For the most of us, retiring young is one of our goals in life. A lot of us are working three jobs so we can retire young. Some of us are investing in stock market, mutual funds, 401K, TSP, IRA, etc. so we can retire young. Some of us are investing in real estate in anticipation for increases in value to sell for profits in the future. In addition, some of us are building an empire on home-base businesses and other small businesses so we can retire young.

To be able to retire young you have to do all the things I mentioned above. If not, then you are going to work forever. Don't get me wrong; A lot people still want to work after retirement. I don't. I want to retire young and enjoy my life. I want to retire young so I can play golf everyday and improve my game. I want to retire young so I can go on vacation in the Philippines and stay there as long as I want without worrying that I might get into trouble with my employer or lose a paycheck. If you want to retire young then you should read this and get some of the wisdom from this column. You have to start now. You can start by putting $100 to $200 every month to your mutual funds or IRA/401K. You can start by buying stocks of small company that you think will become the next Microsoft or Wal-Mart. You can start by building a business. The bottom line is whatever you're doing now will shape your destiny.

When I got here in the U.S., I had a friend in the Navy who likes to spend his paycheck in one day. I ask him why he did that. He said, "Bogs, you have to spend your money today because in the future it's going to have less value." He said that whatever I was making now will not be worth much in the future because of inflation. "So even if you save all your money" he said, "in the future it will be less valuable so why don't you spend them now and live happily." He told me that I can buy nice clothes, fancy cars, eat out in a restaurant everyday, and I have to do this now because you I will not be able to afford these things in the future. He said, "look at the gas prices. Next year it will be up again." He said "when gas prices go up, the price of everything else goes up." And he was right, gas prices went up and are still going up today. Prices for everything else went up, too,and still going up.

I thought about what he said for a few days. And I was getting tempted to spend my savings. I thought that I could be happy now by spending my money to buy material things, such as nice cars, nice clothing, and jewerly. But I realized that these material things would also have less value in the future. I couldn't sleep that night. By analyzing what he told me, I started thinking of things I could buy today that would be higher in value in the future - things that might go up in value with inflation or maybe even beat inflation.

I started by buying stocks that I thought would beat inflation. So if gas prices are going to up, then why not invest in gas/oil related stocks. Therefore, I bought oil related stocks little by little and made some money. Then I thought that if oil prices are going to keep going up, people are going to find alternative products to use. Therefore, I speculated and started trading in alternative oils such as fuel cells and hydrogen energy, and made money. Then I researched small companies that I anticipated will become the next Wal-Mart. I found Coach COH, even though this company is not big yet, the stock skyrocketed in year 2000 and still going up. In 2000, only upper class females can afford to buy a Coach Handbag. Now, every female wants to own Coach Handbag.

Another item that will always go up in prices is real estate. Well, sometimes it goes down, but when it goes up, it goes up really high. When I thought about what my friend said, I decided to buy my first property. If my money will not be worth much in the future, why not spend it in something that might be worth three times or ten times over inflation. History shows that the best investments people can have are real estate. Throughout history, people have fought each other for land. They invade other countries for land. Populations keep growing, but God is not creating anymore land. My goal was to buy only one property. However, this goal changed when I decided to retire young. Now I'm only 34 years old and I'm just waiting for the right time. When the right time comes and right prices are in the market, I will sellmy entire rental properties and retire young.

Another way to retire young is to build home base business. There's so many home base business out there that that you can build to help fuel your retirement. One business that will fuel your retirement is the nursing home care business. This is not new. Many people already made fortunes from this. This business is going to keep to growing because of the aging baby boomers. The best thing about this business is not just the profits. It also involves real estate investment. You own the property for anticipation of increase in value and at the same time, you're making money from your patients. The only disadvantage about this business is you have to manage it yourself. I know a couple who owned a business like this and they were making lots of money, but after three years, their fortune was wiped off, including their own personal assets. You know why? Because of lawsuits. One of their patients got out of the window and fell. He broke his back and the patient's family filed a lawsuit. Do you know where they were when the accident happened? They were in Las Vegas.

You have to manage this kind of business yourself because nursing home involve lots of legality. If you're going to hire a caretaker, make sure he/she is trustworthy. Still, the best way to manage a home care business is to manage it yourself. Successful nursing home care businesses will fuel your goal to retire young. Just protect yourself from lawsuits.

Another way to fuel your retirement is to be frugal. Save your paychecks and start now. Don't buy fancy things if you can't afford them. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. You're only fooling yourself when you think that driving a nice car will impress people. On the other hand, if you can afford it, then go ahead and buy fancy things. Still, save a huge amount of your paycheck before buying fancy things. Pay yourself first before paying the store, shopping malls, and car dealership. You can start by putting money in IRA, 401K, TSP, or mutual funds. If you don't like taking risks, invest your money in CDs or money market account. A lot of banking institutions offer this service on the internet.

The last option I'm going to suggest is maybe the best way, but this one is only for people that migrated in the United States from other countries such as Philippines, Mexico, and India etc. Let's talk about the Philippines. Every Filipino knows this one already. If you want to retire young and live like a king or queen, then what you need to do is save your paychecks and retire in the Philippines. I don't have to explain this to you because you know what I'm talking about. Right now the dollar to peso ratio is one to fifty.

If you want to retire young then you have to start doing the things I mentioned above. If you want to keep working until you die and happy doing that, then good luck and more power to you! The bottom line is if you're happy in what you do, then keep doing what you're doing. If not, then you need to change what you're doing!

" Investing in real estate, stock market, mutual funds, IRA, TSP, 401K, CD, or Money Market is risky. Building a business is also risky. Erwin N. Rempola is not responsible or liable for any damage or financial loss that you may incur in investing and building a business."