For a long time I’ve wanted to retire, be successful, and make enough money so I could live off my investments if I wanted to. This originally took the form of enlisting in the US Army, with the intent of serving 20 years, then retire to a small cabin on a lake and write books for the rest of my life. Well, reality put a monkey wrench in that first plan. Needless to say, after my first four year hitch, I got out of service to Uncle Sam.

It didn’t take long, once I was out, to run up some debt. While in the service, thanks to a book sent to me by a family member (Your Money or Your Life), I got myself out of debt and had several thousand in savings. But, that didn’t take long to spend and I was back to my old ways.

I got married and that only compounded the money problems. Between a wife loving to spend and three kids to support, there never seemed to be a way to catch up, get ahead, let along save for retirement.

Who says divorce doesn’t have a silver lining? It did for me. By the time my marriage ended, I left with $1000 in the bank and $20,000 in student loans. It didn’t take long, though, for me to land on my feet and start scratching out an existence. I took over the family business (from my parents), and before I knew it, five years had gone by, I had not only paid off my student loans, but I had also purchased a house in a quaint, coastal town I wanted to retire in.

Now that house is paid off, and I have $9000 in remodeling debt to pay off this summer. Once that is finished, I will be executing the following plan:

• Save up $30,000 in liquid savings, which is five years of expenses.
• Find a job on the coast that is a good fit for me. I’m looking for full time (if pays well and is stress free) or part time (if it covers my expenses with a little extra for cushion). Quality of life is key. Something I can really settle into and make a career out of.
• Close family business down (or sell if my parents decide to).
• Move to coast and begin my new life.

NOTE: Click here for my journal entries on my progress.