Your purpose/mission after FIRE?

[Harlax]

Dear community,

What mission/purpose have you found after reaching FIRE? I'm hoping to find inspiration and advice from you.

I reached my FIRE at age 28, and have been traveling/doing my dreams the following years (I'm soon 31 yo).

I achieved my financial independence and early retirement by making a tech company which fights food waste, combats climate change and offers very affordable food for the people where our services are available. We also worked to give homeless people food. We hired more qualified persons than ourselves, to lead the company to greater heights than we (the founders) could ever have done, and therefore I was out of the company.

In the future, when I sell the rest of my stocks in a big exit of my company, I will donate most of my money to helping the world, but now I feel like I want to do something else than charity.

My big personal goal - almost life purpose was to FIRE. Now it's done, and with the money that came with it, I have realized most of my dreams. With no urgent goal, no major personal challenge to accomplish and much time on my hands, I feel a bit lost.

I think I need to find a new life purpose or at least a goal to strive for - and I could imagine that some of you might have been in the same position as me, feeling a bit lost on what to do next.

Looking forward to to hear from you all.

Thanks.

 

[bloom2708]

One challenge will be holding on to most of your money.

How can you find "work" that doesn't feel like "work"?

Some ideas:

1. Find someone to share your journey with
2. Have a kid or 2 or 3 or 4. That will keep you busy
3. Start another business
4. Read a lot
5. Start a blog or video channel to talk about things you are interested in
6. Get more hobbies
7. Run a marathon or 12

31 to 90 is an awful long period. Variety is the spice of life. You'll have to find your ways to fill it up.

 

[brett]

Travel.

Started retirement by selling our home and traveling for 7 months, then renting furnished places for three months.

Since then, pre covid, typically 4-5 months of international travel each year. Warm places in the winter. Lots of beach and seaside time. Good, fresh local cuisine-none of that greasy kids stuff.

This covid business has been a real drag. We are desperate to get away and hit some places on our rather long travel bucket list.

 

[ejman]

It doesn't sound to me that you are ready for the RE portion of FIRE. My only advice is to hang on to the FI portion by doing wise investments (a 2 or 3 widely diversified index funds at Vanguard or Fidelity would probably do that and require minimal intervention on your part) and then use the rest of your money and time to continue to save the world to the extent you can since that seems to be your calling.

 

[SnowballCamper]

Maybe an admin can merge this thread with the other one that OP started...

to the OP, only you can decide what you want to do. There is no secret hobby we all have that fulfills us (other than posting here). From the movie Good Will Hunting, "What do you want to do? It's a simple question, but you can't answer it can you?" He does the appropriate thing and runs off for the girl.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

My big personal goal - almost life purpose was to FIRE. Now it's done, and with the money that came with it, I have realized most of my dreams. With no urgent goal, no major personal challenge to accomplish and much time on my hands, I feel a bit lost.

I think I need to find a new life purpose or at least a goal to strive for - and I could imagine that some of you might have been in the same position as me, feeling a bit lost on what to do next.

Travel. Find new hobbies and interests.

Myself, I donate platelets about 20 times a year. The Red Cross says every donation can help up to 3 people. I figure if it's the only noble thing I do in life, I still made a difference hopefully to someone.

"Platelets are tiny cells in your blood that form clots and stop bleeding. For millions of Americans, they are essential to surviving and fighting cancer, chronic diseases, and traumatic injuries. Every 15 seconds someone needs platelets. Platelets must be used within five days and new donors are needed every day."

https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/types-of-blood-donations/platelet-donation.html

 

[Ronstar]

My only remaining purpose/mission is to have as much fun as possible

 

[pacergal]

It doesn't sound to me that you are ready for the RE portion of FIRE. My only advice is to hang on to the FI portion by doing wise investments (a 2 or 3 widely diversified index funds at Vanguard or Fidelity would probably do that and require minimal intervention on your part) and then use the rest of your money and time to continue to save the world to the extent you can since that seems to be your calling.

+1

Only you can decide what you want to do every day.
31 is quite young to fully retire, in my opinion. Many young folks are able too, though.
You seem very goal oriented towards charitable works. What about joining Red Cross disaster teams, Medical Teams International, or some other program like that? Big Brother/Big Sister groups can always use mentors.
Take some time to really evaluate what you want to accomplish in life.
And take some time to relax and congratulate yourself for what you have already accomplished!
Congratulations on your achievements.

