NYT article on ER

[Focus]

A NYT article on the psychological aspects of early retirement:

Is Early Retirement Great? For Some, It’s Hard Work to Have Fun

The pendulum seems to have swung from ER stories to those about people who keep working past the traditional retirement date. In the process, a certain stigma seems to have arisen around ER, not that many of us give a damn what others think about it. It's ironic, though, because it used to be considered something enviable.

Retiring happily is one thing, of course, and announcing it loudly and proudly is quite another. “It took four or five years before I could say I was retired,” Ms. Buxton said. “I would just say, ‘I’m not working right now.’”

Mr. Helmuth also sees a certain stigma in the word. “People hear ‘retirement’ and think you play a lot of golf and have a lot of dumb hobbies,” he said.

 

[euro]

I'm quite ok if people don't envy my ER situation. I'm also quite OK if they choose to work until 78. To each, their own - as for ME, I'm not ashamed at all to have FIREd at 56.

AND: I'm LIKING it!

 

[ERsoonihope]

And frankly - one of the best parts of gaining a few years is you no longer give a sh** if someone you don't even know thinks you or your hobbies are dumb.

 

[FUEGO]

I don't worry about it any more. Sometimes I say I'm retired and sometimes I say I'm "not working at the moment" or "run a website" or "I'm a writer" or "I freelance" or "I'm a stay at home parent" or "I consult". Whatever sounds fun at the moment.

 

[jebmke]

"What do you do?"

"I'm retired."

"You look to young to retire."

"That's the whole point."

Crickets

 

[Chuckanut]

It's interesting how things change with time.

Does anybody remember how all the modern mechanization of work was supposed to give us the 32 hour work week, with a three day weekend every week, and all for the same pay?

 

[gerntz]

Good for the long workers. Keeping my SS solvent. Thank you.

 

[unclemick]

Since I was 'unemployed er layed off from 50 -55' and it took a mental shift to ER, followed by a 'give the world the middle digit, I don't give a durn what others think cause I do what I want which is sometimes nothing at all.'

And with the passage of time in ER one sometimes forgets to say NO when conned/asked/or otherwise slicked into volunteering.



heh heh heh - I can admit to keeping a low(?cowardly) profile until my first pension check at 55.

 

[RockyMtn]

"Mr. Helmuth also sees a certain stigma in the word. “People hear ‘retirement’ and think you play a lot of golf and have a lo of dumb hobbies,” he said."

Sounds a lot like me.

 

[scrabbler1]

"What do you do?"

"I'm retired."

"You look to young to retire."

"That's the whole point."

Crickets

Reminds me of how I once commented on a similar thing. I said, "Just like they say youth is wasted on the young, I say retirement is wasted on the old!"

 

[timo2]

I think DW wishes she would have have told people she quit her job and wasn't working instead of retiring at 58. People start assuming she has extra money stashed around, when in fact everything is planned out. no extra cash. but that stigma thing is still there. People don't understand retirement until all their joints start hurting, and the young people at work start ignoring them, it seems. Best advice to prospective early retirees, keep your mouth shut and be that person of mystery.

 

[marko]

The pendulum seems to have swung from ER stories to those about people who keep working past the traditional retirement date. In the process, a certain stigma seems to have arisen around ER, not that many of us give a damn what others think about it. It's ironic, though, because it used to be considered something enviable.

Pendulum has swung indeed. Being wealthy "used to be considered something enviable" as well. Now somehow you're a bad guy.

 

[MichaelB]

Pendulum has swung indeed. Being wealthy "used to be considered something enviable" as well. Now somehow you're a bad guy.

I did not see a hint of that anywhere in the article.

 

[bclover]

It's interesting how things change with time.

Does anybody remember how all the modern mechanization of work was supposed to give us the 32 hour work week, with a three day weekend every week, and all for the same pay?

lol yep

 

[bclover]

The word "retirement" has always had a certain expectation surrounding it. I think no matter when you retire, eventually each person will need to decide what to do with their days.

People do hear the word "retirement" and think you should be partying 24/7 and traveling around the globe every month. for me it was simply the ability to have "choices".
Now when people ask me what I do I say "whatever I want"

I do think that there is a period of adjustment and depending on your personality maybe there is some boredom, but doesn't any major change come with a period of getting your "sea legs" underneath you?

 

[Dawg52]

"Mr. Helmuth also sees a certain stigma in the word. “People hear ‘retirement’ and think you play a lot of golf and have a lo of dumb hobbies,” he said."

Pretty much describes me too. No apologies.

 

[Amethyst]

I have stopped telling real estate agents we are retired. They focus on that word and assume we are dying (oops, bad word) to move to a retirement community in the middle of nowhere. They also assume we want a master suite on the first floor and will pay extra for it.

 

[ls99]

Seems the article just recites a bunch of opinions of retirees, nut much different from the opinoins in this forum.

 

[FUEGO]

It's interesting how things change with time.

Does anybody remember how all the modern mechanization of work was supposed to give us the 32 hour work week, with a three day weekend every week, and all for the same pay?

But it kind of has come true for many of us here. Maybe those 32 hour weeks came 2 per week and then we retired in our 30's or 40's.

But seriously, all the technology, productivity gains, and increases in real earnings (at least at the top of the income quintiles) led to many of us retiring early.

Even low wage workers can enjoy an incredible range of entertainment options for next to nothing. Couple that with low cost lifestyle choices (uber/transit with real time location trackers and dynamic routing from your smart phone; smaller living spaces made possible by much of life outside of work fitting into tiny electronic devices) and you have a recipe for a wide swath of society being able to work 32 hours per week and still live a comfortable, albeit different, lifestyle.

 

[Danmar]

Seems the article just recites a bunch of opinions of retirees, nut much different from the opinoins in this forum.

Right. I think we would all be better off if we cared less about what others think. The corollary being not to have an opinion about what others do. That's a little more difficult.

 

[Options]

Right. I think we would all be better off if we cared less about what others think. The corollary being not to have an opinion about what others do. That's a little more difficult.

Very true, but it can be extremely challenging when everyone an ER person talks to has an opinion, judgment, etc., expressed or otherwise, about what they--and by extension you--should be doing. I have decided to not talk about my ER anymore as everyone I talk to seems to be looking in the mirror and reflecting their projections.

I saw the article elsewhere but didn't read it as I immediately saw it for what it was: non-actionable click bait.

 

[Big_Hitter]

good article - I plan on going down as a loud and proud early retiree myself

we had a guy at our club that retired from ups in his 50s and played golf everyday; I think UPS has/had a good esop or something

one of the cheapest guys I've ever met. nice guy tho

he quit after we voted on a $5k assessment and he always made his F&B minimum to a dime

 

[Danmar]

Very true, but it can be extremely challenging when everyone an ER person talks to has an opinion, judgment, etc., expressed or otherwise, about what they--and by extension you--should be doing. I have decided to not talk about my ER anymore as everyone I talk to seems to be looking in the mirror and reflecting their projections.

I saw the article elsewhere but didn't read it as I immediately saw it for what it was: non-actionable click bait.

Yes, I agree. Although most of my acquaintances/friends are pretty polite and dont express their personal views about this kind of stuff.

 

[DrRoy]

I'm willing to take my chances in 3 months.

 

[nun]

I think when faced with an early retiree it at first scares people and then they become a bit envious so it doesn't make for good conversation.

The first thing they think is "OMG, what am I going to do? all that planning and maths that I've been avoiding....it's too early to think about that stuff".

Then the think "how can he/she afford to retire, they can't make that much?....".

Luckily I've known most of my friends since college and what we do hasn't ever been important.