“10 Years of Early Retirement”

Pretty good observations. You have to paste the address into your browser.
 
Yeah, I agree with most of that, particularly about the "you'll never be bored." I sometimes wonder what to do with my time, but I am never bored. He also makes a valid point about "work friends are friends at work." I've found that to be true.

My only point of disagreement is that he says by year three, he stopped thinking about work entirely. I'm in year tbree, and I haven't. I still think about work-related stuff -- e.g., hard times, things I wish had gone differently at the end, certain interactions or personalities. It's not disturbing. Just thoughts.
 
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I can relate/agree pretty strongly with maybe half... The other half, not as much. I'd need to think about my "top ten" but it's time for another quick nap. :)
 
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Car-Guy said:
I can relate/agree pretty strongly with maybe half... The other half, not as much. I'd need to think about my "top ten" but it's time for another quick nap. :)
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Yeah, napping is definitely in the top ten! :dance:
 
I especially related to 9 and 10:

There are no right choices and no special prizes.

Let it go.

And he gave himself a prize. Why not?
 
tenant13 said:
One of the FIRE bloggers that I follow wrote a thoughtful post that I think captures a lot of what I am going through. Really worth a look:

https://www.gocurrycracker.com/10-years/?
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Excellent blog. It sums up precisely how we feel after 12 years of early retirement.

So much better than some of the filler articles that appear in various media.
 
I can go with most of those, with the specific exception of #5 "It Is Impossible to Be Bored". I would counter that not only is it possible to be bored, it is almost essential for a healthy life. I tend to go through periods of being "into" a particular activity or interest. After a certain time doing that, I will experience a certain malaise/boredom. It's during those times that I'm reflecting and reevaluating, and deciding where to set course for next.

I had a conversation with my nephew recently. He's a very successful musician, with a busy schedule. I don't know how we got onto the topic of boredom (I think he broached the subject first, but I could be wrong). He thinks it is absolutely necessary. As a creative person, I'm guessing that he values these periods of rejuvenation. I used to proclaim to others that I was never bored though, in self-deprecating fashion, I'd claim that it was mainly because I am a low maintenance person with a very high boredom threshold. In retrospect, I don't think I was being very honest with myself.

I do see quite a few people in this forum who claim to never be bored. When I see such declarations, they have the same effect on me as couples who claim that they never argue. My reaction to both is a very similar, "Oh really? Are you absolutely sure of that? Just wait a little longer. It'll happen!"

It's OK to be bored from time to time. Contrasts are good.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/202004/5-benefits-boredom
 
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Several of my work friends became real friends that I still see during retirement, but I guess that's inevitable if you start at a place when you're 19 and work there for 34 years. It also helped that I was in a large building with 1200 people. You would have to be anti-social to not find anyone that ends up as a friend.
 
Music Lover said:
Several of my work friends became real friends that I still see during retirement, but I guess that's inevitable if you start at a place when you're 19 and work there for 34 years. It also helped that I was in a large building with 1200 people. You would have to be anti-social to not find anyone that ends up as a friend.
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I guess that makes me anti-social.

First mega-corp I knew "hundreds" of folks over the ~15 years I worked there. Some really good work friends, while I was there. Second mega-corp I knew more than a few hundred over the ~25 years I was there. Some really good work friends there too. But in both cases, once I left, they were out of sight and out of mind. I still exchange Christmas cards and emails with a few from mega corp #2 but that has dwindled to a handful after ten years of retirement. Not sure I'd call that friends.

However, I still have some "friends" from my school days that I still see and talk to regularly.
 
I never had work thoughts... still have the occasional dream I cannot remember my locker combination in a bizzaro not really my highschool dream once in a while though.


Almost all my friends work and I hear them venting and it makes me smile inside.... sometimes they tell me to "shut up" even though I don't say anything. Once in a while I will be cheeky but I don't want to come across as an gloating ass as any comment is in good fun.
 
I’m in year 5 and hope to get to a point where I no longer think about money. Funny thing is, this is the first year I’ve really thought about it, as we won’t start withdrawing until next year. A bear market and looming recession as I’m just entering that area is causing some angst, but things are still pretty comfortable.

The 2nd point in the blog seems a little contradictory - takes years to decompress, but didn’t even think about work by year 3? After 5 years, I still think about work, but nowhere near as much as I used to. And I’ll probably always have those “there’s a test today but I haven’t been to class in 6 months” kind of dreams, but they’re not as frequent as they used to be.

And I do get bored, as I am now while nursing a knee injury. I probably wouldn’t be browsing this site and reading the blog if I wasn’t bored. :) As a side note, don’t let anyone lead you to believe that pickleball is a low impact sport. Shoulder surgery, knee surgery and likely another knee surgery say otherwise. But I still love it and it’s probably my favorite new hobby that I discovered following retirement.

