Am I retired?

[RenoJay]

In 2009 my net worth was cut in half and I had no income. In 2010 I found a commission-only j*b and w*rked pretty hard that year and earned over $250k. By 2011, I was only giving slight attention to my j*b and putting in maybe an hour a day of focus. It continues to produce pretty good income, and really, it's become more of a hobby. When I want to focus on sales I do. But most of my day is spent reading stuff, going to bookstores, hiking, hanging at Starbucks, etc. My net worth is at an all-time high and I can comfortably live off about a 2.8% withdrawl rate. I still do the "j*b", but as mentioned, it takes maybe an hour a day of focus and really doesn't interfere with what I'd otherwise be doing. (It's mostly emails with occasional phone calls.) I find I'm relaxed, I enjoy the little amount of w*rk I do, I have few restrictions on my life (except those imposed by having kids) and am happy. I used to think that retirement meant giving up all w*rk, but now I see lots of people have fun j*bs like mine and consider themselves retired.

So my question is...am I retired?

 

[Katsmeow]

I think that is largely a matter of your perception of your status. I would guess that most here would say that if you work an hour a day then you are semi-retired and not retired. I personally work a roughly similar amount at present. I semi-retired 3 1/2 years ago and worked about 8 hours a week at first, then went to about 15 hours last year and am now closer to an average of 5 hours a week. I could also quit any time I wanted to and retirement survival doesn't depend upon this work. In my case, I work from home. Still I'm sure that most here would say that 5 hours a week means I'm not retired. DH who is clearly fully retired (no work at all) sees me as being retired since he considers this very minimal and more just an activity than a part of our overall financial strategy.

Me? I don't care. If someone wants to say I'm semi-retired I'm OK with it. If someone wants to say I'm retired I'm OK with it. It usually doesn't really come up though so I don't actually have to take a position on it.

 

[traineeinvestor]

I'd say it is entirely up to you to say whether or not you are retired.

FWIW, I retired on 30 September and have a part time consultancy gig until the end of 2014 - part time means I get an office and a secretary and turn up to work if, as and when I feel like it and be available to answer the occasional question. I put in about three hours last week in the office - I spent more time looking after our current foster kittens. The money is irrelevant (I have budgeted for zero income from work).

Like Katsmeow, I don't really think it matters whether people think I am retired, semi-retired, underemployed or delusional - I'm happy and enjoying life and don't feel the need to care about labels that have no meaning to me.

 

[HFWR]

I'll consider myself retired when I no longer have to go to w*rk! YMMV...

 

[Brooks Saddle]

As far as I am concerned you are retired. Good for you!!!

 

[Midpack]

I think that is largely a matter of your perception of your status.

I'd say it is entirely up to you to say whether or not you are retired.

+1. Does it really matter what anyone else thinks or what label "applies?" Your perception is all that matters IMHO, there is no universal set of definitions, and there's really no need...

 

[sonomaguy]

my question back is: why does it matter? is it just semantics? is it a general label?