Intro

In this post, I will calculate how much money I should have to retire at the age of 40 and also give a brief explanation of ways of reaching that goal.

I try to build up my thoughts like playing chess. Every thought should support each other. This thought/post is going to be my King. 

So, we need a concrete goal. We need to see it in the flesh. If we can concretize this idea in our minds, we can decide each step we will take in a healthier way.

So, let’s try to make this goal concrete.

Life Time Expectancy (See How Pollyanna I’m)

I have approximately 40 more years on this planet and will be gone for good. 

So, we have a rough timeline. And our initial goal is “living happily”. So, we need to be able to do what we love every day. No matter whether it makes money or not. But we also need a certain standard of living; at least, it should be at today’s level. So, we need money to support ourselves at certain standards until we say goodbye.

via GIPHY

Okay, let’s calculate that.

Calculation of Cost of Living

Here are the categories and rough numbers for calculating the cost of living.

Categories of Cost of Living

• Rent: This category covers the monthly living space or mortgage payment. Whether it’s an apartment, house, or another type of dwelling, rent is often the largest single expense in a budget.
• Grocery: This includes all food and drink purchases that are typically prepared at home.
• Utilities: Utilities cover the basic services required to run a household, including electricity, water, gas, internet, sewage, and trash collection.
• Vacations: This category accounts for expenses related to travel for leisure and relaxation. It includes transportation, accommodation, food, entertainment, and other travel-related expenses.
• Going Out: Going out encompasses expenses incurred from dining out at restaurants, going to movies, attending concerts or events, and other entertainment activities outside the home.
• Fun: This broader category includes hobbies, games, and other entertainment that might not fit neatly into “Going Out,” such as streaming services, sports, arts and crafts, or any other personal hobbies.
• Transportation/Gas: This covers all costs associated with personal transportation, including car payments, public transit fares, gas, insurance, and maintenance. For those who don’t own a car, it might only include occasional car rentals or rideshare costs.
• Clothing / Personal Care: This category includes all expenses related to clothing, footwear, and personal items like cosmetics and toiletries. It can also encompass laundry and dry cleaning services.
• Education/Health: This combines ongoing education costs and healthcare needs. Education might include school tuition, textbooks, and course fees, while health encompasses medical expenses, insurance premiums, and wellness activities.
• Home/Repair: Home/Repair covers maintaining and repairing your living space costs. This includes DIY projects, professional services for repairs, and replacements of furniture or appliances.

I made some calculations with the current economics of the World for an ideal scenario for two people.

via GIPHY

This is not for the best life but for not thinking tomorrow. Here is the result.

Let’s do the hard math: Based on the calculation above, I need €60.000 after taxes for each year. I’m thirty years old. I will live for approximately 40 more years. I will take the inflation average %3.5.

If I want to resign today, I need €5.073.017. But It is not realistic, except I hit the Jackpot ;).

Let’s say I want to retire at 40. Based on our optimistic lifespan estimation, I have 30 more years. So, the calculation is

More realistically, I need to save €3.097.361 to guarantee the rest of my family’s life.

So from now on, every post on this blog, on my social media profiles, and especially on my newsletter will be related to reaching this goal.  

When I reach that goal, beyond that going to be just for fun. To reach the initial goal, we need to break it down into smaller goals. So, I have approximately 10 years to reach that goal. The first year’s goals are already here. I may calibrate those goals to reach the initial goal. 

So, let’s dive into how to reach that goal.

Investor Mindset

Thanks to Robert Kiyosaki and his book series Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The way of reaching that goal is clearer than ever. I need to switch from an Employee Mindset to an Investor mindset at the final. 

Image Source: https://inspiredmoney.com.au/blog/the-cashflow-quadrant/

I will try to create systems that work perfectly without me or my input.

Planning to Reach The End Goal

9-5 Job

A 9-5 job can provide stability and a steady income stream. It’s often the starting point for saving and investing towards my financial goals.

I started a consultancy in 2017 to make money and invest it in our own project, but we failed at that time with my partner. We were too young and inexperienced. So we started to work for global agencies to get experience. In other words, our plan B became a Plan A.

I have over +7 years of experience in the agency side of the business now. And I’m planning to keep a 9-5 job for these ten years.

Leveraging Niche Sites X25-30 

Niche sites offer a focused platform to target specific audiences and needs, providing a more tailored approach to content, products, or services.

As I mentioned in my SEO Strategy for 2024 post, the organic channel will not be the only channel of traffic source. So I will build online brands with all of their needs, like social media, newsletters, videos, podcasts, etc.

And the initial goal for the niche site is to sell them. The average number of selling niche sites starts from x25 their monthly revenue. So, If I can manage to increase the income of a niche site to €1.000, at the end of the day, it will bring €25.000.

Consultancy 

Consultancy is why we established our old agency. We knew the operational part, and we could improve ourselves from that angle, but we didn’t know the money management and the business part. That is why we closed that and went into the agency world. I can’t say I’m %100 percent confident of every angle of the whole business, but I can say that I gained lots of experience on both (operational and business) sides. So, considering the conflict of interest, this will be one of my income sources.

Investments (Not Investment Advice)

It was the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. I started to research about personal finance. I watch lots of videos and listen to lots of podcasts. I remember a few specific authors and content: Matt D’Avella’s videos about personal finance, Ramit Sethi’s YouTube channel and his podcast, Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, and Bitcoin book (I read that in Turkey; I couldn’t find its original name, but it covers all of the forum posts and emails of Satoshi Nakamoto with chronological order and explanations. Highly recommended.)

Stocks/Crypto

I started to invest in stocks and crypto as an experiment. It is going well so far. I use Revolut and, lately, eToro. If you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate 🙂 I will continue to invest in these assets.

And All Kinds of Opportunities  

I was thinking of investing in only areas that I knew before. But it changed. I’m thinking of investing in new areas, maybe risky areas. It might be risky because I have limited information and experience, or it might be risky because of the nature of the asset, like a new crypto project or new SaaS (I feel like Cuppa is going to be a big thing in a few years, next time, next time).

Mobile Apps (2025)

I come across dozens of problems in my personal life every day. And I always say it would be great if there was an app for it. Even while I was trying to calculate the cost of living, I tried to find a mobile or web app to make the process shorter. I found some apps, but they didn’t give me what I wanted. So, I want to focus on creating apps after H1 of 2024 or Q1 of 2025, it depends on my workload.

Saas (2025)

Same with the Mobile App idea. And I’m not talking about creating something like Ahrefs, Asana, or a comprehensive CMS system. I’m talking about solving specific problems with simple solutions like browser extensions, WordPress Plugins, or Shopify Addons.

Conclusion

As I said at the beginning, this post is the King of my strategy. The “The Last Exit” is all about smart moves and big dreams for the next 10 years to have €3M. It combines creating different assets, saving up, and investing wisely. It will be my north start when I get lost in the jungle.

Lastly, I share my thoughts publicly to show the way to people who need to find a solution to their problems. I wish I had this information before. Also, these thoughts might change in the future, and I really want that. This is another reason why I share my thoughts publicly; sharing my thoughts with people to get feedback and improve myself in as scientific way as possible.

Cheers
Batu