I am reading this story knowing that I will be retiring in the next six weeks. I am currently 59.

Some ask how did you do it? When I started dating my girlfriend in 2011, we had one of those “getting to know you” conversations. I mentioned to her my goals for the future.

I stated that I want to retire at 59 and I want to own a Porsche 911 before I die. Now, this is not a brand-new Porsche, although I do have the money to buy new that is not what I am looking for. I am more “the 80's model 911 S/C kind of guy”. If you are a person passionate about cars, then you understand.

More than 20 years ago I started socking away money into my company 401 K at a rate of 15 percent the past five years, and have increased the amount taken out of my check to 22 percent. I had four different fund account that stem from switching jobs. A month ago, I met with my financial advisor, and we combined all those funds except the 401 K that I have at the current Aerospace company that I work for.

Recently I decided that I was going to build my wife's parents a house. They live in Poland and are very frugal. its habits they developed living under communism. I realize that although they dream of having a house with a yard and a garden that they would never see that dream fulfilled unless I gave them the push. Why am I doing this? Because they are good people. They love their two children and would do anything for them. While my wife was growing up she and her brother slept in the two small bedrooms of this 600 square foot apartment while her parents slept on a fold-out sofa. So, they deserve a house to call their own and it will always be a place that my wife can go back to when I am gone.

So that four percent rule will get adjusted to about seven percent the first couple of years of retirement and I will send 60 percent of my monthly retirement to her Parents to put toward the purchase of the property and hire a builder to build the house.

On a similar note, I am going to start withdrawing from social security early at age 62. This is a decision I made based on life expectancy and my wife being a schoolteacher would not get very much of my social security if I died since she is considered a public employee.

So, to summarize.

1. try to have around fifteen percent taken from your paycheck pretax. After a while, you really will not miss it.

2. Look for a financial advisor in your area that has a good reputation. I have friend and cousins who are financial advisors, and I chose to go with someone that was not a direct friend or family member.

3. Determine how much you really need. For some, it's more than you think. In most cases, you should have over a million in retirement.

4. Live a Healthy Lifestyle, eat healthily and exercise so you can enjoy retirement.

5. Remember you can take it all with you so think about where your money should go after you are gone. Maybe it’s to loved ones or a charity that actually does a great job of helping others or animals.