Part I: Want to retire by 45? Some tips Gulati's solution was to search for an alternative life. "I wanted my time back for reading, having vacations and spending any leisure with my family and friends," says Gulati. But there was a problem. "I knew what I didn't want, but not what I did," says Gulati.

The turning point came when she read the Brian Weiss bestseller Many Lives, Many Masters. She decided to train in Weiss' Regression Therapy, followed by training and courses in psychology, psychotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming in the next two years even as she continued with her job. The new skills were for Gulati's future life. Financial preparations were also afoot.

She invested in a home in India where she was planning to live. Another real estate investment was to ensure rental income that would cover her living costs even if no new income came in. She also set up a target of funds in the next two years so that they would act as a second buffer.

Investments in growth options such as mutual funds would keep her corpus growing and health cover would meet medical expenses. By end-2005, Gulati was ready and she quit despite tempting offers from her employers.

Back in India, her new skills had few takers initially. Most business came from individual psychotherapy sessions that weren't so remunerative. Thanks to the financial buffer she had prepared, Gulati was spared of sleepless nights. Her big break came in 2007, when Coke asked her to do corporate training for their Indian employees. Today, her transition is complete.

What to do after retirement?

"You need to know what you will do with the time on your hands," says Ajeet Singh Karan, 42, a former top executive who moved out of regular corporate life in 2007 to start his own financial advisory firm, where he clocks moderate work hours.

An alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, Singh Karan had successful stints with an FMCG and a cola major before building up one of the most successful Indian brands while with a small company and then being a partner in a private equity firm, his last corporate job.

"Ten years ago, I didn't see myself working for an MNC till 60. I believe one never retires. I came out of the rat race to become the master of my time and destiny," says Singh Karan, who lives with his wife Poonam, 41, and dog, Rocky, in Noida. Singh Karan now gets time to do the things he wants: jog, swim in the morning, read, spend time with his folks and his dog, and travel round the world.

Experts say that it is the softer aspects of early retirement like this that are more important than financial planning. "Most people don't have answers to basic questions dealing with emotional and psychological aspects," says Gaurav Mashruwala, a Mumbai-based financial planner. For instance, if you are in a high profile job or are well known, how will you cope with the anonymity? Or, if your professional and social networks have the same people, how will you handle the new rootlessness?

Meeting basic as well as higher needs will continue to be important even after an early retirement. Attune your mind to the new reality. "I trained myself to reduce my dependence on how others perceived me. I live for my own dreams, and not to 'belong' to some artificial and shifting construct of how an 'alpha', or 'beta' male should dress, shop, holiday, drink, drive and use the phone.

This is critical for achieving financial and emotional security early," says Mohit Satyanand, columnist and consulting editor, Outlook Money, and a private investment advisor who retired at the age of 40, eleven years ago.

Tough questions

An early retirement will also call for hard choices and sacrifices. "I find many people who want to retire early, unwilling to compromise," says Mashruwala. For retiring early, you of course need to generate adequate resources for the future. This means tempering your spending without living like a hermit. When it comes to funding your retirement, cutting off years from your work life will mean two important things.

First, you will have to save more. Look at the difference lopping off 10 years of work life makes for you. Let's assume you are 35, have an annual income of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million), annual expenses of Rs 700,000, and are planning to retire at 60 expecting to live till 85.

You will need to save Rs 20,849 a month for your money to last your lifetime, assuming your expenses increase at 7 per cent every year and your investments earn 15 per cent till retirement and 10 per cent thereafter. Now, if you decide to retire at 50, instead of 60, your monthly investment requirement shoots up to Rs 63,894.

Second, you will have to invest well, typically a large amount in growth investments such as direct equity, equity funds, real estate and gold. Thanks to his formal training and stint in a private equity company, Singh Karan had invested in stocks, mutual funds, portfolio management services and real estate.

Don't miss! Part III: You really want to retire?