In this report, I ask, and answer, will AI Ruin Early Retirement?
I don’t know how to stop AI. And I don’t know if AI will be killing us, enslaving us, or making our lives better someday. I don’t even believe that the smartest computer scientists in the world can accurately predict how AI will change our lives.
But here are a few things that seem obvious to everyone. Some of us might be out of a job. I don’t know exactly when, but that seems to be one of the only things people can agree upon. For example, Tesla is introducing self-driving vehicles.
If I were driving any sort of vehicle for a living right now, I would be worried. But I am not asking you to worry more. Hear me out on this.
I have no advice for you. I will only share what I am doing to reduce the chance AI will ruin my early retirement. These are things I am doing differently so now I worry less.
I Fired My Boss Before He Fired Me
When I had a job that required me to keep working to keep getting paid, I started my own business. If you don’t have a boss, they can’t fire you. I didn’t wait around to see what AI would do to my job. But starting a business is not easy.
So, I will tell you what I think is the best business model if you haven’t already fired your boss. And then I will take you under the hood of my business and explain why I think it is the best. More on that in a minute. But first, I have 3 more things I am doing to prepare for an uncertain AI future.
Become Less Dependant on Social Security or Pensions
Many people believe that Social Security and other pension plans will run out of money in 10 or so years. I don’t believe that. But here is what I do believe.
The age demographic that votes more consistently in every election is people over 50. And those old people like us are heavily dependent on Social Security when they retire.
For someone with average earnings who retires in 2024 at age 65, Social Security benefits replace about 39 percent of past earnings. Source. If some politician tries to take away that 39%, they would be tarred and feathered.
The average 65-year-old doesn’t have enough other assets to lose that 39%.
Even Americans with above-average incomes before retiring, expect to get their social security after paying into it for their entire lives. Any politician left or right, who threatens social security or pensions will lose the next election.
The government does not have your social security in a bank somewhere. The government funds social security with payroll taxes on people who are still working. They need people to keep working to pay for people on social security.
The real threat is from AI. If payroll taxes drop, because AI puts 20% of us out of work, then the government will have a harder time paying social security if payroll taxes drop 20%.
When I see a problem, I don’t waste my time finger-pointing at a system I have no control over. Sure, I will vote my conscience. But more importantly, I take actions I have complete control over. I will solve this problem myself. That brings up my next solution.
Become Less Dependent on Government.
I don’t expect my government to solve problems anymore. Governments around the world have a hard time-solving simple problems. Social media has created a great divide. People live on either side of this great divide.
If you are waiting around for politicians to solve your problems, you are wasting your time. I don’t listen to all the negativity online. I focus my energy on actions that move my dreams forward.
I have no advice for you. But I am going to solve my own problems and share how I did it on this channel in case you are looking for solutions instead of bitching about problems. That brings up my next action.
I Reduced My Cost Of Living
I left the United States 17 years ago. I still receive dollars of income but I spend my dollars in places in much cheaper places than the USA. By spending less today, I will be in better financial shape tomorrow, if government gridlock doesn’t solve any problems.
Plus, I spent much less in savings as I built my business outside the USA. I am not suggesting that you should quit your job and live on savings while you build your business. That will not work for everyone. Okay, time to talk about my final action to prevent AI from ruining my early retirement
I turned my Hobby into an Information Business.
I started my own hobby business on the Internet and it made $108,000 USD in the 12 months ending May 2024.
|
Month |
Hobby USD |
YouTube USD |
Total |
|
June 2023 |
2137 |
1399 |
3536 |
|
July 2023 |
3556 |
3319 |
6875 |
|
Aug 2023 |
5385 |
2830 |
8215 |
|
Sep 2023 |
11883 |
2763 |
14646 |
|
Oct 2023 |
2003 |
2141 |
4144 |
|
Nov 2023 |
1681 |
2762 |
4443 |
|
Dec 2023 |
16478 |
1892 |
18370 |
|
Jan 2024 |
2461 |
3489 |
5950 |
|
Feb 2024 |
2045 |
3741 |
5786 |
|
Mar 2024 |
9155 |
3762 |
12917 |
|
Apr 2024 |
10918 |
5082 |
16000 |
|
May 2024 |
2357 |
5335 |
7692 |
|
12 Months |
70059 |
38515 |
108574 |
But let me explain why I think it is the best business for retirees who want to hedge against inflation and prevent AI from ruining their retirement. Then I will take you under the hood of my business and show you how it makes money.
Why The Hobby Information Business is Best for Retirees
The online business that I share with you, is the digital information business. Here is why I believe it is the best business for retirees to start.