I still have real friendships that were established during my career, but they were formed at the company that I was at prior to joining the one I retired from. We’re all roughly the same age, whereas most of my “friends” from my last company are younger, although we still stay in touch.

Thanks for sharing the link. Fun read.
 
Major Tom said:
I can go with most of those, with the specific exception of #5 "It Is Impossible to Be Bored". I would counter that not only is it possible to be bored, it is almost essential for a healthy life. I tend to go through periods of being "into" a particular activity or interest. After a certain time doing that, I will experience a certain malaise/boredom. It's during those times that I'm reflecting and reevaluating, and deciding where to set course for next.

I had a conversation with my nephew recently. He's a very successful musician, with a busy schedule. I don't know how we got onto the topic of boredom (I think he broached the subject first, but I could be wrong). He thinks it is absolutely necessary. As a creative person, I'm guessing that he values these periods of rejuvenation. I used to proclaim to others that I was never bored though, in self-deprecating fashion, I'd claim that it was mainly because I am a low maintenance person with a very high boredom threshold. In retrospect, I don't think I was being very honest with myself.

I do see quite a few people in this forum who claim to never be bored. When I see such declarations, they have the same effect on me as couples who claim that they never argue. My reaction to both is a very similar, "Oh really? Are you absolutely sure of that? Just wait a little longer. It'll happen!"

It's OK to be bored from time to time. Contrasts are good.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/202004/5-benefits-boredom
Click to expand...

I would say the being "bored" is a bad thing...but only if you follow the dictionary definition:

Feeling weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity.
Click to expand...

I prefer the term "leisurely" which is defined as:

Acting or done at leisure; unhurried or relaxed.
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I am rarely bored. To the outside observer, I might look bored but I am not. I do very much enjoy my leisure time, though. And no, this isn't a tie in with the discussion about "Leisure Suit Larry" in another thread. :LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
Major Tom said:
I do see quite a few people in this forum who claim to never be bored. When I see such declarations, they have the same effect on me as couples who claim that they never argue. My reaction to both is a very similar, "Oh really? Are you absolutely sure of that? Just wait a little longer. It'll happen!"

It's OK to be bored from time to time. Contrasts are good.
Click to expand...

I hear you, but I think when people (such as me) say they are "never bored" in retirement, they are referring to a global sense of boredom, not boredom with specific activities. I will sometimes get bored of specific activities -- reading a book, watching TV, whatever. Everyone does. But I have never been bored of retirement in a global, general sense. There is always something else to shift my attention to, even if it's just staring out the window.

So I think it's quite possible to be "never bored" in retirement, as long as you're referring to a global/general boredom with the life, rather than boredom with particular activities.
 
I find it hard to find time to do everything I want to do and I guess I'm "retired" if you consider i haven't worked full time outside the home having kids.
 
I have noticed that on the rare occasion that I feel bored, it is most often that there are some things that need to be done and I don’t feel like doing any of them.
 
Major Tom said:
I can go with most of those, with the specific exception of #5 "It Is Impossible to Be Bored". I would counter that not only is it possible to be bored, it is almost essential for a healthy life. I tend to go through periods of being "into" a particular activity or interest. After a certain time doing that, I will experience a certain malaise/boredom. It's during those times that I'm reflecting and reevaluating, and deciding where to set course for next.

I had a conversation with my nephew recently. He's a very successful musician, with a busy schedule. I don't know how we got onto the topic of boredom (I think he broached the subject first, but I could be wrong). He thinks it is absolutely necessary. As a creative person, I'm guessing that he values these periods of rejuvenation. I used to proclaim to others that I was never bored though, in self-deprecating fashion, I'd claim that it was mainly because I am a low maintenance person with a very high boredom threshold. In retrospect, I don't think I was being very honest with myself.

I do see quite a few people in this forum who claim to never be bored. When I see such declarations, they have the same effect on me as couples who claim that they never argue. My reaction to both is a very similar, "Oh really? Are you absolutely sure of that? Just wait a little longer. It'll happen!"

It's OK to be bored from time to time. Contrasts are good.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/202004/5-benefits-boredom
Click to expand...

Pre-internet, I used to be bored on occasion, and it would serve, as you point out, as a springboard to exploring new things. But now? Never. I feel like there is limitless information/entertainment to absorb and easy access to any interest (and communities of those who share it). It's more a matter of sipping from the firehose.
 
I can't believe that I just marked nine years in early retirement. For me, the most surprising thing was the shift in mindset related to the financial aspect.

