Financial independence and early retirement are within reach of anyone earning just above minimum wage and who is willing to work for 15 years and follow this 10-step early retirement plan. Buy land, build a home, buy a new car, retire early and comfortably. Read below to learn how.

Created upon request, this article is being written at the insistence of readers of this column's previous "Retire Early" articles who have requested an easy step-by-step guideline toward becoming financially independent and retiring early.

This easy-to-follow 10-step process is a complete guide that enables the low income wage earner (between $8 and $10.75 per hour, full time) to become financially independent and retire in only 15 years**. Two wage earners can work together to execute the below 15-year early retirement plan, each making $10.75 per hour, or one person making $21.50 per hour. If the wages are less than $21.50 per hour (2 people combined or one single worker), early retirement and financial independence are achieved at a slightly slower pace** (table below).

The table at the end of this article shows how much to invest monthly to build a retirement fund (about $400,000) which provides an annual retirement income of over $31,000 for varying amounts of hourly wages ($8 through $10.75). With total monthly living expenses under $500 (detailed below), the $31,000 retirement provides a very comfortable lifestyle with sufficient cash for travel, entertainment, giving, and sharing. It is far easier to live in a new home on $31,000 in an area of low taxes and low cost of living than it is to live on $80,000 near a metropolis where the cost of living is high. This is explained below in detail.

The 5 Prerequisites:

Prior to starting the below steps toward financial independence and early retirement, some prerequisites must be met. Do not attempt to execute the below 10-step early retirement plan if any one of the prerequisites is not met.

1. To retire in 15 years, annual earnings of $44,720 are required. Lower earnings will require more time (see table** below). This can be accomplished if two people work together, each making $10.75 per hour ($21.50 per hour combined) for an average of 40 hours per week. If 2 workers make $8 per hour ($16 combined, or $33,280 annually), they can retire in 21 years. Review the table at the end of this article for varying amounts of hourly earnings.

2. One wage earner must have financial credit sound enough to qualify for a $50,000 loan (detailed below).

3. The wage earner(s) executing this 15-year early retirement plan must be free of unhealthy and expensive habits and must be in good health in order to keep both medical and food expenses to a minimum. This means that the wage earner(s) follow a healthy, inexpensive diet found at WellBeyond100.com and the wage earner(s) are not obese, which can be determined by answering 2 confidential questions at ThinAndHealthyForever.com

4. The wage earner(s) must be able to adhere to a strict budget (below) and have the ability to live frugally for 15 years while building the capital investment that will make early retirement and financial independence possible.

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The 10-Step Guide to Early Retirement and Financial Independence on a Low Income

For pretty much anyone in the Western world, the Internet is not only ubiquitous, its practicallyinescapable.Between phones, tablets, PCs, game consoles, televisions and set-top boxes, the Internet exists in every corner of our lives. Almost. In the wake of this years CES, were hearing louder than ever that the future is The Internet of Things,everyday devices equipped with sensors and connectivity to work together, understand what were doing, and operate automatically to make our lives easier. And, of course, well be able to control and configure it all, likely with our tablets and smartphones, or by speaking. After all, Siri and Google Now have taken voice recognition mainstream.

But beyond a well-meaning concept that promises to deliver us all to an even higher state of connectivity, what does the Internet of Things mean? When will it finally arrive? How will it change our daily lives? What happens when it goes wrong?

The phrase Internet of Things is widely credited to Kevin Ashton; hes indicated he coined the term in 1999 while at Proctor & Gamble, but it didnt take off until 2009 with an article in RFID Journal. At a very basic level, Internet of Things means devices that can sense aspects of the real world like temperature, lighting, the presence or absence of people or objects, etc. and report that real-world data, or act on it. Instead of most data on the Internet being produced and consumed by people (text, audio, video), more and more information would be produced and consumed by machines, communicating between themselves to(hopefully) improve the quality of our lives.

