How I Retired at 50 and Found Paradise Abroad
My name is Laura, and I’m 50 years old. I used to live in Granada, Spain—surrounded by tapas, sunshine, and the Sierra Nevada. For many years, I believed I’d live and die here, working until my sixties, like everyone else. But something changed at 44. I looked at my life, my health, and my dreams and asked myself: “What if I didn’t wait? What if I could retire now?” The Wake-Up Moment It wasn’t one big thing. It was many small things. The rising rent. The growing noise in the city. The stress of maintaining a full-time job. One summer evening, sipping wine on my balcony, I asked myself a simple question: “What do I really need to be happy?” I grabbed a notebook and started writing. The list was short: sunshine, safety, healthcare, good food, internet, community, and enough money to feel free. Did I need to stay in Spain to have that? No. That was the moment everything changed. The Numbers Game Over the next few months, I got serious. I evaluated my savings, prop...
