Lucy Kellaway article

[traineeinvestor]

Like others, I struggle with all of the reasons to keep w*rking.

"structure" : if my day lacks structure, I'm sure my wife will provide some. That said, given the length of my bucket list, I don't think structure is going to be a problem. If I get into a rut, I'll enroll in some courses

"status": being able to say that I am FI, happily married and in good health is all the status I need

"money": if I'm FI, then by definition I have sufficient money to satisfy my needs/wants. The ability to stop wanting more is one of the keys to happiness (IMHO)

"something to think about": work gives me things to think about. So do a lot of other things, like my hobbies and other vices. The latter are far more interesting and stimulating than anything the office could provide. I could almost say that w*rk is an impediment to thinking about the things I want to think about

"gets us out of the house": even after I FIRE, I will still have two school age children, so plenty of incentive to get out of the house (not that I need any)

Since I will be quitting the rat race by choice, I fully expect that my stress levels will drop, I will get more and better sleep and will not be making excuses for not doing the things I want to do.

If you need the money, keep w*rking. If you love your j*b keep working. If you have no life and nothing to do outside the office, get a life coach and sort yourself out before you quit. If you have enough money, don't love the j*b and have a life, it's time to hang up the suit and go smell the daisies.

The article (and others like it) does beg one question: if you did FIRE and found yourself in a rut, how would you get out of it?