Live Simple and Be Fulfilled
Things To Do After Retiring Early
I’m commonly asked what I’ll do after retiring extremely early. I’ll be 35 years old, won’t I get bored? The short answer is – “Are you kidding me?!?” But that would make a boring and poorly informed blog post, so I’ll give you the long answer.
The truth is, whether you retire at 35 or 65, you will have to cross that line of letting go of your identity with your job. The sooner you realize that, the better. And if boredom is meant to strike in retirement, it seems more likely that it would occur to a frail old 70 year old than a young, adventurous 35 year old. But let’s talk specifics, what am I planning to do?
- First, I’m going to rest. After 3.5 years of busting my ass in college and 11 more years of working hard in the engineering world, I’m exhausted. I’ve worked more hours than anyone I know, and I’ve completely entrenched myself in my work. It’s paid huge dividends, but it’s also worn me down. I expect my rest period to last between 3-6 months, and I’m dedicated to doing nothing during that time. I’m just going to exercise and read and relax. I probably won’t even spend much time at home because my kids are young (and chaotic) – I’ll just clear my mind. This will be a short unwinding period.
- I will get more involved with my kid’s education. I’ve considered homeschooling, but at this point I have no direct plans. I think I’ll send them to school, but supplement the schooling with a more interesting schooling at home. I believe in teaching what the kid wants to learn rather than what’s on a standard curriculum. There are schools that do this flexible education, but they are generally expensive and not in my area. I’m not comfortable in outsourcing my kid’s education. This might be my biggest incentive to retire early.
- I’m going to get back into fighting shape. I was a competitive wrestler in high school, and recently a competitive runner. I ran ultramarathons and even won a few local ultras. I don’t think I’ll return to that sport due to the time commitment, but I plan to set some goals on 5K and 10K races. I also want to get into cross-fit. I think that’s a well-rounded approach to fitness. I just want to make cross-fit cheaper (maybe I’ll blog about it here
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- I want to become an expert investor. Since I’ll be a professional capitalist/investor, I’ll take it seriously and perfect it. I’ve begun reading textbooks on it, and believe I can achieve the equivalent of an MBA by reading these books. In fact, it will be better than an MBA because I won’t just be memorizing for a test. My incentive is much higher, I’m not looking for an “A”, I’m looking to increase my wealth and feed my family.
- I plan to volunteer in the pediatric unit of the local hospital. 2 months ago, my 1-year old daughter was in the pediatric ICU on a breathing tube and I was unsure if she would live (actually, I thought she wouldn’t). She was eventually stabilized and is now 100% healthy thanks to the hospital saving her life. I’ve paid a lot of money for their services, but I still feel I owe them more – they saved my daughter’s life! This will be a very fulfilling experience.
- I will write more on this blog. It’s a creative outlet for an introvert, and it’s also a forcing function for me to consider my philosophy. Unlike many Personal Finance blogs, I don’t do this for any monetary gain. I simply want the outlet for thinking.
- I currently run 2 ecommerce businesses. My time investment is extremely low, ranging from 0 to 4 hours per month. Yet, I make pretty good money, several hundred dollars of gain each month. I’d like to increase this amount to 100% of my monthly expenses as an income diversification once I retire. There are parts of the business I do not enjoy (SEO) and there are parts I greatly enjoy (market research, web design, and programming). I’ll focus on the areas I enjoy. Since I won’t “need” the money, I can afford to do that.
- I may start a website dedicated to evolving modern education or getting involved in current education. Much of our younger generation is behind the curve with regard to the rest of the world, and teaching salary cuts doesn’t exactly make for a brighter future. Information on guiding the next generation towards a social work masters degree or even a bachelors in Bio-Chemistry should be the focus versus, heaven forbid, working at the nearest Macdonald’s. The truth is our current system is archaic and broken, and I’d love to be a part of fixing it. This could be my gift to the world.
- Did I mention I’m going to relax and do nothing for awhile?
Many of us could could retire early, we just don’t realize it. I want to make other people realize it’s possible for everyone and it’s worth it. If I could change one person’s perspective and convince them to leave the rat race and retire extremely early, my job would be done. So that’s the final thing I have on my plate, early retirement evangelizing.
How about you, what are your plans?
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Oh definitely room for amateurs. In fact, like boxing, MMA kinda relies on amateur/grass roots members to help subsidize some of the guys that fight for real. I would say most gyms are 80-90% amateur. With a background in wrestling you will fit right in.