A bathroom cabinet that lets you know when its running low on toilet paper could be worth its weight in gold.

Smart devices use Internet technologies like Wi-Fi to communicate with each other, your laptop, and sometimes directly with the cloud. Some also talk to a central hub that serves as control point for many different devices, like theRevolv. Ideally, owners can use that central access point from their smartphones and tablets, either at home or when theyre out and about.

Thats all pretty abstract, so lets bring it down to Earth. The classic example is a smart refrigerator that can read RFID tags on grocery items as theyre put inside, then look up those tags via the Internet to identify milk, eggs, butter, and those four frozen pizzas you just bought. The fridge tracks usage, then cue trumpets! alerts owners when theyre running out of groceries, or need more food since people are coming over to watch the game this weekend. (The fridge can tap into your calendar, of course). The refrigerator could even place a grocery order automatically (perhaps delivered via Amazon Fresh). Similarly, that smart fridge could warn about products nearing (or past) their expiration dates.

In theory, extending these ideas to things like pantries, closets, medicine cabinets is simple. Seniors and others could benefit from smart medicine cabinets that track meds, order refills, and even alert physicians if somethings amiss. And just think: A bathroom cabinet that lets you know when its running low on toilet paper could be worth its weight in gold. Smart closets could help you manage your clothes with reminders you really ought to do laundry (youve got two pairs of clean socks left!), take things to the dry cleaners, or even say goodbye to some items you never wear.

Cant remember whether you need to buy toothpaste? Ask your house. Or maybe your house can save you the effort by recognizing that youre at a drugstore and automatically sending a list of things you need. Stuck out of town on a business trip? Tell your house to stay on vacation mode, turning lights on and off to make the place look lived-in, but not running up heating and cooling bills.

Device-to-device communication creates other possibilities. Simple motion sensors can detect people moving around the house, turning lights on and off, opening or closing blinds or drapes, or even adjusting temperature. This functionality is already so refined, many sensors are reasonably pet immune, so dogs and cats dont trigger automated functions. Got an important phone call and left the TV on? The house could turn the TV off (to save power) but leave the DVR running. Sensors in a bed (or an alarm clock) could notify other devices youre awake; in turn, they could open drapes, start the coffeemaker, and discretely turn on the TV in the breakfast nook for news, weather, and traffic. When the clothes dryer finishes, maybe an alert appears on your TV so you can grab items before they wrinkle. If its dark outside, a sensor in your front door lock could turn on inside lights before you step inside after all, cars have been doing stuff like that for decades.

If these smart home ideas seem familiar, its because many are on the market theyre just not commonplace. One well-known example is the Nest thermostat (now owned by Google). It adjusts heating and cooling based on usage patterns and even billing rates, and can be controlled from a mobile app. Nest has just branched out into smart smoke detectors, and has competition from the likes of Netatmo and many other smart-home solutions.

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You can’t avoid the ‘Internet of things’ hype, so you might as well understand it

Dear EarthTalk: Will I really be able to save money and energy in the long run by shelling out hundreds of dollars now for a so-called "smart" thermostat?

Bill Cone

Aptos, Calif.

Spending $200 or more to replace that older, still functioning thermostat with a new whiz-bang "smart" variety might seem like a waste of money, but it can be one of the best small investments a homeowner can make, given the potential for energy and cost savings down the line.

The coolest of the bunch of new smart thermostats, the Nest, was created by former Apple employees who had been instrumental in designing the original iPod and iPhone years earlier. This simple-looking round thermostat is reminiscent of old-school thermostats that one would manually adjust by turning the temperature dial. But the auto-awake feature that turns on the bright blue digital display when someone walks nearby gives the Nest away as an ultra-modern piece of high tech gadgetry.

The Nest's software "learns" the habits in a given space by logging when inhabitants tend to be home and awake and noting when they tend to turn up or down the heat -- and then sets a heating/cooling schedule accordingly. Owners can also program the Nest, which connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, to heat up or cool down the house at a set schedule or go into "away" mode from any web browser or smart phone.

