14 replies to this topic

[cycletimer]

https://firechecklis...my-aspirations/

[libertas]

I understand that when you retire you would want to take a break from the demands of your work. But that won't last very long. You will likely find that you still need goals, direction and structure for your life. Most of all you will need new friends who, like you, are free of the demands of work and so available to you. You will also need a community that replaces the work environment, probably related to a hobby or lifestyle.

 

I "retired" in 2000 at 52. I put it in quotes because I just stopped working, I, like you, had had enough. I didn't have any kind of retirement benefits other than my savings. Health insurance, even though we are both healthy, was our largest expense item. I actively trade our assets to support our lifestyle.

 

We lead busy and active lives. I am up by 4:30 every day and my wife gets up about 5:30. We own an airplane and live in an amazing aviation community where there is constant activity and things to do with friends every day. We also race our sailboat actively and cruise other places by chartering, usually with friends.

 

When I first retired, I was afraid I would not have enough to do to fill the time. Now I am afraid that I will run out of time before I can do all the things I want to do.

[cycletimer]

You and I are a bit different. Being empty nesters we already lack friends we go out with due to the fact all these folks have kids. Constant ball games and school activities, shoot me now! My best friend has been retired since he was 41 and we hang out together whenever I can, lunch and beers every two weeks or so.
As for work and needing to work and have goals; I’m fine with no job or “side hustle.” Boredom is underrated. Seriously, we plan to sell our home and move out of TX, with these horrid property taxes (I live in a $400k home and my recent property tax bill was $10,400.). TN or AR are in the plans. 10-15 acres, more dogs, a chicken coop and a goat and donkey (for agriculture tax deduction, offsetting property taxes), a pistol range in my backyard and bird hunting; these all will keep me busy and no need to work for others or with others. We both want to live a somewhat isolated existence, away from the crap everyone reads about in everyday news.

[Dex]

I think what is wrong with that list in the link is that there are too many 'not doing'.   Retirement should be about what you will do.  Until you have that will do list I wouldn't do it.

 

I retired 12 years ago at 51.  

[cycletimer]

I think what is wrong with that list in the link is that there are too many 'not doing'.   Retirement should be about what you will do.  Until you have that will do list I wouldn't do it.
 
I retired 12 years ago at 51.

I do a great deal of stuff now, like traveling, hunting, binge-watching shows like “Breaking Bad” & “ Billions.” I wasn’t kidding about boredom being underrated, it is. After early retirement my income will drop to less than 1/2 of what I’m currently earning and that’s okay. With the reduction in income, the leisure travel will decrease. Most folks plan to travel a great deal when they retire. I’m the opposite, I travel the most during my strongest earning years. I suppose I can’t think of a great deal of things I’d add to a “do-list” other than what I’ve already mentioned; moving to a rural area that’ll having lots of animals and time to hunt, fish in a stream, build a huge garden and enjoy living away from suburbs and traffic.

[cycletimer]

I think what is wrong with that list in the link is that there are too many 'not doing'.   Retirement should be about what you will do.  Until you have that will do list I wouldn't do it.
 
I retired 12 years ago at 51.

Dex, I revised my post and added a few dos. My retirement aspirations are now complete!

Edited by cycletimer, 15 April 2018 - 09:53 PM.

[Dex]

I recommend this book to everyone.  

 

https://www.amazon.c...e/dp/096941949X

[NAV]

I have a completely different view on retirement. Saving all your money, leisure time, desires, aspirations to that terminal end of life called retirement is the biggest bullsh^t that they have convinced Americans to accept as gospel. It should be the exact opposite in my view. You gotta spend well and enjoy life while you are young and stop scrimping and saving it all for retirement. As you age, you got to get more ascetic in your approach to life. The spending/joy ratio is highest when you are young. Remember that sex you had in your teens and 20s ? Can you replicate that at 60 ? I still vividly remember all those vacations i had been with my friends when we were in our 20s, every minute detail of it. The vacations of the subsequent years starts to get foggier. I used to work 14-18 hours a day in the hectic silicon valley in my 20s, but i don't recall a year where i have not taken vacations for at least a month or two. The elusive joy is not at the end of the tunnel, at the terminal stages of your life, when you need Viagra to get things going. You have to find that joy at every stage of your life, try to find it more when you are young.

 

I am not advocating that you spend it all and go into debt, kind of lifestyle. There has to be balance between your spending and saving. That balance needs to tilt towards more spending and less saving when you are young and less spending and more ascetic lifestyle as you age.  You gotta spend more when you get the most bang for your buck, which is when you are young. How can somebody not get it, which is so commonsensical ?

 

As for retiring, i retired from the sick corporate environment, when i was 34. As for retiring, as in doing nothing, i probably will never. I have a trading business that i love and will be active in it, as far as eye can see. As for leisure time or vacatiions, i take it when i feel like i need it. I have been and will continue to take 2 months of vacations every year. Too much of vacations can also cause burnout. I think, there has to be some purpose to life, something to look forward to when one wakes up in the morning - be it trading, surfing, sailing, reading, music or whatever you enjoy and keeps you occupied and fulfilled. It's in the now, not at 60, 70 or whenever you plan to retire. Leisure, enjoyment, happiness should be a constant process, a constant act of balancing and not something that you save for the terminal stages of your life.

Edited by NAV, 16 April 2018 - 02:40 AM.

[cycletimer]

Amen NAV! Amen! That was one of the earlier points Ibwas trying to make a my highest income years of my careeer is here and now. Soon my wife and I will be in Florence and Rome italy, paid for in full with travel perks. It’s a once in a lifetime trip and we are doing it now at ages 51 and healthy, not when we’re in our 60’s. I’m of the same mindset, save bit also enjoy life NOW while we’re young and. no more kids at home. The relocating we plan to do (to the country) will have to wait for a few more years. The expensive International trips, the wineries and breweries we visit, the Ritz Carlton’s; these are for NOW. The fishing on a nearby stream, the turkey, dove and duck hunting will wait until I have lots of time on my hands.

[NAV]

Amen NAV! Amen! That was one of the earlier points Ibwas trying to make a my highest income years of my careeer is here and now. Soon my wife and I will be in Florence and Rome italy, paid for in full with travel perks. It’s a once in a lifetime trip and we are doing it now at ages 51 and healthy, not when we’re in our 60’s. I’m of the same mindset, save bit also enjoy life NOW while we’re young and. no more kids at home. The relocating we plan to do (to the country) will have to wait for a few more years. The expensive International trips, the wineries and breweries we visit, the Ritz Carlton’s; these are for NOW. The fishing on a nearby stream, the turkey, dove and duck hunting will wait until I have lots of time on my hands.

 

Yep. Enjoy your vacation !

Edited by NAV, 16 April 2018 - 07:59 AM.