In terms of cost, it varies. Some will try to gouge you. I would say something between 60-120 per month depending on what you want should be appropriate. You might decide you like the grappling component best, or maybe want a new challenge in kickboxing and just focus on those aspects of MMA. If you only want instruction in one area it will obviously be cheaper. If you take a glance around the MMA Underground forum and just search out “MMA gyms in ____” you should get some pretty good reviews on trainers, equipment etc.
Most decent gyms will have a full range of workout equipment for you to use as well. Including a lot of the exact same stuff crossfit has been working with like weighted vests, kettlebells, etc.
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Oh definitely room for amateurs. In fact, like boxing, MMA kinda relies on amateur/grass roots members to help subsidize some of the guys that fight for real. I would say most gyms are 80-90% amateur. With a background in wrestling you will fit right in.
In terms of cost, it varies. Some will try to gouge you. I would say something between 60-120 per month depending on what you want should be appropriate. You might decide you like the grappling component best, or maybe want a new challenge in kickboxing and just focus on those aspects of MMA. If you only want instruction in one area it will obviously be cheaper. If you take a glance around the MMA Underground forum and just search out “MMA gyms in ____” you should get some pretty good reviews on trainers, equipment etc.
Most decent gyms will have a full range of workout equipment for you to use as well. Including a lot of the exact same stuff crossfit has been working with like weighted vests, kettlebells, etc.
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Oh definitely room for amateurs. In fact, like boxing, MMA kinda relies on amateur/grass roots members to help subsidize some of the guys that fight for real. I would say most gyms are 80-90% amateur. With a background in wrestling you will fit right in.
In terms of cost, it varies. Some will try to gouge you. I would say something between 60-120 per month depending on what you want should be appropriate. You might decide you like the grappling component best, or maybe want a new challenge in kickboxing and just focus on those aspects of MMA. If you only want instruction in one area it will obviously be cheaper. If you take a glance around the MMA Underground forum and just search out “MMA gyms in ____” you should get some pretty good reviews on trainers, equipment etc.
Most decent gyms will have a full range of workout equipment for you to use as well. Including a lot of the exact same stuff crossfit has been working with like weighted vests, kettlebells, etc.
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I took off two months just a bit ago, as I switched jobs (and cities). I would have taken more but I needed to start by 5/31 to qualify for my bonus – which is 20% of salary. Trust me, I’d love to take more time off.
My online business sells fashion name brand jewelry. I’d like to expand it, but it’s hard to find jewelry like that which doesn’t also require a brick and mortar store. It’s convenient because our $50K in inventory fits in a suitcase.
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I think you can learn more of what really interests you through books and the occasional free lecture on youtube than you can getting an MBA, especially if your plan is that you’d already be retired. No need for an MBA if its not getting you a job. At the same time, my MBA program had maybe two tests- one was statistics and one was accounting (needed to make sure we knew what column to put the numbers in). Otherwise, my professors taught specifically toward issues we brought them from our day jobs (my program was designed for working adults) an instead of tests, we had final projects that needed to be relevant to our working lives.
But definitely enjoy your time to relax and unwind. But spend time with the kids- chaotic ages are the ages when they are most curious about the world around them. Think of the fun you could have (and the learning opportunities).
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I sort of am living my own retirement dreams right now even though I am working more hours than before, lol. I am self-employed, so I spend 60 hours or so a week on blogging and my freelance gigs. I also volunteer for Meals on Wheels, hang with friends, travel for Curling tournaments, and hopefully will be having a blast at a ton of blogger conferences. :-) My ideal retirement simply cuts that blogging time in half and increases the volunteer hours.
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Thanks Crystal. This is why the majority of my retirement income needs to come from dividends and other truly passive sources (not like a blog). I’m not opposed to those sources, but they are more like jobs than retirement.
It seems like what you have is less a retirement but more a personal business that matches your lifestyle. That’s great, better to work for yourself than someone else.
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Sounds like a very busy “retirement”! As for getting involved in your child’s education, that’s awesome! I wish more parents would (as a teacher, it makes a ton of difference.) I agree that our education system is in need of some triage, but it’s more than just that. As teachers, we must educate incredibly diverse populations, including English Learners, at proficiency rates of 100%. A one size fits all approach doesn’t work. Education today is challenging to say the least.
