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One of the best things about the journey to Financial Independence is that while planning for early retirement, it is not always a requirement to forsake your other life goals. Tanja Hester, the blogger behind the Plutus Award-winning early retirement blog, Our Next Life, set out on the journey with her husband Mark to retire at the end of 2017.
Our Next Life, places a huge focus on putting life goals first and then building money goals around them–not the other way around. In fact, Tanja Hester became financially independent at the age of 36 and retired early at the age of 38, all despite never being a super saver or even naturally good with money. Tanja has graced the show with very practical advice for all journeyers at any place on the path to FI.
In this episode we discuss:
- What caused her to start the path and how she managed to keep it a secret from her job
- What retirement actually means to her
- Health considerations for someone looking to retire early
- Tanja’s blog post, “What FIRE bloggers owe their readers”
- Practical advice for people who want to start or who are on this path
- Advice for high earners vs mid-low earners
At the end of the podcast, I also talk about the waitlist to the soft launch of my monthly membership program. Get monthly tips, tools, and classes to help you launch to Financial Freedom. Click here to sign up and be the first to be notified when the doors open in Summer/Fall 2018.
I'm listening to Episode 52 of the #journeytolaunch podcast, w/ @ournextlife Click To Tweet Compounding interest works both ways. It works when you save and it also works when it comes to your income. -@our_nextlife Click To TweetOther related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:
- Our Next Life Blog
- The Fire Blogger Manifesto
- Tanja’s Original Post about the 4% Rule
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- Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
- Watch me on News12 Watch my latest segments on News12
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2 Responses
Regarding podcast #52…. the speaker lost me at “my husband and I both have six-figure incomes, and we are in the top 1% on the earnings in the country”. Really? Great for them, but how does that help those of us in the middle income working class, who don’t make six-figure incomes even with the incomes combined? Who are struggling to get by, who have both faced lay offs, major reduction in incomes and looking at retirement right around the corner and wondering if we are going to have to work until we die? This was totally out of touch with 99% of the working class in this country. If you are already wealthy, have multiple sources of income, have the ability to work from home whenever you want to (most people actually have to go to a job every day and work for a company), then her advice may have been helpful. However, if you are like most of us that actually need a job to pay the bills and would like some real advice on how to improve our financial situation, then listen to someone more in touch with the rest of the world.
Thanks for listening Cheryl. Not every episode will resonate with everyone as it’s apparent this one was not one that you connected with, and that’s ok. I can see how listening to someone who is a high earner/ retired early if you are struggling financially or anxious about your own retirement situation can feel non relatable.
Tanja mentioned that she earned 6 figures and was in the top 1% to be transparent about one of the reasons she was able to reach FI. She also did say that when she first started working she was not close to 6 figures and worked her way up from there.
I do believe Tanja gave some advice that anyone can take and apply to their life but again, if this wasn’t for you, totally fine. There are tons of other episodes to help you improve your finances and be inspired on this journey.