How a couple turned to travel as a way to retire early
Santa Monica, California — Rob and Allie Marmion spend their days traveling the world.
"I think it's great just to be able to eat ramen in Japan and eat spaghetti in Italy," Allie Marmion told CBS News.
It's like a nonstop vacation that began five years ago, after their kids left home and they realized they didn't save enough to retire comfortably in the U.S.
"Rob probably is the one that came up with the crazy idea to sell everything," Allie said..."We sold not just our home, everything that was inside of it, our cars."
They invested the money, and now at ages 49 and 50, the couple live off the earnings and some occasional remote work.
"What you learn growing up is you retire when you're 65 and you sit around and play golf and, it's like, it doesn't have to be like that," Allie said.
Ramit Sethi, host of the Netflix series "How to Get Rich," encourages people to start planning out their lives now.
"You have to know how much money you need to be able to survive and thrive," Sethi said. "Most of us don't know these numbers. My wife and I sat down and we did a 10-year bucket list together. We compared notes. There were some things, like, skydiving: 'Have fun, I'll be at the bottom waiting for you.' And then we found a couple of things that we really want to do together. So we honed in on those and we said, 'How much is it going to cost?'"
When the Marmions lived in suburban Atlanta, their monthly bills added up to about $8,000. After they did the math, they determined they could travel the world for about $4,000 per month.
"We're in Asia right now," Rob said. "You can rent a luxury apartment on the beach for about $1,200 a month."
To fund your "rich life," Sethi recommends dividing your take home pay by setting aside 50% to 60% for your monthly bills, 5% to 10% for savings, another 5% to 10% for long-term and low-cost investments, and up to 35% for guilt-free spending.
"Eating out, massages, vacation, whatever it is that you love, you could do it guilt-free once all your other numbers are taken care of," Sethi explained. "Your rich life should fit you like a handmade glove…You don't have to wait. You can start it today. After watching this, sit down and write down what would be your dream week. That's the beginning of your rich life."