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#19 written by Anthony 9 months ago
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I have two stores. The first is an e-commerce store where we own inventory. It has been successful, and if I had more time there’s no doubt I could make a LOT more. It’s an online fashion jewelry business.
The second store I bought on Flippa and is dropship. It has not been a great experience, both from a flippa perspective as well as learning the dropship world. For anyone that has capital, I would recommend a regular e-commerce store over dropship.
Let me know if you have more questions, I’d be glad to answer them.
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#22 written by Anthony 9 months ago
Thank you. I keep hearing negative things about drop shipping. I’ll stay away.
I’ve just started reading about investing / retirement. I’m enjoying your blog and another you’ve linked to (in your last post). It’s like I’m getting live examples. Extremely useful and more “real world”.
It’s looks like the economy / stock market is going to “tank” again. Although I’m looking to invest “long” (for my retirement / dividends / etc), I can’t help feeling a sale coming on! I can’t see this economy getting better until the Gov / Fed let’s it “fall” and rebuild naturally. Of course, they’re interested in keeping the “game / lie” going.
Also, I was wondering if you could add a category for easy access to your “results” posts?
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Drop shipping can be OK if the supplier(s) keep their inventory updated, and you can automate the process of keeping your inventory matched to theirs. I wrote scripts for the automation, but my supplier regularly gets their inventory out of sync. Which means I sell things I can’t deliver and have to refund the order. If I did another dropship site, it would be something where there are only a few products.
I like the idea of creating a category for my early retirement results. I will do that now. Thanks for the suggestion.
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#25 written by admin 9 months ago
Right now I’m reading Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management. It’s a pricey textbook, but so far very worth it. I’m also reading Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read it once in college, but I’m enjoying it more this time.
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I just realized I didn’t answer you’re first question…
Right now I’m reading Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management. It’s a pricey textbook, but so far very worth it. I’m also reading Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read it once in college, but I’m enjoying it more this time.
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#31 written by Guest 9 months ago
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I’m a big track and field fan, especially the Olympics. It’s always been interesting to me that the 100 meter sprinters and the 26.2 mile marathoners are equally exhausted after the race. 1 race was 2 hours, the other was 9.6 seconds.
My point: Duration is not the only variable. It’s the total effort put in. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’ve put my effort in.
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I plan to become financially independent by 40 years old. I’m on track so far.
I plan on engaging in some of the low-cost or completely free things I already enjoy. I like staying in shape, reading about finance and travel, I plan on spending a lot of time with friends and family, working on my blog, spending time at the beach and the pool and relaxing. Sleeping in with no alarm clock to wake me will be nice.
I am sorta-kinda thinking of moving overseas to somewhere cheap. This is a Plan B…but the kind of portfolio I will have by age 40 would last twice as long in SE Asia. The downside would be seeing my friends and family less.
Good luck on your journey!
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Geo-arbitrage can be good, but I think it comes with some pretty big trade-offs, you alluded to a few of them. For me, it’s multiplied because I have kids, and I want them to be near family.
At the same time, I’ll admit that I still consider it because it could be a great learning opportunity for them to learn about more things than just what the American culture tends to teach (most of which I disagree with)
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Since you’re interested in changing education, I thought you might find some interest in this
http://www.slate.com/id/2299863/ -
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#38 written by Phil 7 months ago
Doing the same apart from im mid 40′s and been nose to the grindstone for 60 hours a week for nearly 30 years now. Like you it’s paid dividends and my monetary needs are now way less than they were 10 years ago. Im going to have some me time for three months, work with the kids in their last years in education, exercise, visit places and do all the things ive wanted to do but simply not had the time. In 2012 I will source some form of part time work to halt the savings erosion. I cannot wait but at the same time i’m nervous as hell as to how I will adapt!
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#39 written by grant 6 months ago
Hi there
Just read your blog, firstly good on you for realising there is life beyond work and putting a plan together to work to early retirement.
However I think you being a bit simplistic in your list of “things to Do After Retiring Early” and a little naïve in planning to take first 3 – 6 months out on retiring. Speaking from experience this won’t happen – trust me!Firstly don’t underestimate the loss of identity that goes with your job, the last thing you need is to be away from family and support at this time. But more importantly you have family – I was horrified to read that for this 3 – 6 months “I probably won’t even spend much time at home because my kids are young (and chaotic)” Spending time with kids, especially when they are young is so important! And isn’t this a prime reason to work to early retirement? !!
