Early Retirement (under age 50) (beach, move, community, state)
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At age 45, retired. Spent a year traveling centuries and countries through books. My passion for food has me researching various ingredients, the brilliance and subtleties of different foods... cooking, baking, creating a fondant, pairing wines w/food and this is from someone who embraced the Kraft Mac and Cheese 25 years ago as a suitable meal.
Sadly, I am self-insured but fortunate enough to be able to maintain a proper diet and time enough to treadmill.
Still, I do miss my clients and the interaction... all of the good and the bad. You can't go back and moving forward makes me feel brave even though I have very little impact on the human race. I also do a lot of dog rescues/re-homing, etc.
After reading this thread, I think I'll embark on the next step: growing and grafting plants.
It is difficult to give up the interaction, though. Sure, volunteer work at the museum is fine but it isn't as challenging as making an enormous impact on another person's life through financial planning. I would like to work - on my terms - part-time but cannot find a market for that.
So, off on my merry way to make the most of everyday for ME now.
StealthRabbit talked about pursuing a passion, volunteering, having hobbies or other meaningful activities. This is critically important for success in retirement and also for continued good health. Of course, financial planning is necessary, but the "what am I going to do" part gets forgotten by some folks, who imagine that the freedom to do almost nothing will be so wonderful following a stressful job and long work hours. They are right - for about two to four months! Then the hard part starts, if they haven't thought about it or if they didn't already have other pursuits.
They are right - for about two to four months! Then the hard part starts, if they haven't thought about it or if they didn't already have other pursuits.
Does poker count as a pusuit?
BTW, played in my first tournament today. (I'm a cash game player and don't usually play tounaments, but this was a free roll.) 120 entrants and $10,000 in prize money. I played for 5 1/2 hours and busted out in 13th place. No money, but loads of fun. (Only the top 10 received prize money.)
While its true that I've only been retired for 6 weeks, and haven't even made it into your initial 2-4 month window, I can't imagine becoming bored in retirement and wishing I was still working.
Biggest issue for me as an early retiree (in my 40s) is the social contact that is missing. Hard to find other people in my age group to social with during the workweek. Most retirees are much older than I.
StealthRabbit talked about pursuing a passion, volunteering, having hobbies or other meaningful activities. This is critically important for success in retirement and also for continued good health. Of course, financial planning is necessary, but the "what am I going to do" part gets forgotten by some folks, who imagine that the freedom to do almost nothing will be so wonderful following a stressful job and long work hours. They are right - for about two to four months! Then the hard part starts, if they haven't thought about it or if they didn't already have other pursuits.
Hard part? After six months to a year it became habit for us and also for others I knew. The retired life became the norm and the need to be on the go a distant recollection. Notice I said recollection not memory. Are you retired yet yourself? Just wondering. I find the notion of needing to be busy one more often advanced by those not yet retired.
I see your point. I have been semi-retired for almost five years, and the occasional work is the perfect amount for me. I agree that it is not at all necessary to keep "busy" per se (in the old sense). I was talking about being at loose ends. Those who remain active socially and thus have meaningful connections to other people may well find this completely adequate. Keeping in mind that we are all different and that our circumstances are different, I still maintain that there is a "hard part" for some people, mainly for those who had no pursuits or special interests outside of their work, and for those who may be divorced and live alone. Folks in this group may have to work hard to create activities that are meaningful for them in order to keep from being bored. I have absolutely no quarrel for those who are satisfied, such as you, because finding enjoyment and satisfaction is what it's all about.
I retired early (retired 2 years ago, am now 46 years old) because I disliked my job so much. Fortunately, I had enough money to retire and still live a moderate lifestyle. Eventually, I would like to do something I like and perhaps get some income on the side. Money won't be my main pursuit anymore.
My retirement life is quite peaceful: gym, read/internet, travel and normal quiet life. Yes, I enjoy my life now.
As the previous posters mentioned, social interactions seem to be a lot less than when I was working.
I'm a little older than the demographic you were looking for but I do have something to add.
My original plan was to just enjoy and do. But life has a way of challenging you and it's smart to expect the unexpected. I spent the first year or so remodeling the house we bought for our retirement. It was great fun.
Then I went through the challenge of losing a home(in another place) and my 35+ year marriage. This was a huge financial hit and ruined my credit for the foreseeable future. Retirement was still feasible but I was left counting every penny and constantly worried. Having no credit means I have to be prepared for everything up to and including buying a new car or anything else with cash. My credit scores were all over 800 before so you can imagine that's a big change for me.
So I went back to work. Just a fun job, nothing intense. I was tired of worrying all the time.
Here's an interesting note. If I try to analyze what led to the failure of my marriage, one of the big things was always living in the future and failing to enjoy the present. We were always existing, just barely living, so we could retire early and abandon the rat race.
I see your point. I have been semi-retired for almost five years, and the occasional work is the perfect amount for me. I agree that it is not at all necessary to keep "busy" per se (in the old sense). I was talking about being at loose ends. Those who remain active socially and thus have meaningful connections to other people may well find this completely adequate. Keeping in mind that we are all different and that our circumstances are different, I still maintain that there is a "hard part" for some people, mainly for those who had no pursuits or special interests outside of their work, and for those who may be divorced and live alone. Folks in this group may have to work hard to create activities that are meaningful for them in order to keep from being bored. I have absolutely no quarrel for those who are satisfied, such as you, because finding enjoyment and satisfaction is what it's all about.
Busy is a subjective term. A lot of people talk about being busy in retirement. I don't think they mean you go full-tilt, cramming in as much activity as possible and that leisure should become a bad word. Quite the contrary. You are as busy as you feel like being and you do things at the pace that suits you. Nothing wrong with spending a few days or weeks or months even passing the time with simple pursuits (reading, walks, watching movies, taking naps, etc.) but nothing wrong with working harder than you ever did at work at something that you are pasionate about either. Like everywhere else, a lot of people seem to want to judge your lifestyle by their standards and tell you you are doing it wrong. Do it that way that makes you happy and you'll be OK.
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