Or: why your friends and family don’t want you to retire early.
A few days ago I made the comment that early retirement is selfish, and this naturally provoked a harsh response around here! I’ve generally backed off of this position in the past because I’m not interested in a long internet debate. I do think, however, that some people might not be aware that while they are excited about their prospects for early retirement, their friends, family and neighbors will generally not be. Even if you disagree with me that ER is selfish, most people you know will not, and you should be prepared for that. Personally, I think it is healthier to acknowledge that ER is something that you are doing for yourself that may very well be somewhat detrimental to others, and make peace with that.
I want to get straight what I mean by retirement. Technically you can say things like “Bob retired from his job as a lawyer to teach starving children in Africa,” or “Bob retired early from his job as a mover after his eighth heart attack left him unable to lift heavy objects.” The ER we are generally discussing around here is someone who is perfectly able to work deciding to leave their job in order to pursue “leisure” activities. We talk about surfing, fishing, traveling, but very little about finding the most socially valuable ways to spend all this free time. (For example there is this thread on the joys of lazyness. http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/you-lazier-retirement-31377.html Note the dissenter is someone who retired at 62.) Even kids are generally discussed in negative light around here – as an obstacle to ER.
In an old thread Nords and Ted discussed the example of Ben Franklin that illustrates what I’m talking about. He’s an exemplary citizen who “retired early.” Or did he? While Ben didn’t live his life for the pursuit of money – he left his lucrative printing business at age 42 and didn’t patent many of his inventions, but rather “donated” them to the public good – he never “retired” in any conventional sit-around-and-play-golf sort of sense of the word, but was very active throughout his life in science, politics, and writing. Without his contributions to the founding of this country we would all be poorer off.
Even Dominguez, who wrote “Your Money or Your Life,” is a similar, but less dramatic example, of someone who “retired” without really retiring. It would be a lot more accurate to say he was an author and public speaker (though he didn’t take money) and not retired.
If you are leaving your job to pursue a higher calling then I think it is misleading to say you are “retiring” and you can avoid the common negative reaction by just saying that you are becoming a priest or teacher or parent or working for the ACLU or whatever moves you. The FI part of FIRE is much more important than the RE part.
A few days ago I made the comment that early retirement is selfish, and this naturally provoked a harsh response around here! I’ve generally backed off of this position in the past because I’m not interested in a long internet debate. I do think, however, that some people might not be aware that while they are excited about their prospects for early retirement, their friends, family and neighbors will generally not be. Even if you disagree with me that ER is selfish, most people you know will not, and you should be prepared for that. Personally, I think it is healthier to acknowledge that ER is something that you are doing for yourself that may very well be somewhat detrimental to others, and make peace with that.
I want to get straight what I mean by retirement. Technically you can say things like “Bob retired from his job as a lawyer to teach starving children in Africa,” or “Bob retired early from his job as a mover after his eighth heart attack left him unable to lift heavy objects.” The ER we are generally discussing around here is someone who is perfectly able to work deciding to leave their job in order to pursue “leisure” activities. We talk about surfing, fishing, traveling, but very little about finding the most socially valuable ways to spend all this free time. (For example there is this thread on the joys of lazyness. http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/you-lazier-retirement-31377.html Note the dissenter is someone who retired at 62.) Even kids are generally discussed in negative light around here – as an obstacle to ER.
In an old thread Nords and Ted discussed the example of Ben Franklin that illustrates what I’m talking about. He’s an exemplary citizen who “retired early.” Or did he? While Ben didn’t live his life for the pursuit of money – he left his lucrative printing business at age 42 and didn’t patent many of his inventions, but rather “donated” them to the public good – he never “retired” in any conventional sit-around-and-play-golf sort of sense of the word, but was very active throughout his life in science, politics, and writing. Without his contributions to the founding of this country we would all be poorer off.
Even Dominguez, who wrote “Your Money or Your Life,” is a similar, but less dramatic example, of someone who “retired” without really retiring. It would be a lot more accurate to say he was an author and public speaker (though he didn’t take money) and not retired.
If you are leaving your job to pursue a higher calling then I think it is misleading to say you are “retiring” and you can avoid the common negative reaction by just saying that you are becoming a priest or teacher or parent or working for the ACLU or whatever moves you. The FI part of FIRE is much more important than the RE part.