Several other manufacturers (including Honeywell, ecobee, Hunter, Radio Thermostat, Trane and Lux) have Wi-Fi-enabled smart thermostats available now as well.

While only some of them have the auto-sensing and "learning" capabilities of the Nest, those without that feature also cost less. And merely programming in a weekly schedule to any smart thermostat will be the main source of cost and energy savings. People who were diligent about turning their old thermostats up and down throughout the day might not see any substantial savings with a smart thermostat, but most of us aren't so diligent -- especially when it comes to turning the heat down at night when we are sleeping.

Many smart thermostat owners report savings of between $10 and $30 per month on their heating/cooling bills -- and research has shown that such an upgrade can save upwards of 10 percent of the total energy consumed by a given household. Smart thermostats range in price from $50 to $250, so upgrading could pay for itself within a year or two at most, with long-term savings racking up month-by-month after that.

Many utilities now offer free or discounted smart thermostats to customers. Getting in on such a program is a great way to reduce energy costs without the up-front expense of installing a smart thermostat independently. According to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, incentives to install smart thermostats are available through utilities in 45 states.

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EarthTalk / 'Smart' thermostat a smart way to cut energy bills

If you need cooling and heating installation in the Montgomery County or Frederick County areas, look no further than GAC Cooling & Heating. Weve provided the Gaithersburg, MD area with heating and cooling services since 1970, so you know youre getting proper, high quality cooling and heating installation with GAC.

At GAC, our technicians work closely with you to help determine the ideal heating and cooling system for your home before professional installation. The installation process is extremely important to make sure your system operates efficiently and properly, which is why we spend so much time training and focusing on quality. Others might offer the same type of equipment, but our process and customized approach make the difference in performance and comfort.

GAC guides you through the process to ensure your new heating installation improves your homes comfort and efficiency.

At GAC, our heating installation services include:

When youre in need of new heating installation, you wont find a more experienced and qualified team than the one here at GAC.

There are many benefits to installing a new air conditioning system, including:

Armed with the best products and certified energy consultants, we can help you identify the most appropriate cooling system for your home. Once we find the right cooling system, our NATE Certified technicians will ensure your AC installation goes smoothly so you can begin saving energy from the day its installed. At GAC, our primary goal is to provide excellent service and high quality products that manage rising energy costs while maintaining comfort for your family.

GAC Cooling & Heating provides heating and cooling installation services in the Montgomery County and Frederick County areas. If youre interested in new furnace, heat pump, or air conditioning system and live in the Gaithersburg, MD area, contact us today for a free replacement estimate on your HVAC system.

At GAC Cooling & Heating, our HVAC installation services include:

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Cooling and Heating Installation | AC, Furnace, Heat Pump ...

OREGON Government agencies often spend every cent they get. Sometimes they dont.

In the past 2 years, Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn has left unspent more than $1 million from his annual budgets.

According to the county treasurers numbers, Harn didnt spend $766,000 in his budget last fiscal year and $572,000 the previous year. His budget includes law enforcement, corrections, and building and grounds for all county property.

In the 2013 budget, Harns unspent money included $350,000 for repairs and maintenance of buildings, including redoing the heating and cooling system for a county building, Treasurer John Coffman said.The sheriff handles the countys buildings and grounds.

Projects were planned, Coffman said, and for whatever reason didnt happen.

While the countys budgeting process wont begin for about 6 months, Ogle County Chairman Kim Gouker said, there might be a review to determine whether the Sheriffs Department or others are being overbudgeted.

Theres no point in budgeting funds, if theyre not necessary, he said.

Harn did not respond to requests for comment.

Gouker said Harn had saved money for the county by working to get favorable contracts for natural gas and electricity for county buildings.

The sheriff is also saving money by having patrol cars fill up at the gas pumps the county owns, he said, and has increased revenue the county receives from federal inmates who are housed by the U.S. Marshals Service at the Ogle County Jail.

