WHEN CAN I RETIRE?
WHEN CAN I RETIRE?

INTRODUCTION: WHEN CAN I RETIRE?
If you are approaching retirement soon, then like many, you’re slowly realizing that your pension funds are not enough, your investments have withered to nothing, and inflation has crippled your savings. In fact, you may not even be able to retire when you originally thought and may end up working until you’re well into your mid to late 60’s, maybe even longer! And still not enough to retire! So much for retiring on the Mediterranean coast, let alone travel to the Mediterranean! Many are faced with a very real problem and are asking themselves: “WHEN CAN I RETIRE?”

How to Turn Things Around?
But what if I told you that there is a way that you could potentially turn this around. And no, I don’t mean a “get rich quick” scheme, we’ve all had enough of that. What if I told you there was a way that, if you worked hard (Hear me out on this one!) and leveraged the knowledge and experience you have, you could earn money for your retirement and retire as planned. Will you make millions? Probably not (just trying to be honest here). Will you make any money? That depends on you and how much effort you put into this. But it is possible (Again, trying to be honest here).
What Are My Options?
Last year when I hit 59, I saw that I still had roughly 5 to 10 years left ahead of me to work, just to stay afloat and still only end up with a meager pension. I was working long hours in remote areas of the Arctic, in a stressful job and essentially putting my life on hold waiting for a retirement that would probably never come. It was at this point that I started to think that something had to change and that I needed to consider my options:
- I didn’t want to go back to school full-time.
- I didn’t want to invest hundreds of thousands in a franchise or some other business scheme.
- I was getting older which for many companies made me less employable.
- I was done with trading my time for money.
- I didn’t want to continue in this stressful line of work.
- To be honest I was running out of options.
It was then that I started considering the internet. “
“Panning for Gold”
Like most, I had read and heard about people who were making money online (in fact some were very successful) but it just didn’t seem serious or legitimate. Still, there were clearly some people doing it. In fact, one of my cousins back home had started putting cooking videos on YouTube and was actually making a little bit of money doing this on the side of her teaching job. She wasn’t making millions but she was earning something. For years I’d been looking from a distance at this online “gold rush”, literally watching average men and women (even teenagers) with no more than an internet connection, “panning for gold” and striking pay dirt! Simple as that!

Where to Get Started?
Ok, obviously not as simple as that, but you get the picture. I had internet, but I wasn’t making money! So where was the problem? What was the difference? What was the missing piece of the puzzle that was keeping me from also making money online? The simple answer was “information”. Some of those people figured out how to make money through trial and error and were lucky, but a lot of them learned through books, YouTube videos, or online courses. In the end, these people paid money to gain the right knowledge that helped them tap into a new income stream.
Ok, so that was it. All I had to do was take a course and I’d be printing my own money by the weekend. As my Spanish teacher used to say – No!
It also helps to have experience and time.
Leverage Your Experience and Time
If you are in your 50’s or more, guaranteed you have years of work and life experience. And with this experience, you stand head and shoulders above the vast majority of young people entering the job market today. But being at the end of your working career also means you are probably done with trading your time for money and you’re ready to retire. Back to the original problem! How can you make extra money to help finance your retirement? Well, what you lack in terms of finance, you more than makeup for in experience. You just need a way to convert this experience into money.
Concerning time, if you are currently still working, then you’ll have to make the time. But if you are already retired, you probably have nothing but time. What if you spent a part of this time learning what you need to know to make money on the internet? I get it, you want to retire and NOT work, that’s the whole idea. You’re done trading your valuable time to someone else for money. But what if you were working for yourself, that would be different, right? Well, that’s the way I saw it last year.

Turning Things Around
After doing a little bit of research, this time seriously and with purpose, I started looking at the internet in a new light. I started checking out various books and online courses. I finally settled on a course that had good reviews and offered an organized and structured approach to tackle the flood of information that needed to be learned. I then committed to this online training for the next 6 months, while still working full-time at my job. I spent time in the evenings and weekends learning about the internet and about different strategies for making money online. As I started to make sense of all of the information, I finally found one strategy that spoke directly to my goals and to my background and then focused all of my time and energy on setting myself up in this direction.

