Retirement Personality type

[laurence]

So I take the personality test linked on the retire early home page (http://retireearlyhomepage.com/), and it says I'm an ENFP, and according to that, I'm one of the least likely personality types to retire early. So my first reaction is "what a bunch of hooey!" But I wonder if the reason for this is how people envision retirement (waiting to die) in popular culture. If people had an expanded view of what retirement could be, perhaps more "personality types" would make it a goal. Anybody here take that test? Care to share their personality type?

[azanon]

I think you're just an outlier. *I just read up on a ENFP, and i would tend to think that speaking generally, ER wouldnt be at the top of this person's list.

I'm an INTJ.

(edit) I'm a biologist, not an engineer ;-)

[unclemick]

INTJ

We did this a while back - a lot of INTJ engineer types responded(I'm guilty).

Hopefully we have a broader more diverse forum now.

[BigMoneyJim]

INTP

I'm skeptical of a lot of behavioral science and folklore (like Zodiac signs), but the MBTI classifications have been interesting to me and have helped me frame a few perspectives about myself relating to others.

Even so, it's just an arbitrary category, not a destiny or plan of action. If you're ENFP and want to retire, go for it. (You'll probably have to feel good about it first though )

[indymom]

INFP, but don't know where that places on the retire early chart.

[Hyperborea]

INTP who has "trained" himself to be an ENTP.

[LovesLife]

I am an ISTJ type and I lOVE retirement.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

INTJ We did this a while back - a lot of INTJ engineer types responded(I'm guilty). Hopefully we have a broader more diverse forum now.

Yeah, somebody (intercast?) did a study quite a while back and there was this huge preponderance of INTJ's in the ER community. Very few "E"s. Which pretty much makes sense.

[Marshac]

INTJ

I'm a classic INTJ engineer. A strong 'type A".
Funny thing is that after ER I took the test again. Now I'm ISTP!

[laurence]

Maybe I can train myself closer to a ER personality type I think what motivates me is there is too much I want to do that is interfered with by having a 9 to 5 job. I'm not planning on being a stereotypical retiree. But I wonder if ENFP and related types are just too emotional or "gut feeling" oriented to sit down and do future value analysis of their portfolio. I read somewhere that half of people over 40 haven't even tried to figure out how much money they would need in retirement. Scary!

[retire@40]

I'm a full-blooded left-handed INTJ. *

I have to do things my own way. *I am self-employed and as much as I don't like working when I would rather be doing something else, I would feel 100x worse about working for a "boss" even though I know I would be one of the best employees.

I knew that working for a company wasn't for me when at one short-lived company job I had we kept having long dragged out meetings about the same problem over and over again. *I got so blood-boiling frustrated over a simple problem that was consuming all these man-hours that I bypassed everything discussed in the meetings, worked until midnight, fixed the problem on my own, and everyone was happy in the morning. *I don't know if this is how most companies operate, but I knew it wasn't for me. *So I started my own business and now I solve my own problems in minutes, not days or weeks.

[hocus]

If people had an expanded view of what retirement could be, perhaps more "personality types" would make it a goal.

I think that's right. There's no question but that there is a higher percentage of INTJs at the boards than there is in the general population. I see two reasons: (1) INTJs are drawn to planning and it takes planning to retire early, so there really are more INTJ early retirees; and (2) The first board was started by an INTJ and was given an INTJ slant, and that has tended over time to attract even more INTJs while not attracting so many non-INTJs.

I'm an INFJ.

[hocus]

I wonder if ENFP and related types are just too emotional or "gut feeling" oriented to sit down and do future value analysis of their portfolio.

I think this is indeed a big issue. I think that non-INTJs can be persuaded of the merit of the Retire Early idea, but I don't think that you can be successful in persuading non-INTJS saying the same things as you would say to INTJs. Different personality types respond to different types of arguments.

[sgeeeee]

People might want to take a closer look at intercst's study before they put too much weight in the conclusion that INTJs are far more likely to be early retirees. The sample is small and very biased. The test most people take to determine their personality type is only in agreement with the full psychological test about 60% of the time. etc. etc. . . I started reading the documentation for the study and the test a few years ago and came to the conclusion that this would never pass the test for a legitimate scientific study.

But it does make some reasonable sense. It seems like the INTJ personality is more likely to be ill-suited and uncomfortable with a corporate climate that values conformity highly. And a disgruntled employee is more likely to be looking for a way out than someone who thrives in the workplace environment. But there are other reasons for people to pursue the early retirement solution.

I'm probably the only ESTJ Here.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

ESTJ?? Lets get him!!!

[Marshac]

Quote:

ESTJ?? *Lets get him!!!

Nah, he's still got the "Thinking Judging" going for him....the E ans S just mean that he has more friends

This remindes me of a scene from the movie Freaks where everyone is chanting "one of us, one of us" for some reason...

[laurence]

So what does ENFP mean? That I'm too busy picking flowers and partying? I think my Dad influenced my outlook a lot by being someone who chafed under conformity and beuracracy (he retired at 55, not bad). But I agree my results may not be too accurate. I have Excel workbooks with projected budgets, surpluses, retirement savings, monthly cash flow, etc. etc. and I've got projected retirement savings totals worked out for 5 scenarios, from worst case to best historical returns through about 2045. So I do like some planning. Maybe I just don't fit in a mold, or need to take the long form test :-/

[ganda]

INTJ.
Engineer.
My wife's an INTJ too (although not an engineer, she's an analyst).