Even though I am in my mid 50s I am looking to retire in the next few years. I probably retire immediately and live partly off of my investments, but that places me in a precarious position, the dividends I receive could not be reinvested to grow my investment, whilst I could do this and live in South East Asia, South or Central America, or Eastern Europe, this is not my plan.

Should markets decline, I would have no options and trying to return to the workforce at 60 does not interest me. I would rather work the next four to five years, contribute to my retirement fund and also keep reinvesting my share investments. Once I turn 60, I can access my retirement fund that has been bolstered by another 5 years of contributions, and hopefully growth.

I keep fit by exercising, this is running and weight sessions so this keeps me relatively athletic for an old man. We all know the early years of retirement are the most productive so I want to enjoy those early years before a lifetime of hard work catches up with me. I want to be into my 70s before age and illness slow me down where I need to take it easy.

A number of years back I was getting an MRI and the technician asked me if I was a blue collar worker, played a lot of sport or did weights. I answered yes to all of her questions, she replied it figures as all of my joints are worn out and plenty of wear on my back and neck. I need to heed her observations and enjoy my older years.

At around 80 years of life expectancy, 40 is the midpoint, the first 10 years were spent as a child, the next 10 years as a teenager and hopefully matching that with 20 years of retirement. So that leaves me 40 years of living as a productive adult, that includes purchasing property, saving for retirement, building assets and there is the cost of living built into that. Of course I need to live and experience life during that time, I would be an idiot to forsake living my life too much.