Jan 17 2009
How to downsize your way into an early retirement
Retirement is looking like a distant dream at the moment. Most of us have lost 40-80 % of our 401 K’s, IRA’s and other retirment savings. Especially if we have been invested in the Stock Market.
Even many so-called “safe” or low risk Balanced funds are way down. So, unless things improve quickly, our retirement will come later rather than sooner. Or is there something we can do to improve our situation. the answer is yes. Downsize…. now !
If you are in a relatively stable Real Estate market, and your house is too big. Consider selling. In some areas Real Estate has only fallen 5-10 %. If you fall into this category - sell your “too-big-a-house” and start looking for smaller or more appropriate sized properties in markets that have fallen further. Or better yet, start looking for properties that are outside the city on spring fed lakes and rivers, where taxes are lower and you can consider living off the grid.
If you can sell your house for $400,000 and buy some property (acres of forest) for $100,000, you can design and build a small eco-friendly bungalow for $100,000, and with proper design and insulation save a fortune.
I will be posting designs and details for such a bungalow here on this blog so stay tuned. Check back often. I’m going to try and post a new article every day.
