You're So Lucky!

People always say to us, “You’re so lucky!” when they hear we’re off on our next travel adventure, “did you win the lottery?” But luck has nothing to do with it - we planned our early retirement and worked hard for it although we were late starters in the wealth generation game. We didn’t buy a house till we were in our 30s, didn’t start saving till our 40s, yet we retired in our 50s to spend more time travelling. How did we do it?

People always say to us, “You’re so lucky!” when they hear we’re off on our next travel adventure, “did you win the lottery?” But luck has nothing to do with it - we planned our early retirement and worked hard for it although we were late starters in the wealth generation game. We didn’t buy a house till we were in our 30s, didn’t start saving till our 40s, yet we retired in our 50s to spend more time travelling. How did we do it? This is the personal journey of Hilary and her husband who live on a golf course by the sea in the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand. They’ve never won a lottery or had highly paid jobs but they manage to live a lifestyle many envy - retiring in their 50s and travelling overseas each year. What’s more, their retirement coincided with the global financial crisis, but they survived and are still happily surviving, thriving and travelling the world on a relatively low capital base. Read about their reasons for retiring early, how they planned their exit from the rat race and how they manage their finances so they can still drink wine every night and holiday on the other side of the world without a weekly wage or superannuation.

Hilary grew up in the usual way, dreaming of being an actress or pop star but ending up a school teacher. She caught journalism from her husband, (the royal “He” of this book), eventually working with him in their media business. Realising she’d be unemployed if they divorced, they’re still together after 40 years, two children, six cats, seven houses and many changes of hair colour. Enjoying retirement-by-the-sea on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand, she is currently working on her next e-book “Two Years in a Tin Can”, documenting their adventures travelling around and through Australia in a 4x4 towing a caravan. She and “He” have become experienced budget travellers since their early retirement, so more e-books are in the pipeline about how to travel the globe without spending the earth. Hilary’s favourite activities include travel, wine and avoiding housework.