Utilize Travel Therapy to Enjoy Mini Retirements
Why do we put off retirement for so long? The age of 65 is not a set age or finish line at which one retires; rather, it is a number that we as a culture have invented. Does a "finish line" even need to exist? No, I would think, and travel therapy is a terrific tool for assisting us in taking mini-retirements prior to reaching "retirement age."
The same excellent counsel has been given to me often over the past few years by family and friends in my life whom I respect and it usually goes like this:
Society has it backwards. We work while we're young and have the energy to explore, all the while hoping that when we're retired, we'll still have some of the energy we had when we were in our 20s and 30s.
This has had a significant impact on me as I started my career in my 20s and deepened my understanding that my time has greater value than any other commodity. I'm not arguing that money isn't significant, as it’s obvious that most things in life require money. But there had to be a way to respect the financial and work responsibilities of life, while still utilizing the valuable time of my youth. I soon started researching non-traditional retirement choices and, in particular, the FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement. It seemed bizarre and enlightening at the same time that these people were following this path of taking an early retirement after 5 to 15 years of arduous labor, maximizing earnings, and saving every penny to put into retirement accounts. Studying the FIRE movement and its proponents gave me a lot of inspiration.
Over the past two to three years, while working as traveling physical therapists, Megan and I have pursued a financial path that resembles a cross between Dave Ramsey's debt-paying strategy and the FIRE movement. While pursuing student loan forgiveness for our mountains of federal student loan debt, we have been able to pay off approximately $90,000 in private student loan debt. In addition, we were able to have a baby, purchase a house, put over $50,000 into retirement accounts, buy our two cars with cash, and accumulate a $15,000 emergency fund (Dave Ramesy would be so proud). I don't say this to gloat, but rather to highlight the fact that none of this would have been possible without travel therapy.
Our financial objectives and ambitions have been accelerated by starting as travel physical therapists as soon as we graduated from DPT school. Could we have saved more money and been more effective? Sure. Did we always make the most prudent financial decisions? Nah. But we are learning and moving forward on a path that leads to financial success, thanks to travel therapy. The benefits of travel include earning more annually than a permanent position, being taxed less on our income, having more time flexibility, and exploring parts of the country that many people dream of seeing when they retire.
This brings us full circle, back to the wise counsel that I've been receiving from family and friends and will repeat:
Society has it backwards. We work while we're young and have the energy to explore, all the while hoping that when we're retired, we'll still have some of the energy we had when we were in our 20s and 30s.
Travel therapy enables you to put that sound advice into practice. You can decide to take on back-to-back travel assignments in order to maximize your earnings while minimizing expenses in an effort to quickly attain your FI (financial independence) figure. Megan and I have done this the previous two or three years with success. The alternative option is to capitalize on the opportunity to take “mini retirements” in what some would call "slow FI", instead of waiting until we're 65 to retire and enjoy life. That's where, in my opinion, travel therapy excels as a tool for mini-retirements, and this is what we plan to do for the next 5-10 years.
Our personal traveling habits are beginning to rely more on travel therapy's advantages of time flexibility. We are making plans and setting aside money for more family vacations and time off in between contracts. We refer to these exciting intervals as "mini retirements," a term Tim Ferriss popularized in his book “The 4-Hour Work Week”. These "mini retirements" can be as straightforward as spending a full week in a national park near your travel assignment before moving on to your next contract or as complex as a three to six month overseas journey to Italy. You're in charge and can extend your vacation as long as you need to, or you can return to working hard as a therapist in order to save for the next adventure. Remember that this time off between contracts is unpaid. Thus, you must plan ahead, save money, and take into account your other financial objectives (saving for retirement, emergency fund, etc.).
It is impossible to overstate the importance of time flexibility gained with travel therapy that you can use as needed. Few people have the luxury of taking lengthy breaks from their jobs to go on mini retirements. Thanks to travel therapy, Megan and I can now spend more time exploring while we're still young and energetic. Not to mention creating lifelong memories with our growing family.
What ways are you using Travel Therapy to benefit you? Let us know below! 👇
- Written by Dr. Ryan J. O’Rear, PT, DPT
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