I would think your daytime activities would lead you to a new circle of friends.
ER is a great tool to distinguish your true friends from your acquaintances & co-workers.......
ER is a great time to pursue your interests, and that includes adding friends!
Since I ER'd last Spring, I've still been able to keep in touch with the former co-w*rkers that I
want to, and have allowed the other ones to drift off into oblivion. I've also become friends with a couple of guys that were hired
after my departure....they're great guys and we share some similar non-w*rk related interests. I've also been actively pursuing some new interests, as well as renewing some old interests, and in the process have made a boat load of new friends.....various ages.....various backgrounds....and all neat people!
We are more concerned about the reaction of some family members.
I don't have a lot of family or relatives, but most all of them have been happy that I could ER so young! There's only one that was/is not overly happy about my ER, but that's only because of her poor retirement planning. She has
never been a LBYM-type, spent every nickel she could ever get her hands on, has
no retirement savings of any sort that I'm aware of, and, until last year, has never had a job that offered
any retirement benefits of any kind (pension, 401k, insurance, etc). She's currently planning on w*rking until she's 68-70, in order to be financially able to retire with a pension and benefits.
She has set a prime example for her kids though! They've all learned by her mistakes, and are all living just the opposite lifestyle! All
are LBYM-types, save every cent they can, and are saving and investing for their own ER. I don't see any them w*rking beyond their early 40's because they
need to.....they may w*rk at something they love because they
want to....but not because they
need to. (they admired
my ability to ER!)