I’m not retired yet, bot planning to pull the plug in a few years when I’m 55-56. I’ve had to work at overcoming a little guilt about early retirement when some of my family haven’t been/won’t be so lucky. I had made peace with it; after all, I’ve worked hard, saved, invested wisely, kept purchases modest, etc. Plus I’m single with no children, so that helps.
Now for Part II: Several years ago, I left corporate America to run a small business. I’ve been successful, but then COVID hit. I’ve remained open, but business dropped off 60-70%. (Things are now slowly returning to normal.) While I ran at a loss last year, I’ve stayed afloat thanks to reduced expenses and business surpluses from 2018-2019.
Periodically, I get offers from my parents, sisters, brother-in-laws to “help out” financially. (I don’t know their finances; I believe they’re all comfortable, but not overly wealthy.) I appreciate the offers, but explain that, while it’s a rough patch, I’m comfortable enough with my portfolio that I’ll be fine. They seem to believe I live on the edge financially, when in reality I have $1M+ set aside for retirement. Now I’m feeling guilty again about early retirement because my family apparently thinks I’m close to bankruptcy. (Maybe it’s because I’m the youngest child?)
In the scheme of things, I know this isn’t really a problem, and it’s more on their side than my side, but I’m trying to think if there’s something different I should say or do - short of disclosing my savings - to stop them from worrying, and alleviate my re-emerged guilt around retiring early.
Now for Part II: Several years ago, I left corporate America to run a small business. I’ve been successful, but then COVID hit. I’ve remained open, but business dropped off 60-70%. (Things are now slowly returning to normal.) While I ran at a loss last year, I’ve stayed afloat thanks to reduced expenses and business surpluses from 2018-2019.
Periodically, I get offers from my parents, sisters, brother-in-laws to “help out” financially. (I don’t know their finances; I believe they’re all comfortable, but not overly wealthy.) I appreciate the offers, but explain that, while it’s a rough patch, I’m comfortable enough with my portfolio that I’ll be fine. They seem to believe I live on the edge financially, when in reality I have $1M+ set aside for retirement. Now I’m feeling guilty again about early retirement because my family apparently thinks I’m close to bankruptcy. (Maybe it’s because I’m the youngest child?)
In the scheme of things, I know this isn’t really a problem, and it’s more on their side than my side, but I’m trying to think if there’s something different I should say or do - short of disclosing my savings - to stop them from worrying, and alleviate my re-emerged guilt around retiring early.