3 years into ER - I feel that my health has improved by leaps and bounds

[tenant13]

I "soft retired" in mid 2019. In a sense that I finished my gig, went away for 3 months to Japan, another 2 to Europe and never picked up more work when I came back to US. Perpetual travel was to become my lifestyle. Then pandemic happened, market tanked and I got heart attack. No physical reason except maybe some genetic tendency for blood clotting (I didn't get covid until way later). I believe it was a stress - possibly some residual, still work related stress. Everything ended well, one stent, no damage, I'm fine.

Fast forward to today, market tanking, inflation roaring, some of my "alternative" investments literally disappearing into thin air, dealing with emergency family situations that add to the financial woes... one would think I'm ready for another heart attack. But somehow I'm mentally and physically completely unfazed. I spent the whole winter in Portugal and Spain, just came back from Mexico... going back to Europe in two months or so...

And I credit ER. I believe now that while we work, the stress level - even if imperceptible (say, we love our jobs) - is way higher than we realize. It's not just work, It's everything that is connected to a lifestyle that revolves around work. Lack of sleep, lack of rest, time wasted on meaningless human interactions and taken away from meaningful connections, trying to fit our lives into rigid schedules... all of that is really bad for our health.

So if anyone out there still wonders when is the best time retire: do it NOW.

 

[pacergal]

Yep. Our stress levels went way down after retirement.

Enjoy the simple things every day has to offer, the sound of rain on the roof, the warmth of the sun on your face, a nice cup of coffee, the smile of your grandchild.
Gratitude fills my soul, we are blessed every day!

 

[FREE866]

Great post and yeah, couldn't agree more. When I was working I always felt "rushed" and there was just this built in low level anxiety. its just not a healthy lifestyle, but you don't realize it till you're not living that way anymore.



Having the time to eat most of meals at home and now what has become an extensive regiment of walking, swimming, weight lifting yoga and stretching has added immensely to my overall well being and physical health. So damn grateful!

 

[Chuckanut]

Stress is like blood pressure - two numbers. There are the high stress emergencies that we all remember. Then the lower level stuff that becomes a normal feeling, but really isn't what we would like in our lives. It's the latter whose number went way down for me. That feeling of subtle ongoing stress went away and thus brightened my day.

Speaking of BP, I've had it tested twice in June 117/76 and 108/74. While I never had high BP, I was always a bit over the 120 on the top and about 78-80 at the bottom, the high end of normal.

 

[SecondCor521]

Agreed.

It took me about six or nine months after FIRE to feel like I had sort of generally recouped a basic level of sleep/energy/etc. There has also been a longer period lasting six years and ongoing of improving my health in all sorts of ways - figuring out all the causes and effects of various things.

More and more it seems to me that my health care providers, when I seek health care (like when I got COVID a few weeks ago - I'm better now) are surprised that I have no ongoing health issues and take no prescriptions. I'm only 53, but apparently most 53-year-olds are diabetic, have high BP, are depressed, on statins, or whatever. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying I'm another example of FIRE helping health.

On a related note, one of the things that I saw go away after FIRE was my spending on fast food. I eventually figured out that I ate fast food as an unhealthy way to respond to the stress of work - all the fat, sugar, caffeine, carbs and calories were soothing in some way. Now that the work stress is gone, so is the need for all that. I also have time to go to the gym and work out for however long I want (usually I only want an hour or so).

 

[Gumby]

Due to the work I did, I was sleep deprived almost every single day from the time I was 18 until I retired at 60.

 

[RetiredAt49]

This topic is overlooked too often IMHO! I had a huge house on a hill (and a huge mortgage), was a high wage earner, and was stressed out managing 52+ people from 7 AM to midnight at times (had people reporting to me across the global).

I sold the big house, retired, and now report only to my wife and our puppies.

I workout 6 times a week (cardio and strength), eat better, my grey hairs are going away, and I feel awesome

 

[martyp]

There is a “leap of faith” element to retirement. It is hard to explain and you can’t really experience it until you actually retire. Lower stress was one one those realizations. I actively worked at relieving stress while I was working but when I actually ER’d I felt a great relief of additional stress. My life just slowed down to a more national pace.

 

[skyking1]

Op and all of you, this is a great and timely thread. I had a bad day at work, dealing with an engineer who has no clue and one of those people who can circle back 9 different ways to say the same thing until I blew up. I think it was the 4th or 5th iteration that broke my cool.
Now I'm calming down and this thread is like a balm on my soul.
I know that what you say is true.

 

[Scuba]

Two of the things that made my stress melt away immediately after ER were no commute (vs 3 hours/day in LA traffic when working) and no toxic people/politics to deal with. No alarm was a bonus!

 

[street]

I believe my health had improved as well from lowering stress. Stress from workplace politics, the responsibility of overseeing all contractors and our crews, calling the shots for everyday operation and scheduled workload for outside operation each day. It was a 24/7 job any hour or all weekend I might have worked depending on outages etc. The stress from putting people in storm related conditions and bad weather conditions was stress enough for 5 people. Yes, looking back I finally see all the stress I had and now I feel my health has benefited in a huge way.