Should I Retire to Go Travel in 2026?

I keep redoing the calculations, over and over and over again. I calculate based on my entire net worth. Then, I calculate with guardrails and limiting parameters. 

I end up staring at my results for a very long time. The math – those cold, hard numbers – are, this time, uncharacteristically assuring to the extreme. No matter how I slice it, I can quit my job right now and go travel the world while living off a very conservative $2,000 per month.

World travel is a serious part of my life plans; I just didn’t expect I’d consider starting it in 2026. I also didn’t expect the premier retirement financials expert to come out with new research that paints an even rosier picture than planned. Nor that the appeal of leaving fascism behind would bump my timeline way, way up. Life sure is full of surprises, and that’s why life requires me to think through opportunities that the FIRE movement makes possible for me.

How I Calculated My Potential Yearly Budget

I’ve got a basic formula of determining a budget from years of financial independence articles percolating in my head. That basic formula for understanding how much money you can safely spend in retirement is as follows:

SafePercentage x AmountOfMoney = YearlyBudget

YearlyBudget / 12 = MonthlyBudget

The “SafePercentage” default is 4% given the 4% Rule (of thumb). That is already a more conservative estimate than what academic experts have uncovered; the REAL default, based on historical averages, is actually 4.68%. That secondary number is also conservative, by the way, as it is including the most catastrophic economic meltdowns in the last century. In other words, 4.68% is the withdrawal rate at which will be sufficient 100% of the time for a 30-year retirement timeline. The data also shows that, even with those catastrophic meltdowns, a 5% rate will be sufficient 94.5% of the time:

My SafePercentage is a little different, in that I’ve simplified the asset classes and allocation. My formula assumes the AmountOfMoneyInvested is all invested in index funds that track the overall stock market, aka total stock market index funds. Index funds that track a large number of the top performing, like ones tracking the Dow Jones or S&P 500, work fine enough for this too.

Some folks use their entire net worth for this number, not only including index fund investments but also bonds, cash, home equity, and alternative investments like risky stocks, crypto, collectibles, what have you. I don’t count possessions like my car in my net worth, but I do count cash, crypto, and government bonds. That would put my total net worth at about $660k as of the time of this writing. Counting my index fund investments only, I am at roughly $625k as of the time of this writing.

The Withdrawal Percentages

If we use that $625k figure, a MonthlyBudget of $2k shows a ridiculously conservative SafePercentage of 3.84%. It gives me a little wiggle room for any small unexpected or emergency expenses, which I don’t strictly need anyway as I have an emergency fund for scenarios like that. If I were to assume 4.68% would work for me, my safe MonthlyBudget can go up to $2,450 (using 4.68% of my index funds investments only, rounded up a bit). Even using 4% on my $625k funds gives me a $1,000 surplus for whatever I may need. Chart below for a better visualization:

At most, I would only go up to 4.15% instead of 4.68%. Bill Bengen, the premier retirement finances expert, mentions that’s roughly the ideal for a 50-year retirement.

The question now is: can I actually live off of $2k a month? The answer is: only if I am willing and able to change my current geographic location. And I totally can! With my Irish citizenship, I can live anywhere in the European Union indefinitely. Lucky me!

What Makes Europe Doable

A lot of policies throughout the centuries have lined up to make me able to do this in 2026. The EU Charter and Schengen Agreement enshrine the rights of any EU citizen to live virtually anywhere on the continent WITH low-cost health care in the bargain. Irish law codified my right to citizenship by descent through my Irish-born grandparents, as well as my right to live anywhere in the UK to boot if I so wish.

And centuries of colonialism by mainland European countries has poured a disproportionate amount of wealth into European cities, generating cost-of-living advances paid for with blood and malice. (Included here because it’s not good in the long run to ignore atrocities, especially when the consequences are still heavily present.)

With the legal and socioeconomic acknowledgements above, the only other potential barrier to making this doable is financial and logistical. Both of these, too, are soundly taken care of.

For one, Europe has world-class destinations that are cheaper than what I’m used to in the US. The Earth Awaits estimates a lean budget in Los Angeles is $3,771 a month, and a lean budget just outside of Boston is $3,806 a month. Both these estimates are right in line with my experience living in both areas, so I trust their budgetary estimates. Imagine my surprise to learn I can live in gorgeous – and popular! – cities in Europe on the lean budget I’m used to! With a 4.15% withdrawal rate, I can afford Prague, Lyon, Porto, Genoa, Athens, Sicily, and Sevilla.

The numbers, for reference:

Bumping my budget up to 4.68% leaves me sitting pretty in Venice, Rome, Madrid, Vienna, and Barcelona. And all of these are just the cities at the top of the budget; I’ve included a lot of cities I’m interested in on the chart below to demonstrate:

More cities here, too!