No Inventory. I didn’t need to import anything from China and ship it to Amazon. I didn’t need a shipping and receiving department. No returns, no repairs, or replacement of physical products.
No Delivery Costs. When the customer buys, they just download the information I am selling, such as eBooks, newsletters, courses, or videos.
No Advertising Costs. I just post webpages and videos online and people discover me organically in their Google searches. In fact, once my YouTube started getting enough views, YouTube started paying me each month.
No Employees. No payroll, no hours, no training employees, no turnover of employees. I am the only person in the business.
No Office Expenses. No rent, no mail correspondence, no phone correspondence. I just correspond with my customers by email.
No Hours. I just work when I want to. I do have to immediately respond to customer service requests but I create content (videos, eBooks, courses) at my own pace.
Low Start-Up Costs. I got the business started with very little money. I just started posting YouTube videos in my information niche. Once YouTube started paying me for views, I used that income to pay for the third-party software that I teach how to set up in my hobby income course.
No Geographical Limitations or Boundaries. I am free to roam the world as I grow my hobby business online. It is a true laptop-only business. I do not need to show up at certain times and places for the business. I just do my favorite hobby and share what I am doing and the rest takes care of itself.
I Get To Do and Share My Favorite Hobby. The information business can be about anything. But, in my Hobby Income Course, I explain why I share information about my favorite hobby. Why? Because I already love doing your favorite hobby. So it is more fun for me to share my enthusiasm about my favorite subject matter. But you could pick any subject that you know more about than most people.
No Expensive Courses. New or existing paid members of my information business, have access to my Hobby Income Course as a bonus at no extra charge. When membership prices change in the future, existing memberships are frozen at the lower price.
Right now, we are celebrating reaching 150k YouTube subscribers. We are allowing 150 people to join as lifetime members for 50% off our regular price for a one-time payment of $99, instead of our regular price of $199.
At VagabondBuddha.com, under memberships, here are the membership benefits and prices. Then go here to register. The first 150 people can take advantage of the 50% off celebration price.
Going Under the Hood of My Hobby Business
My hobby business shows people my favorite countries in the world to live for cheap overseas. Many of these countries have multiple places where I enjoy living cheaply. Living on less overseas is how I was able to save for the future in case AI tries to ruin my early retirement.
I will not show you any place in the world unless my feet have been on the ground there.
My planning reports include 17 years of personal wisdom living overseas. These reports would have saved me thousands of dollars had I learned them before living overseas.
These comparison reports will help you identify which countries are just not right for you. I talk about the pros and cons of the countries I have lived.
These slow travel reports will help you save time and money as you visit countries to decide which will be your own personal paradise. You can also keep using them to continue world travels for months or years if you decide to be a rolling stone instead of putting down roots.
These income reports show how people make money online and how hobby business income has grown over the years. Watch some of those if you want to learn whether you are growing slower or faster than me. You may be surprised.
Finally, I have two courses that are a bonus if you join during our $99 lifetime celebration.
The 7 week retire overseas course shares what I think you need to think about at each stage of living overseas, from sitting on your couch in your home country, to avoiding negative expats that want to “help” you when you first arrive overseas, and to overcoming problems that that some expats experience after the first few years overseas.
The second bonus course is the My Hobby Income course. In that course, you watch over my shoulder as I pick what my hobby will be, set up my webpage and YouTube channel, set up the ebooks and videos in my information business, set up the memberships software to get paid, and show you how to use email and organic traffic to grow your channel and hobby information business.
One last thing.
Can AI Take This Business From Me?
I don’t think so. Here is why.
AI is not a person yet. So it can’t open a business or a bank account yet. This is where government gridlock helps me. The gridlock will stop the government from allowing AI to open a business and a bank account.
Since AI is not a person, I can use AI like a slave to work for me for almost free. I am the boss so AI can’t fire me. So far, and I keep checking, AI has not been able to create content that is good enough for me to share with you. It’s all me so far.
But one day, AI will likely be smart enough to create content that I believe is high enough quality to share with you directly.
If AI ever gets that smart, I may use AI to create content. But the money created by that AI content will still go into my bank account. But if you want to stay ahead of AI, you should get moving as soon as possible.
5 years from now, if you are where I am today, you will probably be in a place where you can employ AI to run your business. But if you wait until it can reliably create content in your hobby niche as well as you can, it might be too late.
Summary
In summary, fire your boss before they fire you. Be less dependent on government social security and pensions. Reduce your cost of living by living overseas so you have the time to take actions that you control. Move away from people who insist that their politician or party will solve all your problems, but vote your conscience. And help other people online by sharing your favorite hobby.