The guide is now available

Over the last couple of weeks I published several articles about financial planning and documenting everything. I incorporated this information (and added more detail, background, examples and images) into a document (PDF) I now call, "Preparing for Early Retirement; A Financial Planning Guide."

The guide is an eighteen-page document that will help anyone interested in possibly retiring early. There are also other recommendations, considerations and tips to help you prepare for the future.

Throughout the guide I relate some personal experiences that my wife and I went through while working this process. In the Background section, I explained "Twenty-three years ago, when my wife and I realized that my career might be cut short because of Kennedy's Disease, we developed our financial plan using the process shown below. It was a wakeup call. We discovered that based upon our current situation (savings, employee benefits, etc.), we would not be able to retire early unless something changed dramatically. Within a year, I had changed companies. The new company offered a pension, 401K, disability insurance, stock options, as well as other benefits. Seventeen years later we retired debt-free after exceeding our retirement goals."

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Table of Contents


Disclaimer    3

About the KDA    3

Background    4

Overview of the Financial Planning Process    5

The Seven-Step Financial Planning Process    7

1.    Evaluate    7

2.    Analyze    10

3.    Establish a Target and Goal    12

4. Execute the Plan.    12

5.    Measure Performance    13

6.    Review Results    13

7.    Adjust the Plan.    13

 
Other Planning Considerations    15

1.    Document Everything    15

2.    Short and Long-Term Disability Insurance    17

3.    When to begin discussions with your company    18

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If interested, the PDF guide can be downloaded from the KDA website. While there, also consider downloading the Social Security – Disability guide to learn more about the requirements, resources, and support needed to complete the application process.