I continued to be frugal for years after retiring, spending well under my means. This was driven both by habit and by trying to avoid the sequence of returns risk during those crucial initial years.

My largest expenses in retirement have been all one time and unanticipated, convincing me that keeping to an annual budget is futile. I think it will all even out in the long term.

I now spend much more freely, without guilt. I've gotten old enough that the "if not now, when?" philosophy has taken hold.
 
Interesting! Can relate to most of them but not exactly the same way. In year 6 now I have forgot about money and the markets don't affect me emotionally or worry about what the markets do. I have gotten over wanting more and more and just live life. If I end up with nothing that will be fine.

I also like 9 and 10. There is no right way or wrong way. I can't believe how fast the times goes bye. I stay busier than I want to be, and I look forward to some afternoons just to be a bum and tinker.

I can honestly say I haven't been bored since I retired. The ranch has been a life saver for me. I can just escape, and time never gets old there.
 
Hey, reading this thread reminds me that I am also in my 10th year of retirement. It's a bit more than 10 years, as I stopped working in May 2012.

I read through the linked article, and quite a few items do not ring true with me. Everybody's different.

For example:

* Having to think about money sucks

I had to think about money even before I retired in 2012. I spent a couple of years, 2001-2003, working without pay trying to save the startup that I co-founded.

Then, my wife quit work, and I chose to work a part-time on-off consulting work (2003-2012) so I could do some travel (up to a month at a time). Then, the Great Recession happened. But I would not call having to think about money sucks. It's the price to pay, and I knew not having a steady income was part of the deal.

Now, I still think about money, but it's not about whether I will have enough but how to make more money because investing is an interesting and exciting activity.

* It takes years to decompress from a high intensity career

I guess having 9 years of part-time work made it easier for me than quitting work cold turkey.

* Retirement doesn’t guarantee happiness

No, it doesn't. It only removes one potential source of unhappiness.
 
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NW-Bound said:
Hey, reading this thread reminds me that I am also in my 10th year of retirement. It's a bit more than 10 years, as I stopped working in May 2012.

I read through the linked article, and quite a few items do not ring true with me. Everybody's different.

For example:

* Having to think about money sucks

I had to think about money even before I retired in 2012. I spent a couple of years, 2001-2003, working without pay trying to save the startup that I co-founded.

Then, my wife quit work, and I chose to work a part-time on-off consulting work (2003-2012) so I could do some travel (up to a month at a time). Then, the Great Recession happened. But I would not call having to think about money sucks. It's the price to pay, and I knew not having a steady income was part of the deal.

Now, I still think about money, but it's not about whether I will have enough but how to make more money because investing is an interesting and exciting activity.
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I have a love/hate relationship with money so I really related to this point. When I stopped working in 2019 I thought I had “enough” then Covid happened, market tanked, I panicked and well, I got a heart attack… I do blame the stress although I’m sure there was more to it. I’m not sure why now I just shrug all the ups and downs - I should have been able to do it in 2020, having been investing for 20+ prior years - but I think it all comes down to the amount saved, the budget/lifestyle and the ability to generate income.

3 years into retirement I’m realizing that I very likely do have “enough” without having to worry about lowering my standards of living. I think in another 3 I might have my finances on autopilot but I’m not there yet.
 
Major Tom said:
I had a conversation with my nephew recently. He's a very successful musician, with a busy schedule. I don't know how we got onto the topic of boredom (I think he broached the subject first, but I could be wrong). He thinks it is absolutely necessary. As a creative person, I'm guessing that he values these periods of rejuvenation.
Click to expand...


That makes sense to me. I was pretty creative as a kid that was bored a lot and a few times in my adult life when I got bored. During COVID "work" from home when I had nothing to do but couldn't do what I wanted either I was bored and started playing with acrylic paints and having fun. When I FIREd, I thought I'd do more playing with the paint but I've yet to be bored and yet to touch the paint... I almost feel guilty as I wanted to paint more but have not been bored and just don't feel very creative.


I only think boredom is a problem it if leads to addictive/unhealthy behaviors to fill the void. I kind of like being bored once in a while but rarely get to a state I'd call boredom.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Major Tom View Post

I had a conversation with my nephew recently. He's a very successful musician, with a busy schedule. I don't know how we got onto the topic of boredom (I think he broached the subject first, but I could be wrong). He thinks it is absolutely necessary. As a creative person, I'm guessing that he values these periods of rejuvenation.

I believe that is spot on and boredom is a normal thing at times in each person's life. It can be a good thing and a time to take care of yourself. Like I said I enjoy the days I can be a bum and I love it.

I believe boredom can be a motivator for us and make us more creative. The only one that can help us from boredom is us.
 
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