Sorry its just selfish to think that you deserve to this time alone just because you spent x years working hard! Who is going to take care of the kids while are swanning around – your wife/ partner and what do they think of this? Have you asked them?Retiring when you have a family is not just about you. You might want to rethink this point.
Cheers
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Hi Grant –
Thanks for your brutally honest feedback. In fact, I agree with most of it.I wrote this post several months ago at a time that I was still very burned out from my 11 year stint at my prior job, not to mention an overall lifestyle that made me very unhappy. I was exhausted with work, but also with life. I had just recently escaped the golden handcuffs of consumerism combined with a soul-crushing job. They were successful, my soul was crushed.
Now, more than 4 months later, I have a new zest for life. It was an overall lifestyle shift that has allowed me to change. I no longer feel the need to “do nothing for 3-6 months.” In fact, I’m more anxious than ever to retire because of all the things I can’t wait to do.
As for your other point of losing identity when leaving your job – I have no fear of this. First, I don’t identify with my job anymore, not even a little bit. I know what it’s like to identify with my job because I did that for many years, and that’s how I know with certainty that this identity no longer exists. On the other hand, even if I did still identify with the job, that’s all the more reason to get away from it. I want to identify myself as a husband, father, philanthropist, and a few other things, but not as an electrical engineer.
Again, thanks for the feedback. I realize now that I need to re-write this post with my new perspective.
Brave New Life recently posted..The Waiting Place
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#41 written by grant 6 months ago
Hi there
I had a bit more of a read of your blog and forgive me but I have to ask a stupid question – are you really ready to “retire”?
By retire I mean you could continue to work but have the choice not to and without reducing the quality of you or your family’s life.Your budgets seem to indicate dependence on some on-going income stream that involves you working rather than a purely passive income. Ie are you swapping your job for another? – albeit less hours and different from what you have been doing for the past 11 years. I note your outgoings are also pretty close to your income streams – so what happens when life throws you curve ball ( this is the third certainty in life after Tax and Death) and you suddenly need to draw on your capital? Will you have enough reserves or insurance to weather this? Lastly can you answer the what if questions eg what if I die, what if someone in my family needs expensive medical treatment, who is going to pay for your kids university education etc etc?
Before you think I am an insurance salesman, let me reassure you I am not, in fact quite the reverse I believe the majority of people are over insured for their risk profile – but that is another issue.Years ago I recall a conversation with someone wiser than I who was convinced the secret to a happy working life was to change your occupation 3 times in your working career to prevent burnout and maintain your sanity. Now by change I don’t mean you become a rocket scientist if you were a plumber. The change would be within the broader scope of your chosen occupation ie if you were a plumber you might change to managing a team of plumbers rather than being on the tools or you might design plumbing fittings and patent a unique solution (hopefully making a fortune along the way!)
I thinks this is what you are really doing. Now no shame in this or taking a break from what you have been doing to find a new interest or engage with your family (call this a trial retirement if you want) But pls don’t let burnout of your job justify a life of austerity and compromise for you or your family because you want to “retire” to get out. Retire for the right reasons and keep your options open, no life has a linear path.
Cheers
Grant-
Your budgets seem to indicate dependence on some on-going income stream that involves you working rather than a purely passive income.
My budget right now is $2500/month. I have about $1M of investible assets. Using the widely accepted 3% safe withdrawal rate, this means I can spend $30K/yr. $2500 x 12 months = $30K. So by this definition, I am financially ready to retire.
I can see why you would look at my income and say that it’s not totally passive, but it’s not as straightforward as that.
First of all, I have not maximized my portfolio for income – I’ve set it up for reduced volatility and combination of dividend income and capital gains. 50% of my money is in cash and gold, so just moving that into dividend paying stocks and bonds would double my passive income. I may change it up a bit in the future, but for now I am enjoying the stability of the Permanent Portfolio.
Secondly, the items that are not 100% passive (online store, app writing, etc) I have done for fun. They are 95% passive now, but even when I was working on them I was having fun learning something new. I suspect I’ll continue to do that in “retirement” but only if and when I am inspired to do so. For example, I have several apps I would love to work on right now, but I’ve been using my non-working hours with my kids instead. If I took out the 5-8 hours I spend at my job, I suspect I would be more motivated to occasionally work on the apps rather than spending 16 hours a day interacting with my wife and kids. I love them, of course, but we all need time away as well.
