HACKER Q&A
📣 roschdal

Where can I retire from corporate life?


How can I possibly ever retire from the life in an office corporation? Are there any countries where I can live a modest quiet life, where I don't have to spend my life in front of a computer screen?


  👤 strgcmc Accepted Answer ✓
I suspect you're mostly venting and having a wistful mid career crisis, as even a small amount of effort of research into this topic will lead you into a wealth of readily available resources on how to achieve "FIRE" (financial independence retire early), mixed with a dash of geographic arbitrage.

For a very basic beginner intro, you can start here: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-si... ... In a nutshell, at one extreme (I do not recommend this, you will not succeed if you pursue this type of hyper frugality) if you can save 90% of your income, you'll be able to retire in about 3 years (assuming you start with 0 net worth, no major debts, etc.). All other retirement plans are just variations on speed and relative acceptable frugality.


👤 jstx1
1. Anywhere and any time if you're rich.

2. A bunch of places that will be significantly worse in many ways (low paying service jobs, manual labor etc.).

3. The problem probably isn't corporate life in general, it's your specific company. Take a break, then consider moving to a different company.


👤 badpun
> Are there any countries where I can live a modest quiet life, where I don't have to spend my life in front of a computer screen?

You mean, if you have the money? Of course. It will be much cheaper than in the US. For example, a ~$500-750k should set you up for life in Eastern Europe. Whereas, in the states, it's probably at least double that amount.

If you don't mind frugality, you could even make do with significantly less than that. But I recommend trying it out first before making this decision - living cheaply can become a drag after a year or two. Not everyone is ok with living in poor/crappy neighborhood, or sweating every small purchase at McDonalds etc.


👤 dxs
You don't say if you'll be needing to earn money. That will make a major difference in what options you have.

I quit my last job in state government when I decided that I'd rather die than keep working there. That was July 7, 2005. As things unfolded, I haven't worked since. This was a totally stupid thing to do, but somehow I survived. If I had it all to do over, I would be a whole bunch smarter, but here I am.

I made it on savings to 2011, when I was eligible for Social Security at 62, and three years later at 65 I began drawing on my state pension. Now I'm living in Cuenca, Ecuador, where my monthly spending is under $800, around a third of my income. OK so far.

Mr Money Mustache is a good resource, and there are other similar ones. "Gringo Post" and "Cuenca High Life" are sites with some perspective on the place I happen to be now.

A possible source of more, employment-related info: https://grayshoring.com/