How to retire in 10 years with no savings (Simple steps to follow)

Do you want to retire in 10 years but have no savings?

Don’t worry; you’re not alone.

In fact, most of us don’t have enough saved up for retirement.

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to retire in 10 years – it just means you’ll need to be a little more creative.

You may need to make some major changes to your lifestyle and budget, and you’ll have to start saving and investing now.

In this article, we’ll show you how to make a plan and save enough money so that you can retire comfortably.

We’ll also give you tips on reducing your expenses and creating a retirement fund.

So if you want some ideas for how to retire in 10 years with no savings, keep reading to find out.

GAME PLAN

First of all, you need to make a plan.

You wouldn’t just jump in your car and start driving, would you?

No, you would probably have a destination in mind and have some things you might want to see on the way. You might even consider what you would take on the journey etc.

Now imagine how important it is to have even a basic plan for an important thing like your life!

What are your short-, medium- and long-term goals? What does good look like for you?

Do you want to focus totally on the end goal or enjoy the journey getting there also?

What do you want your life to look like in 10 years when you have retired?

What does retirement mean to you?

• The end of all meaningful projects
• No work, part-time work or volunteering
• What will you be retiring from and to?

What goals do you have in every area of your life?

• Health?
• Wealth?
• Happiness?

As a result of these goals, what actions do you think you might need to take?

• Get up earlier?
• Take up a sport?
• Learn a new skill?
• Pivot your career?

What means or money are you going to need to have or create?

• How can you increase your assets and reduce your liabilities?
• How much money do you have, and what is the gap between what you need?
• Are you going to save it up or create more income sources?

Once you have a plan, you need to start executing it:

This is where you need to set and achieve milestones.

Stay motivated by setting smaller goals along the way. It can be very rewarding to cross off milestones as you reach them, and it’ll motivate you to keep going towards your larger goal.

Plan our daily, weekly and monthly goals – and at the end of each period, reflect on what went well and what needs to improve.

If you are struggling with tasks and time, look at your actual week vs your ideal week and make the necessary changes.

If it’s a struggle, just remember you only need to get 1% better each day to make a massive difference over 10 years.

Change your mindset for success

One of the most important things you need to do to achieve success is changing your mindset.

When you have the right mindset, you believe that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

You also believe failure is not an option and you can always learn and improve.

When you have the wrong mindset, you may believe that you’re incapable of achieving success, that failure is inevitable, or that you can’t learn or improve.

This type of thinking will only hold you back and prevent you from achieving your goals.

Focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses.

There are many things you can do to change your mindset for success. Here are five of them:

1. Belief in yourself and your self-worth.

Know that you deserve to be successful and happy and know that there is enough in the world for everyone.

If you can’t believe in yourself and in your own worth, how can you expect anyone else to?

The more you love yourself and believe in what you have to offer the world, the more opportunities will open.

2. Change your attitude.

The more positive energy you put out there, the more likely it is to come back.

When you let yourself be negative and jaded, you are pushing away all of the positivity this world offers.

Negative attitudes repel success like water on a newly waxed car.

3. Set goals and work towards them.

If you want to be successful, set goals and work towards them.

Goals are different for each person, but whatever your retirement goals may be, make sure that you follow through with them no matter what.

You will always have distractions that try to side-track you from your goal, but don’t let them pull you away.

4. Visualize your success and the journey to get there.

The next time you set a goal for yourself, visualize your success and the work you put in to get there.  

See it as if it has already happened, and know that you will achieve what you want to achieve.

Visualizing your goals is a huge step towards achieving them because when you can imagine making it happen, it makes the process of getting there easier.

5. Take action.

The number one step to achieving your goal is taking action.

You won’t get there if you don’t take the first step. If you want to be successful, act like it and do something to that end every day.

Surround yourself with the right people for success

One of the most important things you can do for success is to surround yourself with the right people.

This might be with actual or virtual (books, podcasts) people.

Being around positive and successful people will rub off on you, and you’ll be more likely to achieve your own goals.

Conversely, when you’re around negative and unsuccessful people, it will rub off on you, and you’ll be more likely to fail.

It’s important to associate with people who have a similar mindset and who are also driven to achieve life and financial success.

These are the people who will help lift you up and support you when times get tough.

They will also motivate you to work harder and be your biggest advocates.

Pay yourself first 

One of the most important things you can do for retiring early is to pay yourself first.

When you make it a habit to pay yourself first, you’re setting yourself up for financial success.

You’re telling yourself that you are a priority and that you deserve to be taken care of.

Paying yourself first means that you should always put money aside for yourself before spending it on anything else.

This could be done in a number of ways, such as setting up a savings account or investing in stocks or mutual funds.

When you pay yourself first, you’re ensuring that you have a cushion for any unexpected expenses that may come up.

You’re also creating a nest egg for your future. And the earlier you start, the more time your money has to grow.

Many people find it difficult to pay themselves first because money is already so tight at the end of the month.

But if you can train yourself to do this, it will tremendously impact your path to retiring in 10 years or less.

Build multiple sources of income

One of the best ways to ensure financial success is to build multiple sources of income.

You do this by creating income-generating assets and avoiding liabilities.

When you have several streams of income, it will be less likely that you’ll experience financial hardship if one of them dries up.

There are many ways to build multiple sources of income, and the key is to start small and then gradually increase the amount of money you make.

One way to do this is to start a side hustle. A side hustle is a job or business that you do in addition to your regular job.

Having a side hustle allows you to explore your interests and passions and make extra money. It also allows you to become more financially secure and independent.

The extra money will also fuel retiring in 10 years

Using your skills and experience, what could you sell or rent to make extra money?

• What are you good at or have an unfair advantage in?
• What do you love doing that others don’t or want to learn about?
• What does the world need?
• What will people pay you for?