Logistically, my top concerns would be travel accommodations and housing. Thanks to the Internet, I can secure monthlong stays within just a few minutes. Plus, the EU has infrastructure leagues ahead of America. I will not need to rely on a car while in Europe to travel about. Trains on trains FTW!!!

This may seem risky. I don’t think so. “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry” may very well be true for me despite my backup plans, resources, and out-of-the-box thinking. What I do know is that I feel good about my planning. I have confidence in my own tenacity to ensure I am taken care of. It’s gotten me through a violent childhood, college, and corporate America, in that order. I have faith it will also get me through slow travel for some time through Europe. 

As established above, I can very safely spend $2,000 a month, or $24,000 a year, with my current nest egg. In fact, I may be able to spend up to $29,250 a year without ever running out of money (so $750 less than my original calculations in September). That is assuming I do not work at all and rely solely on my investments to fund my living expenses.

But I can definitely work without issue if need be.

Thanks to my Irish citizenship, I can work anywhere in the EU. (I used “retire” in the headline just to make it catchy, so please don’t drag the retirement police into this.) At the very least, I would still be working, just not for money. Writing would become my top priority for the first time ever, now that I have neither school or a full-time job to dedicate the bulk of my time and energy towards. It would be spectacular if my future completed writing projects will generate money, thus making me a paid worker again. But I don’t need to be paid to do it, unlike my jobs in marketing.

I may choose to work part-time for a few months for an extra spending buffer, which can be anything I’ve done before I know I wouldn’t mind:

• A temp marketing role
• An English language tutor or substitute teacher 
• A receptionist
• A Workaway laborer
• By flipping furniture or other gig-type jobs

If I really need to make up more money in the original estimated budget, I am still of able mind and body and can earn it. I doubt I’ll have a tough time finding work. Even if I do, $30k will make up 4.8% of my nest egg. That could very well prove a successful withdrawal rate, and I can always live in areas with a lower cost of living to put this back to rights.

If I DO find it hard to find work?

Then I’ll simply wait it out. I have enough money invested in my taxable account alone to fund me for the next decade or so with little to no investment growth at all. I can wait long enough for jobs to open up again and let me build up another cushion.

Given all of this, I am ABSOLUTELY willing and able to change my geographic location. My monthlong travels to Europe in the last few years has only further confirmed I would delight in exploring foreign countries. And, well, I am horrified enough at the US government in 2025 to fly outta here with great relief.

Rejecting Fascism With My Feet

Europe has its own problems and threats. A big one is a potential war with Russia. Another is the rise of authoritarianism over there too, similar to what Americans are seeing here. That said, I consider them less threatening at this point in time than the actual fascism that is already here in America, not simply on the rise.

Via annefrank.org:

There was no room for anyone with different ideas; from the very beginning, opponents of the regime were intimidated, persecuted and imprisoned in concentration camps. Many political and cultural dissidents therefore quickly left the country, whether they were Jewish or not; this first wave of emigrants or refugees included many writers, journalists and artists.

Well, f***… see that word “writers”? Guess I fit the bill.

If I do leave, I’d reckon it would be sometime in May at the earliest. That gives me time to pad my cash cushion until then. Plus, my company typically pays out bonuses in mid-March, which is money I don’t have to leave on the table. I don’t think the country will implode in the next six months or so; it’s anything more than six months out I’m most wary of. So you heard it here first (outside of my last net worth update, I mean): I may be leaving the country next year for more peaceful pastures!

Who Yet Knows What the Future Holds!

Going this route is well off the beaten path even for my financial independence peers. My withdrawal rates are higher than the targets for many a FIRE forum commenter, not to mention with a lower nest egg than the million dollar benchmark. Less than two-thirds lower, if the markets don’t grow in 2026. I’d also become an early retiree before my 32^nd birthday, which puts my ability to fund the rest of my life further into question given the longer retirement horizon.

If all of that wasn’t enough, I’d be doing it alone – without any significant others to split expenses with or relatives to leave me some future inheritance. The first reaction from seasoned FIRE folks is “WOW! How… brave? Couldn’t be me, though.” I don’t mind the skepticism. Personal finance is personal, so my specific financial outlook is going to look different from anyone else’s.

If I choose this path, and stick to it, then I’ll have to deal with extra investment management some years down the road. The bulk of my investments are in tax-advantaged accounts, so I’ll have to either play around with a Roth IRA conversion ladder or with Section 72(t) of the IRS code to access that money before the established retirement age. Wherever my life ends up, I’m set up well enough to weather it with a smile. Brave or not, I’ve got a New Year to plan for coming on up!

Cover image credit: PJ Gal-Szabo via Unsplash

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