Thirdly, I expect my expenses to drop in retirement. There are several expenses directly and indirectly caused by my job.
If there is anything to question about me being ready to retire, I would say it’s whether I’m mentally ready. I think I am – I love the days or weeks where I’m working very little and spend no time in the office. I love the freedom to not have a schedule and be able to have no particular “deliverables” for the day. I’ve found that most people unknowingly need/want to be told what to do and when to do it (more info here). I’m not one of those people. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with either type of person.
Regarding the conversation with your friend, I think his philosophy may be very true for him but I don’t think one set of rules can apply across the board. There are many people who can do the same job for 50 years and happily retire. There are others who grow bored in 5 years and need to do something new. I view it as a spectrum. As for switching roles within the industry – this is what I’ve done. I’ve been the grunt in the lab, I’ve been the lead engineer for major projects, and I’ve dabbled in management within the same industry. But at the end of the day, I would prefer to enter each day with no schedule. That doesn’t free me from all responsibilities, just the responsibility of sitting in a cube, meeting a project schedule, and doing what a superior tells me I should do. I will still be responsible for financially providing for my family, teaching and nurturing my kids, loving my wife, and many other things.
But pls don’t let burnout of your job justify a life of austerity and compromise for you or your family because you want to “retire” to get out. Retire for the right reasons and keep your options open, no life has a linear path.
Austerity is not necessarily a bad thing. Cutting down on consumerism is good for my kids, and good for the environment. Simplifying my life and the life of my family has been the best thing I’ve ever done for this family. We are living a happy and abundant life – far happier than we were a year ago in our McMansion filled with stuff.
And with all that said, I see this as a zero risk plan. If, after a year or two I decide I made a mistake, I can go back. I work in a small industry and have a very good reputation in a field where good engineers are hard to come by. I could choose to work at a number of companies if I wanted to, but I don’t see that happening. Since I won’t need the money, I would prefer to spend my structured time volunteering at the Children’s Hospital near my house, among other things…
Thanks for all your comments. I hope you’ll stick around and keep calling me out where you think I’m off-base. While you’ve failed to convince me that I should not retire in 19 months, you’ve made me think deeply about my plans.
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#43 written by Michael 1 month ago
I’ll make a small comment about retirement. I worked very hard 12 hour to 16 hour days for 32 yes to retire at 48 but because my kids were screwing up in college Biology I had to dish out more money to keep them in to completion with a degree in the sciences. So I had to retire at 52. Now I have been retired for two years not working at a paid job. The funny thing I noticed about retirement and what other co-workers told me about it is I’m more busy now then I was working but it has more meaning. I have been able to get closer to extended family, bond more with my kids which are
27, 24, 21 like I would not have been able to do staying working. I’ve been studying on my own at CU University Library programming interacting with people? I let go of the fear of Oh my God what am I going to do if I’m not working? I tell you what I’am doing is a strange feeling of being in the system but not part of it. Like walking by people as they busy along struggling like I did. Telling themselves this give me purpose and I like it. I couldn’t live like that I want to walk on sandy beaches not for two week vacations but whenever I want.-
Michael,
I really appreciate you description: “I tell you what I’am doing is a strange feeling of being in the system but not part of it. Like walking by people as they busy along struggling like I did. Telling themselves this give me purpose and I like it.”
Although I’m not yet retired, I feel like I’ve reached the same point. As I bike to work I see all these people zipping by in their cars, simultaneously driving, talking on cell phones, and eating a fast food breakfast while rushing to be somewhere. And I feel like I’m just an observer and not a member of this totally F’d up system.
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This sounds awesome man! At my pay grade I won’t be able to make it there quite as quickly as you, but I hope to have much the same life plan at 45. One exercise tip, if you’re looking at doing crossfit and your wrestled in high school I highly recommend going to an MMA gym. It gets bad press, but I’ve had nothing but good experiences, a great competitive atmosphere, and a hell of a workout.
As a teacher I am interested in your ideas about “modern education.”
I think that by focusing your reading you will actually quickly outpace what an MBA would know in the specific fields you are interested in. For example do you really need to know corporate finance? Not really. Instead you can become an absolute expert in California real estate investing, or sector trends within the stock market. I am interested to follow your journey so I can take some notes for my own!