Not a Sprint, Its a Marathon!
Remember, every evening and weekend. Lots of hours. Hard work! No “Get Rich Quick” scheme here! But I capitalized on my own strong work ethic, my basic computer knowledge (excel/word), and basic internet skills (I can write emails and buy things online!) and did those things I needed to do to make things happen. You know, the same set of skills you’ve been using for years at your workplace without even thinking about it. Except now it was for me and on my terms.
I also leveraged my own experience as a long-distance runner (essentially my hobby) and my love of travel, and learned how to convert these experiences into things of value on the internet. It was not an overnight success story and to be honest the first 6 months, I only had about $80 total to show for all of the time and effort I had put in. But this is not a sprint, this is a marathon!
Slow and Steady
Slow and steady, constantly learning, and working hard, I pieced things together and built an online website that eventually started to generate money for me on a regular basis. In fact, the article you are now reading is posted on one of the websites that I built, using what I learned from the course I took. The progress was slow at first (in fact very slow) but its steadily gaining traction. It does not run automatically and requires a lot of my attention but the hard work was at the front end and now I’m reaping the benefits. It’s like planting a garden and working hard until the fall when you finally harvest the fruits of your labor.
Is this for everyone? Probably not. Will this require hard work? Yes. Will you be successful? This depends on you.

Finally, A Retirement Date!
As for me, I’ve been at this for less than a year and I’ve already accelerated my retirement timeline by 10 years. Now, with my existing pension plan and the additional online income from my website, I plan on retiring in Spain by the Spring of 2025 (I bought a condo on the Mediterranean 10 years ago, and now I will finally have time to enjoy it). In the meantime, I have planned a 2 month trip for summer 2024 which will take me around the Mediterranean to Portugal, Gibraltar, Mallorca, Corsica Sardinia, and finally Rome (so basically following my interest in travel).

The best part of this is that after my trip to the Mediterranean, I’ll be writing about my travels and posting articles on this very website, which will help generate income through advertising and fund my next trips which I will then write about, and so on, and so on…….. Will I make enough to have a superyacht on the Mediterranean? No. Will I be able to live comfortably for the remainder of my retirement? Yes! Am I doing something that is challenging and fun, AND making money at it? Absolutely!
(If you would like to find out more about the Mediterranean then check out our post on Mediterranean Travel for helpful travel ideas.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: WHEN CAN I RETIRE?
Will I now stop working on my internet project? NO! In fact, now that I’ve figured things out and have proven success, I am venturing out into other online areas to increase my earnings (multiple income streams). Nothing over the top, but the possibilities are there and there is a part of me that is thinking, “Why not?”. This is today’s gold rush and now I’m finally “panning for gold”… and hitting pay dirt!
When can I retire?…” When I want to! Retirement, under my terms and when I’m ready”.
Now, if you’ve got time, experience, and an internet connection, “What’s holding you back?”. If you’ve been looking for a way to shore up your retirement, maybe this is the solution you have been looking for. There are various online sites offering information and courses but my recommendation is to check out Adam Emfroy and look at some of his videos. He’s been extremely successful and has put out several courses for free on Youtube that you can check out (again for free). You can just open up the videos and follow along at your pace….you dont have to sign up or anything. Check it out and see if this is something for you.
Final, Final Thought: And if you’re thinking “This isn’t for me”, this is exactly what I thought a year ago.
Reg Auge
Reg holds an MBA, is a former Captain in the Canadian military and has worked as a consultant in industry for over 20 years. From his home in Spain, he has spent the last 10 years traveling throughout the Mediterranean, exploring the various countries and regions. He also regularly runs, windsurfs, and kite surfs, maintaining a healthy and active way of life. Captivated by this Mediterranean lifestyle, he began a Blog last year to inspire like-minded souls to learn about and discover this unique region for themselves.