The answer to these questions might provide some ideas and sources of income for you, either digitally or physical business or products.

Build an emergency fund 

One of the most important things you can do for financial success is to build an emergency fund of at least 3-6 months living costs.

You set aside this money for unexpected expenses that may come up.

When you have a cushion of money saved up, you won’t have to worry about financial emergencies impacting your life.

There are many ways to build an emergency fund, but the key is to start small and then gradually increase the amount of money you save.

One way to do this is to automatically transfer a certain amount of money from your checking account to your savings account each month.

Your emergency fund is there to prevent a crisis from turning into a disaster.

As part of your emergency fund, you should also think about life, critical illness and income protection.

Getting ill, losing a job and obviously dying can have every serious impact on your path to retirement in 10 years.

Even if you aren’t around, you might want to think about those who are impacted by your passing (and the loss of your income)

Keep a detailed budget

The Kakeibo budgeting method is a popular budgeting system in Japan and could help you cut your outgoings by up to 35%.

It is a paper-based system that helps you track your expenses and see where you can save money.

The Kakeibo budgeting system consists of three main parts: the income and expense sheet, the savings goal sheet and the wish list.

The income and expense sheet is where you track all your monthly income and expenses.

The savings goal sheet is where you track your savings goals for the month.

And the wish list is where you track the things that you want to buy but haven’t yet saved enough money for.

The Kakeibo budgeting system is a great way to track your expenses and see where you can make cuts.

It can also help you make smarter spending decisions as you are seeing where every penny is going.

keeping your living costs low

If you are starting from zero, keeping your living costs low will be another superpower on your way to retirement.

This means that you’ll need to find a way to make your money lasts as long as possible.

There are a few different things that you can do to achieve this:

– Live in a smaller, more affordable home

– Cut back on your expenses and live a simpler life

– Find ways to make money on the side

– Invest your money wisely

The whole point of retiring in 10 years is to allow yourself enough time to grow your investments and ensure that you have enough money to last the rest of your life.

That is why it’s important to try to keep your living costs low while you’re still working.

If you have a large mortgage or spend a lot of money on things like entertainment, going out with friends and family, and shopping, it may be challenging for you to retire in 10 years.

That is why it’s important to live within your means while you’re still working and planning for retirement.

It may be difficult at first, but if you commit yourself to living simply, it will become much easier and quicker to achieve retirement in 10 years.

Understand the difference between good and bad debt

When trying to get your finances in order, it’s important to understand the difference between good and bad debt.

Good debt is debt that helps you grow your wealth.

It’s debt that you take on to purchase an asset or investment that will appreciate in value over time.

Bad debt is debt that doesn’t help you grow your wealth.

It’s debt that you take on for things like cars, vacations and other consumables.

These types of debts can actually hurt your finances because they don’t provide any long-term benefits.

It’s important to avoid bad debt as much as possible.

Getting out of debt and staying out of debt is a significant part of reaching financial freedom.

Improve your financial literacy

Becoming financially literate is one of the most important things you can do to retire in 10 years.

When you’re financially literate, you know how to make sound financial decisions and understand personal finance basics.

Some of the things you need to know to become financially literate include:

• How to save money
• How to invest money
• How to create a budget
• How to read a financial statement
• How to use credit wisely
• How to manage debt
• How to plan for retirement
• The difference between assets and liabilities
• Risk vs reward
• Short- and long-term investing
• Compound interest
• Active vs passive investments
• Investing vs speculating

When you understand these concepts, you’ll be able to take control of your path to retirement.

Invest your money wisely

One of the key ways to retire in 10 years is by investing in the world’s great companies.

Let all the great companies of the world work for you while you are asleep.

Stocks are assets that can pay you an income and go up in value over the long term.

Before you start investing, it’s important to understand some sound investing principles

• Investing is a long-term game—day to day volatility vs long term growth.
• Understanding the difference between temporary declines (stock market crashes) and permanent growth.
• Compound interest is your greatest friend. Interest on interest on interest. Starting your compounding machine asap.
• Understand your emotions around greed and fear.
• Buy stocks when you have the money and only sell when you need the money – not when you are feeling greedy or fearful.
• Your behaviour will dictate how well you do in investing, not which is the latest great fund to pick.
• Low-cost, globally diversified index funds are a great way to diversify your investments.
• Keep your costs low – legally avoid tax where you can.

Another great place to invest is in yourself

A good investment in yourself might

• Improve your health
• Skills
• Knowledge
• Experience

All of which could help you earn more in a job or side hustle.

Process, patience, persistence

Your process will make success more likely, not the fund you choose or the money you save on teabags.

Doing the right things over and over again is the key to success.

Make sure you have developed and refined your success habits and stop doing your wealth destroying ones.

Persistence is also a key habit – keep going no matter what – get over, around, under or through the problems or questions that come up.

Patience – if you don’t have this, you will give up when things get slow or difficult.

You can’t fail if you don’t give up. Patience is the key to seeing your wealth compound and journey to retirement in 10 years become a reality.

And in one way, what other choice do you have? Give up and never retire!

Enjoy the journey

Make sure that you enjoy the journey to whatever retirement means to you.

That’s why you need to identify goals in every area of your life so that you can tick them off on the journey to retirement.

You don’t really want to be saving up all your fun for your old age- Do you?

Conclusion:  How to retire in 10 years with no savings

Many people want to retire but don’t know-how.

If you have the will and determination to do so, it is possible for you too!

It may take some time, of course, but if you work hard enough on your side hustles or other gigs while still working a full-time job, then there’s no reason why you can’t be retired in 10 years with no savings.

If you would like to develop your own 10 years or less retirement GAME Plan, click below to find out more.