We want to be Retired at 50 | Our Journey Toward Financial Freedom

Hello and welcome to our little corner of the internet, where we share our journey to financial freedom! We’re Dutch-Hungarian couple who are focusing on building the financial future we want—where our goal is to be retired at 50.

One thing that consistently drives us is the desire for financial freedom. The idea of living life, without worrying about the 9-to-5, with retirement ages increasing every year while working just to pay bills and a few holidays, is what pushes us to keep working toward our goal. And while the road to financial independence is personal, we want to share our story, our goals, our challenges, our strategies, but also our mistakes with you. After all, the path to financial freedom doesn’t have to be walked alone!

Our Goal: Reaching A Million Euro.

We’ve come a long way since we first started thinking about our financial future, but a half year ago we really decided to get serious about it. In the last few years we already started with investing, but we never fully commited for 100% to a specific goal. We were not clear of what we wanted, or what we thought was needed. So, what exactly are we aiming for?

Our ultimate goal is to reach an investment value of a million. We’re talking about a portfolio that’s actively bringing in cash, generating a minimum of 5,000 Euros per month. Why a million? The million itself is not very significant or precisely calculated. But a million is an amount that is inspiring in itself and will help us to be motivated. With that million and 5.000 euro cash we will be able to retire completely if we live frugal (or in Hungary), but more importantly we would have our freedom and could choose whether we want to work or not. We would probably get bored anyway by not working att all. If we decide to work, we could do it as a freelancer, work only 2 or 3 days a week, or just a few months, and travel multiple the rest of the year.

The Timeline: Retired at 50. Maximum 55.

While our official target is to reach this goal by age 55, we’re aiming for something a little sooner if possible. We’re committed to achieving financial freedom by age 50, but if we would get childern or need to help out friends or family we would not mind 55 either. There’s a lot of work to do, and it won’t be easy, but with determination and strategic investing, we believe it’s absolutely achievable.

We know, these are not the incredable ages you read on Reddit or see on Youtube, but hey, we are just some regular people trying to make this work while working for a salary, like any normal person.

Path to our first million: Real Estate and Beyond

So how are we going to make this happen? There are a lot of way to do it, so many things you can invest in. For us real estate is going to play a major role in our journey. It is something that we understand, and feel comfortable with. Currently, we’re focusing on the Hungarian market. It is an upcoming market, and the prices are still a bit lower than average in Europe. We have a lot of family there so that ofcourse is important. We currently own a few properties in Hungary already (partly for ourselves, partly with family).

But, as we all know, diversification is key in any investment strategy. While real estate will be our primary focus, we’re also want to balance our portfolio. We’re exploring index funds, which can provide broad market exposure and low fees, as well as large dividend stocks to generate passive income.

We also own some cryptocurrency. Beside the small profits we made from this, it is mainly for fun. Crypto still has potential (either going to the moon, or crash and burning), so we definitely want to keep it in the mix (because indexing alone is a bit boring).

The last few years we definitely started to build up our investments, but we are still in the beginning of the journey, and we believe it’s okay to change course if we feel something else could serve us better down the line.

The Journey, the Mistakes, and the Fun

As we’ve come to realize, this is not just a straight line to success. The road to financial freedom can be full of bumps, setbacks, and even mistakes. But it’s important to recognize that each step, no matter how small or how imperfect, gets us closer to our goal.

We’ve already made our share of mistakes—like paying too much for our first property, or renovating a bathroom in that property with a unreliable contractor who let us overpay. But those mistakes have taught us valuable lessons. Not only will those amounts in the end not really matter, because not starting is in the end a much worse mistake. Now, we are much less stressed of mistakes and feel more confident than ever that we’re on the right path.

And also: financial freedom is not just about numbers. Sure, the spreadsheets, the budgets, and the ROI matter, but it’s also about the experiences you get from it. Buying a property, meeting real-estate agents, tenants, contractors, seeing your crypto go down or double in price. All of these things are worth a lot, just like a holiday, it creates an experience that shapes you and that you will never forget. Even if those experiences sometimes make you lose money.

Money isn’t everything (yeah, it is important)—it’s the experiences and the freedom to live life on your own terms that truly matter.

That’s why, alongside our investments and financial planning, we’re committed to living life fully along the way. Whether it’s indulging in great food while traveling or enjoying a cozy night with our dog and cat, we want to make sure our journey to financial freedom is as fun as it is rewarding.

Join Us on This Journey

As we work toward our goal of achieving 1,000,000 Euros in investments, we invite you to join us on this exciting journey. Whether you’re just starting your own financial independence journey or you’re looking to reignite your passion for investing, we hope that by sharing our story, we can inspire and help you along the way.

We’ll continue to share our progress, the lessons we’ve learned, and the challenges we face. And most importantly, we’ll make sure the journey is as fun as it is rewarding. After all, financial freedom is not just about getting to a certain number—it’s about living life fully, on your own terms.

Here’s to the journey ahead!