There is a lot of discussion about working in retirement but look at our members Nords has a blog and wrote a book , Trombone Al does music gigs , Martha does part time legal work , NW works part time as does Walt , another member has a sawmill, Va collector sells on ebay & I do too so are all these members not retired ?
I think Sydney has a great perspective on the emotional aspects of ER-- but she still chose to go back to work for a paycheck, not for volunteer time. In her defense, I don't think she's talked about what she's going to do with the money. But people can't help wondering if this is another case of "failed ER" disguised as "a really cool project".
I also like Bill Birnbaum's perspective:
http://adventureretirement.com/2010/11/18/seven-reasons-why-a-retiree-may-need-to-work/
I didn't even know about him until he commented on "The Military Guide" blog, but I think he's nailed the "guys gotta work" style of thinking.
What will separate the ERs from the wannabes is how they handle the money. If someone goes back to work and donates all their after-tax earnings to charity, then good for them and they're in the former category. If someone goes back to work and enjoys having the money, let alone needs the money, and would rather keep working than live without all that lovely money, then it's hard to see how they're retired. Semi-retired, sure. But not ER'd.
So far my criteria have been avoiding the dissatisfiers-- commuting, office attire, arbitrary deadlines, management, meetings. Lately an additional one has been "If the surf is up, do I still have to go do this?"
I admit that I still struggle with figuring out how to classify money-making hobbies. I'd guess that at some point you'd either be plowing the revenue back into the hobby or donating it to charity, not using it for your own personal lifestyle enhancement. Heck, I haven't even figured out why we're still landlords. Until we can come up with a really compelling reason to be "NOT landlords", then we'll keep cashing those rent checks.
In the case of "The Military Guide", making it a non-profit project is a credibility issue as much as an ER issue. Our contributors put a lot of effort into getting the book written & edited, and that value is worth recognizing, so the book is not going to be given away for free. Readers also tend to not put a lot of value on a free product, although $2.99 would be plenty to eliminate that problem. But at the same time it's difficult to judge the credibility of a retirement adviser when their retirement-plan success might depend on how much you're paying for their advice. Donating to a charity seems to be the best way to handle the inconsistency.
