> <center> Retiring early requires discipline, focus, and a willingness to make sacrifices." -Unknown </center>


<center>![jon-eckert-IoIbdFdGCnQ-unsplash.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tpkidkai/23rB7o24PnHaJ5EcHvKrfnTEGSC6fJhwcv9LcMsJu4j5Ljr5zjMHRdqLU8szoKwmu21kC.jpg)</center>

<center><sub> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@joneckert?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Jon Eckert</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/IoIbdFdGCnQ?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></sub></center>
  

As I scroll through a Tiktok video earlier this morning, a post caught my attention. The video stated that he will just stay in the corporate world at the age of 45 and have his retirement afterward.

Then I left a comment, giving thanks for the reminder, and said that I haven't thought of it yet.  

A response was sent to me saying *I might have been enjoying things so far that is why I haven't thought of it yet*

And that is correct. 

I am nearing my fourth year now in the company and not seeing myself sending my resignation paper yet. But as I dig deep... until when I will be working in the corporate world?

For context, I am now 31 and quite healthy but have a slight issue with my carpal tunnel. Given these factors, ideally, the age at which I will not be working is around 60+ since this is the retirement age here in the country.

I might be too old if I do that and I am not 100% sure if I will still be alive at that age. 

For males, the average life expectancy is 67.4 years - [Worldlifeexpectancy.com](https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/philippines-life-expectancy) 

It might be safe that I reach that age but then again certain factors still do play. 

**But why do we need to retire early?**

In the last hearing with congress, they mentioned that it will be *more fun to live life without work-related stress -[ 
House okays bill lowering optional retirement age in government to 56](https://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=12366) and I can agree with that. 


<center>![madison-oren-uGP_6CAD-14-unsplash.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tpkidkai/23xAw6eXyEb8ApcSgL6iiGA5WS5BpdM1dazbvHDxCCk22jGsdgW852GC63DKhMwAHWGLb.jpg)</center>
<center><sub>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/es/@artbyhybrid?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Madison Oren</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/uGP_6CAD-14?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></sub></center>

Being early can give you more time for other important stuff that you haven't enjoyed doing.  

There are some that got too focused on their job that forgot to play and have a relationship with their family members. 

Work-life balance is such a fairytale and for me, one will surely suffer if you focus on one. 

If you have that, kudos to you. But not all can have it at least the majority of us.

**In a simple way how can we slowly build our retirement?**

One of the best ways is using the compound-interest approach.

* Compound interest is when the interest you earn on a balance in a savings or investing account is reinvested, earning you more interest. [Kate Ashford -2022](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/compound-interest/)

A good example that I think everyone can relate to is our savings in HBD. 

**One-Year HBD Savings Interest [Starting Balance: 100.00 HBD]** 

|SPAN       |  WITH COMPOUNDING|WOUT COMPOUNDING|
|-|-|-|
|01 Month  |1.644 HBD |1.644 HBD         |
 03 Months  |  5.071 HBD         |  4.986 HBD         |
| 06 Months  |  10.398 HBD        |  9.973 HBD         |
| 09 Months  |  15.996 HBD        |  14.959 HBD        |
| 12 Months  |  21.944 HBD        |  20.000 HBD        | 
|Total (Savings & Interest):|  121.944 HBD  |  120.000 HBD
---------------------

From having only 20HBD earnings for a year, you can get 21.944 HBD in total just by saving more and getting your funds back into the pool. 

I love the quote *“Money makes money. And the money that money makes, makes money.”* it sounds like the money's the goal but probably it is during our grinding days. We need to save up **A LOT** for our future.

**How do you establish a good financial habit at this age?** 

It is hard to have one but having none is much more burdensome. So what I did, for now, is trying to separate a few monies that we had earned and put them into a small savings account. Saving methods, such as tracking expenses, envelop, etc don't work for us. So I treat those funds being moved elsewhere as **tax**.

Something that once I had allocated, I will not be touching anymore. Some are added in Hive, some are moved into other investments, some are into savings, etc. I had that diversified but not tracked. 

I love tracking and have been using excel and Google Sheets at work but for my own mental health, I opted not to. I just let things go as they should for now.

Then again, you do you. Whatever works as long as you can be consistent that's all that matters.

**Now at what age should I retire?**

Ideally my fifties. If we still have Hive by that time I do hope that we still! I might be continuously blogging in the [Silver Bloggers Community](https://peakd.com/c/hive-106316/created) sharing the musings of old age. 

Planting vegetables in the backyard and doing some homesteading. I might be strong enough to do some menial tasks as such. 

So fifties will be a good age for me to stop in the corporate world. Maybe I will just be watching over a small store perhaps? 

These are just my musings as I write this down. It will change for sure as I need to talk it over with my wife on what will be our plans going forward. 


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So how about you? Around what age do you consider retiring? If you are quite younger than me what can you do to achieve such?