I sort of fell into what I do now after a 26 year career. I took off for 2 years with a wife and daughters ages 2,3 and 8 built a cedar log cabin in Izard County Arkansas off the land while living without electricity in a 27' Travel Trailer. We bathed in our mountain stream and spring, winter and summer. I worked from sun up, to sun down with only a chainsaw, hand tools, and a dream. I did it, then sold it for a healthy profit. My girls still talk about how much they loved Arkansas...they never felt deprived once, and even felt blessed to basically live off the land. I had some cash to live on, but not nearly enough to not work also.
I'd suggest the minimum 2 years busting your hump, scrimping, living a MUCH more modest lifestyle while saving all you can, BUT, also while building that nestegg of cash, build a nestegg of "stuff"....like a solid 4-wheeler, tools, backhoe, tractor, etc...you never know what you may need, and in the Arkansas mountains, a man with skills and equipment can make a decent living just "helping neighbors".
Mostly, the 2 years scrimping, saving, and preparing will acclimate you, your kids and wife to a much less shocking transition into homesteading.
One final piece of sage advice....you and your wife are accustomed to you being away, like deployed military....be sure you and her can both stand being around one another for more than a vacation's worth of time....lol Retirements have led to discovering all spouses had begun sharing together, were goals for the kids, and not for being alone once they grew.....or another way to view it, many look forward to a wedding, and never consider the marriage, after the show....
