “why.”