A little over a decade ago I realized that retirement wasn’t as far off as it once seemed. I needed to get myself in better financial shape. I signed up for the Dave Ramsey course, Financial Peace University, at my church. It changed my outlook and life (even though I’m not retired yet!).
Why Financial Peace University
At the time I signed up for the course I had a good income and lifestyle. I also had a lot of debt. Unlike my husband, I was raised in a household where credit card debt was considered normal and as long as you could pay the monthly payments it was fine.
I was happy with that until as I approached 50 and saw my savings fell short of the lifestyle I’d want to continue.
FPU Outcome
Although I don’t agree with all of Dave Ramsey’s teaching I absolutely credit his course for turning my financial security around. In two years, I had paid off over 50,000 in debt (most of that was a student loan that’d been hanging around way to long). My retirement account savings were ramped up to the maximum allowed by law.
It also changed my life by introducing me to blogs. I found personal finance blogs as I started my journey to good financial health. They inspired me to start my own blog.
That decision opened up a whole new world to me and a new hobby. You can read more about my blogging journey at my about page but suffice it to say I’ve never regretted this foray. I’ve met great people and had fun experiences (blogging conferences!).
Retirement Planning Now
I’m still employed and contributing to retirement accounts but I’m also thinking about when to enter retirement. I see friends and co-workers make the transition who are my age or slightly older and want to join them.
This requires a different kind of planning instead of save, save, save. Now I’m thinking about how to live without income using those savings. I’ll be writing a series of posts about steps I’m taking to plan retirement for the not so distant future.
How far off is your retirement or have you made that transition?
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