But What Now?

While I was counting down to the end of this year as being my retirement date, I wasn’t taking it completely seriously because I can only retire then if the agency I work for approves early outs (named the early out authority). Because I am in IT and the agency is going through so many changes in this area, the chances for an early out are probably slim to none. Add an election year on top of that and I think it’s just not going to happen. It would be nice if it did!

However, a couple of weekends ago I went back to Connecticut to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday. My siblings, nieces and nephews, friends, uncle and aunts, etc. all showed up and surprised her with a birthday party. It was fantastic. And, because her birthday fell on Monday, April 14th, we had it on Saturday, April 12th, which is my birthday. Aside from it being one of the best birthdays I can remember, I turned 55.

Turning 55 means that now I truly have less than a year before I can “retire” from my current job. I put retire in quotes because, while I’ll get a little monthly income and health benefits, it won’t come close to being enough to support me. Not unless I move to Thailand or Malaysia (which my partner and I have thought about, but that’s another story).

Since there are no plans to leave the country soon, I am feeling the pressure to learn everything I can in order to be self employed once my 56th birthday rolls around and I can leave my current job. Yey!

Affiliate marketing is something I have been interested in for a very long time, but I have not followed through with training I have purchased in the past. Most of the reason for this is that I’ve gotten stuck on the whole issue of picking a topic or a niche to move forward on. I’ve always felt that the things I’m really into are so popular that there’s no way I could ever compete.

I’ve decided to change my tune (literally) on that dilemma. Since I love the guitar and have played for most of my life, why not guitars? I’m going to go for it and I’ll see where it takes me. I also love photography and travel and have fun with those but will not focus on earning money with them in affiliate marketing (yet, anyway).

There are alot of courses out there, but the teacher I recommend the most is James Martell. He is currently teaching a 26 week bootcamp where he takes you step by step through the process of creating a successful affiliate marketing career. I’m taking the course now and I’m really enjoying it. The pace is right, I’m getting the support I need and I really love James’ teaching style. He’s been an affiliate marketer for the past 8 years and he’s been teaching since 2002.

I’ll post more about my progress as I go! Please comment with any suggestions for me or experiences with affiliate marketing you’d like to share.