 

[anony mouse]

When I was planning for RE, I made a few different lists: possible hobbies to try, ways to keep my brain/geekiness active, ways to stay connected to people, places to travel, ways to stay in shape.

Also think about what you liked to do or dreamed about when younger.

I don't think of them as bucket lists to work thru, I'm not planning on doing them all. That way it's mentally easier to put outlier oddball things on the list. It was actually kinda fun to build them out.

 

[GTP2022]

You need a physical challenge now. Go get a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt.

 

[MichaelB]

My purpose is to be prepared for the zombie uprising. I’m also concerned about asteroid collision and alien invasion, but these are of secondary importance right now.

 

[LRDave]

I have focused on being at least 35% better at navel gazing within the 1st 3 years of retirement.

 

[RobbieB]

I enjoy watching paint dry.

 

[MissMolly]

Don't have one. Don't want one. Don't need one. Sounds too much like w*rk. I retired from all that. If you need a purpose and want a little adventure, join the Peace Corps.

 

[flintnational]

Purpose after Fire will be driven by several factors. In the case of the OP, very young, I would still have goals I wanted to accomplish in life regardless of financial status. At my age, 60, I am with the "watching paint dry", "having fun", "waiting on the zombie apocalypse" crowd.Congrats! FI lets you choose your path.

 

[Walt34]

I used to have a purpose. I achieved it. Then I retired.

 

[jollystomper]

Purpose after Fire will be driven by several factors. In the case of the OP, very young, I would still have goals I wanted to accomplish in life regardless of financial status. At my age, 60, I am with the "watching paint dry", "having fun", "waiting on the zombie apocalypse" crowd.Congrats! FI lets you choose your path.

+1

At 31, regardless of my financial/social status, I would still be focusing on goals. When I retired at 60, I already had met my goals, as well as achieved many goals I never thought possible. So my FIRE purpose/mission is to not focus on having a purpose or mission, but focus to a relaxing and active life of my choosing until my expiration date .

 

[socca]

I think I need to find a new life purpose or at least a goal to strive for ...

A lovely quote I encountered many years ago:

Old Greek definition of happiness : "The exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life affording them scope."

As a FI person, you get to define which 'vital powers' you'd like to exercise, and you also get to define what constitutes 'excellence'. This is a luxury that many folks don't have. Additional reflection on this topic can be a personal project for you if you're so inclined.

 

[Calico]

As others have said, if I were 31 I would still have goals.

At 65 I have achieved them, and now it's my time to relax and enjoy myself, without striving to achieve anything that is measurable by anyone else's standards.

I have an aunt (she turns 83 next week) and almost without fail, every time we speak on the phone, she asks me "what are you doing?" or "are you really still doing nothing but reading all the time?" This is getting annoying, so I'm thinking of sending her one of these mugs, which contains my retirement mission statement. Or a t-shirt with the same saying - I checked, they do make them, and I have one on order.

 

[steelyman]

I like Robert Siegel’s (long time NPR host) thoughts on post-retirement:

“I’ll look forward to having the time to accept all the invitations I’ll no longer receive.”

 

[RAE]

It doesn't sound like you are the type of person (at age 31) that would be happy just traveling and enjoying life for the next several decades or more. If that is correct, then you need to find something you can be passionate about, and then devote your energy to it. There are countless things you could do...........perhaps join one or more environmental organizations that are devoted to protecting the environment? With your backgound in climate change issues, that might be a good fit. The field of climate change itself is huge right now........no end to the possibilities of being involved with some aspect(s) of planning for that, including alternative energy sources, alternative crops that are better suited to a changing climate, etc, etc..


You are obviously a pretty smart guy..........give it some serious thought, and I'm sure you will come up with something to pursue that will provide a challenge and utilize your talents.

 

[rb460]

Your purpose /mission after FIRE

Harlax......You are young enough to change your mind about retirement 6 times in the next 5 to 10 years.

Why not leave your options open to "fun jobs", serious loafing or travel or whatever.

Try to stay in shape both physically and mentally. Don' t stop growing!

Keep us posted on how things go.

 

[audreyh1]

To have a great time!

Travel was high on our priority list, and still is.

 

[flyingaway]

My purpose of FIRE is not to work.

 

[Jerry1]

Unfortunately, I never found my passion. I enjoyed working and enjoyed making money, but it was not my passion. I doubt at 60 I’m going to find it now. In the absence of my passion being found, I’ll just go with being. Being is very liberating. I just am doing what I do when I decide to do it. I’m happy to support certain charities and that’s about as purposeful, mission driven as I’m going to be right now.