CHRIS Mamula was working as a physical therapist when his wife Kim and him found out they were expecting a baby - and it changed their mindsets completely.<\/p>\n
Five years later, in December 2017, the then 41-year-old handed in his notice and retired - roughly 25 years earlier than most Americans.<\/p>\n
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Chris told The Sun he \"was burning out really quickly\" working in healthcare in the US.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania couple, who later moved to Utah, had also fallen in love with the outdoors and wanted to build a lifestyle around it. <\/p>\n
Yet, the biggest contributing factor came in 2012 when they learnt they were expecting another family member - a daughter, who's now nine years old.<\/p>\n
Chris told The Sun: \"When we found out we were having a child, that's when we got serious.<\/p>\n
\"That's when early retirement and financial independence came onto our radar.\"<\/p>\n
To their help, Kim and Chris, now aged 44 and 45, had been savvy with their finances ever since they graduated from college.<\/p>\n
They started living on just Kim's salary after school - and used Chris' wages to clear student and car debt - and then continued when they were out of the red.<\/p>\n
Chris said: \"We started to use my salary to save for a down payment on a house. <\/p>\n
\"And then from there, we just used my salary to pay off the mortgage quickly and to start investing.<\/p>\n
\"We always just lived on one salary and the other salary was saved. So we kind of had a 50% savings rate the whole time.\"<\/p>\n
\"Some years, we probably saved more because we didn't spend that much. Other years, we would splurge and do big vacations.\"<\/p>\n
When they first graduated from college in 2000 and 2001, they were both on salaries of around $40,000 a year.<\/p>\n
And by the end - before Chris retired - their salaries had increased to high five-figures of between $80,000 and $90,000. <\/p>\n
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When it comes to retirement, the standard rule of thumb is that you'll need 25 times your yearly expenses saved up - and that you can withdraw 4% each year.<\/p>\n
This was a target Chris and Kim aimed for too, although he said it wasn't based on a number when he later left his job. <\/p>\n
Chris said: \"I think the first question we had with most people was like, how much money do you need? And do we have enough money to retire?<\/p>\n
\"So we really focused on the finances first. <\/p>\n
\"But then as we started to get closer, it was kind of a matter of 'do we really want to retire' and what do we call the things that work provides, like purpose and just a way to fill your time and a way to give back and be of service.\"<\/p>\n
Today, Chris has partnered with Darrow Kirkpatrick, founder of the blog \"Can I Retire Yet?\", while Kim works part-time within operations research.<\/p>\n
Chris has also written a book, Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence, which was released in 2019.<\/p>\n
Chris said: \"I don't know if either of us will ever retire in that traditional sense that people think of sitting on the beach and sipping a drink with an umbrella. <\/p>\n
\"But we have both definitely altered our lifestyle substantially.<\/p>\n
\"Having that time and freedom to do what I want when I want is by far the biggest benefit.<\/p>\n
\"I took five years of planning, getting a grasp on car expenses and tax planning and taking over investments.<\/p>\n
\"The saving part we had been doing for a decade before that, so we had a big head start.\"<\/p>\n
Four years into early retirement, Chris said he has no regrets but he noted that the whole idea of retiring is \"faulty\".<\/p>\n
He said: \"It was my goal. I wish it wasn't in retrospect.<\/p>\n
\"I [like] the whole idea of building financial independence and gradually using it to have leverage to design the lifestyle you want sooner. <\/p>\n
\"But I think the idea of zero work and zero income is not necessarily the best goal.\"<\/p>\n
For anyone who's keen to retire early too, Chris' main tip is to find out where your money is going.<\/p>\n
You can do this by either creating a budget, or by just tracking your spending.<\/p>\n
He said: \"Using that 25 times rule, if you don't know what you spend, you don't know what target to shoot for.\"<\/p>\n
\"And if you don't know what you spend, it's kind of hard to improve upon that.\"<\/p>\n
After this, you'll need to create a plan on how to build up enough savings to last your retirement.<\/p>\n
Check out our guide on the steps to retire with a $1.9million savings pot.<\/p>\n
Money expert Tori Dunlap recently revealed on TikTok thatshe can retire next yearthanks to her booming business.<\/p>\n
The Sun has also spoken to Jen and Travis Smith abouthow no-spend challenges helped them pay off $78,000 debtin two years.<\/p>\n
Plus, read about how Andy and Nicole Hill paid off a $195,000 mortgage in less than four years.<\/p>\n
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I retired at age of 41 to spend more time with family heres how you can too... - The Sun<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHRIS Mamula was working as a physical therapist when his wife Kim and him found out they were expecting a baby - and it changed their mindsets completely. Five years later, in December 2017, the then 41-year-old handed in his notice and retired - roughly 25 years earlier than most Americans. 2 Chris told The Sun he \"was burning out really quickly\" working in healthcare in the US. Continue reading