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Ogle County sheriff leaves money unspent

OREGON Government agencies often spend every cent they get. Sometimes they dont.

In the past 2 years, Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn has left unspent more than $1 million from his annual budgets.

According to the county treasurers numbers, Harn didnt spend $766,000 in his budget last fiscal year and $572,000 the previous year. His budget includes law enforcement, corrections, and building and grounds for all county property.

In the 2013 budget, Harns unspent money included $350,000 for repairs and maintenance of buildings, including redoing the heating and cooling system for a county building, Treasurer John Coffman said.The sheriff handles the countys buildings and grounds.

Projects were planned, Coffman said, and for whatever reason didnt happen.

While the countys budgeting process wont begin for about 6 months, Ogle County Chairman Kim Gouker said, there might be a review to determine whether the Sheriffs Department or others are being overbudgeted.

Theres no point in budgeting funds, if theyre not necessary, he said.

Harn did not respond to requests for comment.

Gouker said Harn had saved money for the county by working to get favorable contracts for natural gas and electricity for county buildings.

The sheriff is also saving money by having patrol cars fill up at the gas pumps the county owns, he said, and has increased revenue the county receives from federal inmates who are housed by the U.S. Marshals Service at the Ogle County Jail.

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Sheriff leaves money unspent

A taxpayer-funded project to provide a home security system for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas included improvements to his converted garage that involved a week of work and upgrades to the building's electrical service, according to interviews and records.

County-paid crews installed the security system in Ridley-Thomas' detached garage, which earlier had been turned into an office, apparently without permits. Workers replaced the garage's interior walls and dug a 60-foot-long trench across the property to bury conduit and make more electrical power available to the structure, the manager of the project said.

In all, about $10,000 worth of work was done at the supervisor's Leimert Park residence as part of the security measures, L.A. County records show.

Supervisors, who make an annual salary of $181,292, are entitled to home security systems provided by the county, but not to unrelated improvements to their property at government expense. Experts on alarm systems said they doubted that all of the work performed last September at Ridley-Thomas' residence was required by the security installation.

John Thompson, who oversaw the work at Ridley-Thomas' property, said that in addition to an alarm system, workers installed a wall-mounted air conditioner and heating unit as well as a refrigerator and flat-screen TV. Thompson, a manager with the county's Internal Services Department, said he suggested the supervisor get the air conditioner because the converted garage was hot inside. He said Ridley-Thomas paid for the cooling-heating unit and the refrigerator, and that he believed the television came from the supervisor's office in the county Hall of Administration.

It is unclear whether Ridley-Thomas reimbursed the county for any other costs.

Thompson said he previously worked on the supervisor's county offices and that Ridley-Thomas asked him to oversee the garage project. "He is the nicest guy," Thompson said. "I will do anything for that guy."

Ridley-Thomas has not responded to questions from The Times for several days.

On Sunday, he declined to talk to two reporters who visited his home, telling them through an intercom, "Please step off my porch."

The Times has asked the county for all records documenting the expenses for the work at supervisors' residences over the last five years. The county has so far released only a handful of heavily redacted documents in connection with Ridley-Thomas' residence, showing the total cost was $10,038. No details of the work were disclosed.

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Work at Ridley-Thomas' residence went beyond security system

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Clayton Browne

Clayton Browne has been writing professionally since 1994. He has written and edited everything from science fiction to semiconductor patents to dissertations in linguistics, having worked for Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Steck-Vaughn and The Psychological Corp. Browne has a Master of Science in linguistic anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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Geothermal heating and cooling systems are based on the temperature differential between an underground source and a building to be heated or cooled. Most people think of geothermal heating systems as tapping into an underground hot spring or something similar; but those type of geological formations are rare, and there are relatively few places where classic geothermal systems can be economically installed. However, geothermal heat pumps that involve laying a series of piping loops underground, removing the heat stored in the water of the pipes, and using it to heat a building have become technically feasible and can offer significant savings on utility bills.

