The 3½-Year Money Gap: How We Made Early Retirement Work Part 2
💰 We retired at 56 — but how did we afford to stop working before age 59½? Most people believe they have to work until 59½, 62, or even 65 before they can retire. But we retired early at just 56 and started living our dream of traveling the world! In Part 2 we continue our journey of our early retirement series, we’re sharing how we planned and funded the financial bridge between retiring at 56 and reaching age 59½, when penalty-free withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts generally become available. 🏝️ IN THIS VIDEO, WE CONTINUE COVERING: ✅ Why we decided to retire at 56 ✅ The financial challenges of retiring before 59½ ✅ How selling our house helped fund our early retirement ✅ Using cash reserves, interest, and other income to bridge the gap ✅ Our $5,000-per-month retirement budget ✅ How early retirement made our slow-travel lifestyle possible Our goal isn’t to tell you how much money YOU need to retire. It’s to show you how WE made it happen! We aren’t financial advisors — just an ordinary couple sharing our real-life experience, decisions, and lessons learned along the way. 🌎 ABOUT US We’re Retired Early Slow Travelers! We retired at 56, traded the traditional lifestyle for a life of adventure, and now explore the world through cruising and slow travel. We share our actual travel expenses, retirement budgets, cruise experiences, and financial decisions to help others see what’s possible. 🔔 Subscribe and follow our early retirement series! 💬 QUESTION FOR YOU: What’s the biggest obstacle keeping you from retiring early — money, healthcare, or accessing retirement accounts before 59½? Let us know in the comments! #EarlyRetirement #RetiredAt56 #RetirementPlanning #RetireEarly #SlowTravel