A Side-Hustle is Not the Only Way to Retire Early

Leverage your 9–5 to live an unconventional life.

I’m a fan of side-hustles and multiple streams of income, but I’m tired of every article I read saying it’s the only way to retire early or get ahead.

It’s not!

You can work a 9–5, make good financial decisions, and retire in your 30s, 40s, and 50s.

How?

Seek high paying roles.
Be intentional with your money.
Don’t fall into the pattern of a conventional life.

I’ve done this with my own life.

I’m two and a half years away from Coast FI. At age 41. With my wife and I only working 9–5 jobs. Would I like to make some side income? Of course! But it won’t be required for my early retirement plans.

Seek high paying roles

I agree with you, you’re never going to retire (even by 65) with your entry-level administrator job.

But that should only be a steppingstone to higher incomes.

Leverage that role, corporate and individual education, and networking to get a high-paying corporate salary.

Accounting, finance, sales, IT, and medicine are all fields with lots of growth (i.e. income) potential.

Not all of them require a degree. Not all of them require years of experience to get a foot in the door. And they’re all a potential revenue source for your 9–5 retirement plans.

Been in your role for several years? It’s time to start looking for another job. You can look for internal or external roles but get to looking.

After two years you’re pay is not keeping up with inflation. New hires in your same role will be offered more than you’re earning. Leverage that knowledge and your skills from the past two years for a promotion. And if you don’t get, seek work elsewhere.

Having a high(er) income allows you to put more away into investments — the foundation for early retirement.

I went the accounting and payroll route — CPA license, payroll tax analyst, leading payroll teams.

There’s a lot of money in corporate America and you can get your slice of it and get out fast.

Be intentional with your money

Making a high salary doesn’t automatically mean early retirement.

You have to save, invest, and be intentional with your money to make it happen.

Spend less than you earn.
Invest early and often.
Ignore your investments until you retire.

The steps seem simple enough, but it’s hard when you’re bombarded by advertisements for the newest, coolest toy. When all your friends suddenly have a new car and you’re driving your 11-year-old Nissan Altima.

It’s extremely hard!

But who’s going to have to work for the next 40 years? Not you.

Being intentional with your money doesn’t mean being frugal and not spending on fun. It means putting your money toward your priorities — not frivolously blowing it on things that don’t bring you joy.

Intentional money equals intentional life.

I wear my clothes until they fall apart, but I travel internationally multiple times a year — while investing toward my early retirement.

It’s absolutely possible to have it all, if you focus on only what’s important to you.

Don’t fall into the pattern of a conventional life

You probably won’t have many friends trying to retire early.

The status quo for most of the world is working for 40-plus years, spending on toys, and stressing about retirement. Big houses, fancy cars, and limited travel are great — if that’s the life you want to have.

But if you want the life of freedom of choice — choice of what work you do and where you do it — you have to be different. You’re life will appear different and others will not understand.

You have to be okay with that.

Don’t feel the need to fit in — and compromise your dream of early retirement because your parents think you need a McMansion. For some of us, 1,100 square feet of living space is all we’ll ever want (I for one hate to clean the house!).

The unconventional life is one of being different, not fitting in, and ignoring the patterns that society tries to push on you.

I don’t have a big house, because it’s not important to me to have extra bedrooms I never use. I don’t have the nicest cars, because I would rather be flying overseas than driving around town for no reason. I don’t have the newest iPhones, because I would rather put a bit more into my brokerage account and retire another month earlier.

Side-hustles can be beneficial, but they’re not the only path to retirement

I’m always going to be a fan of side-hustles and I hope to make a lot of money from them.

But I won’t be dependent on creating a side-hustle to retire early.

I’m going to use my 9–5 salary to make it happen. That’s all I really need.