Geothermal heat pumps do not create heat by burning fuel or from any kind of combustion. During winter, geothermal heat pumps collect the natural underground heat through a series of pipes installed in loops below the surface of the ground or at the bottom of a pond. Fluid circulates around through the loops underground and picks up heat and carries it to the building. There, a compressor (usually electric) and a heat exchanger remove and concentrate the heat and release it inside the home.

One of the great advantages of geothermal heat pump systems is the fact that they can heat during the winter and cool during the summer. In the summertime, 150 to 450 feet underground is much cooler than the surface temperature in most cases, so the fluid that circulates through these deep underground pipes will return to the building with a cold load that can be used to cool the building

Drilling costs for a geothermal pump system can run from $10,000 to $30,000, depending on the size of the system and the type of ground that has to be drilled. These drilling costs have to be added to the cost of the heat pump system when calculating the total cost of a geothermal heat pump installation.

Geothermal heat pump systems cost around $2500 to $3000 per ton of capacity. Given that an average to somewhat larger home will require three tons of heating/cooling capacity, the cost comes to about $7500 to $9000 for the actual geothermal heat pump equipment.

Assuming average costs, the total cost of a three-ton geothermal heat pump system would be $8250 for the heat pump and $15,000 for the drilling, for a total of $23,250. A traditional electrical heating and cooling system costs around $4000 a ton, so an equivalent three-ton traditional heating/cooling system would cost around $12,000. However, keep in mind that the utility bills of homeowners with geothermal heat pump systems tend to average 20 to 30 percent less than homeowners with traditional heat/cooling systems. Assuming a savings of $80 a month on your utilities, the extra $12,000 you paid up front for the geothermal pump system will be recouped in 13 years (and geothermal pump systems last 20 to 25 years, on average).

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How Much Does Geothermal Heating Cost to Install? | eHow

Q: What steps do you recommend taking to lower home-energy costs?

A: The Puget Sound areas mild, maritime climate makes it an ideal spot for drastically lowering your power consumption at home.

According to a recent study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the average energy bill for a typical single-family American home is approximately $2,200 per year.

But by following these tips and making smart choices, many local homeowners can come very close to eliminating their home-energy bills.

The first step is to lower your homes requirements for heating, cooling and lighting. This means carefully sealing and insulating the shell of your home.

A typical house leaks 475 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) enough to fill a hot-air balloon in less than three hours. Todays most-efficient homes leak only 68 CFM.

Properly placed high-performance windows let in the warming rays of the sun in the winter, are shaded in the summer and can provide natural ventilation.

Another energy-saving choice is to install water-saving appliances and ultralow showerheads. Hot water equals energy down the drain, so this is important for reducing energy usage.

Once you have lowered your energy usage as much as is practical for your family and your lifestyle, the next step is install efficient equipment and systems.

While it may not be feasible to replace everything at once, you can make small changes that help.

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Cut energy use and stay warm and save money | HomeWork

EDWARDSVILLE The state's capital construction program will pay $1.7 million to renovate the chiller plant at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Gov. Pat Quinn announced Thursday.

The plant provides air conditioning to buildings on the Edwardsville campus. The project will increase capacity, install a new pump, upgrade equipment and make other improvements.

Kane Mechanical of East Alton will do the heating and air conditioning portion, and Wissehr Electric of Belleville will do the electrical work.

Quinn said the project will improve the learning environment and employ construction workers, while SIU President Glenn Poshard said it will make "a real difference" on the campus.

"While a new air conditioning system may not be the most thrilling construction project in the university's history, this is a commitment to maintain the existing standard of a quality environment to attract and keep the great student body and faculty at SIUE," said state Sen. Bill Haine (D-Alton).

The "Illinois Jobs Now" capital construction program includes $31 billion in infrastructure projects statewide over six years.

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State to fund new cooling system for SIUE