19/01/2026
When do you stop working, is it when the house is paid off, when you have that second property or simply at the time the government allows you to retire and switch over the 'benefit' of a pension?
Can you afford to retire early? what does it cost to retire early? The answer depends on what you want your lifestyle to look like when you finish working. Think now about what you want to do when you retire, where do you want to go, what kind of lifestyle will you have.
Many have a wonderful life in retirement if they have invested in superannuation, and keep up their lifestyle choices, IF the super fund did not lose the funds during the period of super trust management.
But not all are so lucky. While life my be good or OK right now, it only takes one disaster and most are ruined, lose the home, the lifestyle and sometimes much worse. We look forward to the time we retire, which in Australia is now age 67 for most people. They worked their whole lives and never had enough time or money to take care of themselves so they can actually enjoy their retirement.
When we reach age 67 we are are definitely not in the same physical state as we were at ages 20-30. Many take holidays abroad for 6 weeks which can cost around $30,000 or more, even those people dream of seeing everything but can they actually walk all day long to see all they want to see?
I retired early, I simply made a choice to move to France, I could see the future of my life in Aus by considering the what if's. For me, the main what if was the one of either of us losing our job or suffering illness or death, could we afford our home, which at that time was renting on the Gold Coast because we both lost everything in divorces, as many often do. I could see the future and it did not look good. So we decided to call it quits while we could and with no money but the money to pay the moving costs, half a container, the cat and 3 people, we upped and moved to France.
For sure the decision was easier for us, even though it was hard for me to let go, because hubby is a frenchman, with french family who put us up until we got a job, found a place to live and started again. This is possible in France, and living on one income is all it took for us to buy a home with 1 acre of land in the countryside.
Not everyone has that chance. But they do when they join a community. We are building a place to go to, try it out, work to pay for your stay, meet new friends and if you don't like it, go back home.
We have to think about our future. What does it look like. What happens to us if we lose our jobs, will our family let us move in with them and will they care for us?
Some sell their homes and move in to a retirement village to be with others like themselves, only to find they don't actually know or even like the other residents for one reason or another, they buy into the village, they pay high communal rates and all too often cannot sell to get out, and then again, where to go now?
What would happen if could invest 5,000€ that would bring returns on investment, plus offer a place to stay (depends on the offers you choose), and that also offers a right to return, a right to stay, work, eat, play and live with other community spirited people who become family and friends over time.
Would you invest 5,000€ to take a decent holiday for 2 weeks, or would you invest 5,000€ in something that has many potentially long term benefits? Are we spending our money and our time in the way that brings us a brighter future?
