Early Semi Retirement - The best of both worlds.

How often have you wished that you were able to do what you love and still have enough money to see to all your expenses? Kudos to those who are currently loving their jobs they are at but many of us are stuck working at places we have no wish to be at.

We might not dread going to work, but that does not mean that its the place to want to be at the moment either For us who do not yet have a big enough investment fund to retire, one of the options that we have would be to semi-retire. However, I am going to have to remind you that tradeoffs would have to be made to get there. These tradeoffs and problems could come in many forms, most common of them are:

• Less income coming in every month - This could be mitigated by building a passive income enough to cover half or the entire of your expenses.
• Spousal disagreement - If you are married, you have made a choice that every decision you make involves 2 persons now. Make sure your spouse is agreeable with the choice that you are makingso as not to cause any future disagreements and resentment.
• Emotional Abuse from others - This would most probably happen if you are young and not of the "proper" semi retirement age. That is why, before making the choice, you have to give it very very serious thought and once you have decided, hold on to your choice and never let anyone talk you down. There will definitely be people who don't understand, people who are angry with your choice or people who are jealous of what you are doing just because they do not have the courage to seek what they desire. Let me remind you this - THIS IS YOUR LIFE, not theirs. If you succeed, it is YOU who succeeds and if you fail, it is YOU who fails. Do not let anyone choose your path for you else you will resent that person greatly in the future.

There are many ways to get there, it all depends on what you are seeking to attain. Having an extremely early semi retirement does not mean you just laze around and do nothing - (you could if you want). It means that you have the time to do what you love doing. Be it learning new skills, being able to have more time for your hobby or being able to spend more time with your family.

Its not all just fluffy dreams, it can definitely be achieved. But careful plans have to be made, you must be confident that your finances can hold up, you must acknowledge that you cannot afford to spend as much as you did when you were working full time and you must definitely have a contingency plan. Here is a check list of the things that you need or will have to do.

• Emergency Funds - This is important whether you are still working, semi retired or retired. You never know when an emergency would strike so this fund would definitely come in handy till you figure out your next move. Only you can know the amount of funds to have here. If you have the ability to reestablish your cash flow fast, you will require less.
• Cashflow - If you are partially relying on dividends, you will have to be very careful as it does not come at an equal amount every month. Make sure you always have a cash pool to fund those months you have less.
• Boss's Agreement - This is the most important actually if you do not intend to leave your current employment. You would have to somehow convince your boss to allow you to work part time. If this does not work out, you could always find a less stressful part time job that you enjoy.
• Medical Insurance - I feel that this is an extremely important item that you should acquire as you might not be receiving it from your regular employment. Having unexpected medical emergencies could derail any plan.
• A Plan - It goes without saying that you MUST have a plan, how you are going to fund your expenses, what are you going to do after semi retiring, what backups do you have and what are you going to do when if you do not succeed.

After all is said and done, we must all be realistic. Not everyone is cut out to be able to do this. Some might not want to give up buying luxury goods and  some might not yet have enough assets to risk carrying this out. We ourselves know best what is possible and good for us. Let's all strive to achieve an early semi-retirement followed by a full retirement soon. Let us not conform to what society tells us to be, let us not be brought down so easily by the hurtful words of others. Let us have the greatest gift of all - CHOICE.

As always, save more, spend less and invest wisely.