Toddtheformeraccountant
Recycles dryer sheets
That is great advice scuba... I will put together a list of things to do. Thanks!!!!
That's a great point about how strong the push is... That is.... Do I want to blow my brains out if I keep working vs. The pull of early retirement bliss. There is definitely some decent push, but not to the point I want to blow my brains out, at least yetIMO if you have to ask yourself "Will I miss w*rk?" then you should probably keep w*rking, especially if your finances are in any way marginal (I know yours aren't).
In my case it was, "Will I blow my brains out if I go to w*rk tomorrow?" That meant it was time to FIRE.
That is great advice scuba... I will put together a list of things to do. Thanks!!!!
Excellent post. We should always keep this in mind. We usually tend to reinforce the collective thinking here. We should probably be more welcoming to contrary views?As others have said, you are asking a selected sample of people who are happily retired. Many of them had work they did not find fulfilling, so they will generally not speak to the positive aspects of work. People who struggle in retirement don't post much here (just occasionally).
I'd encourage you to not to take the happy forecasts here as the whole story. Plenty of people find benefits to continuing to work in some form or fashion, and plenty of people struggle in retirement, for a variety of reasons.
Not trying to rain on the parade. Just pointing out you're asking the question in a group where you're pretty much guaranteed to get an enthusiastically positive answer. Sort of like going to a Chevy forum and asking, "How do you guys like your Chevys?"
As others have said, you are asking a selected sample of people who are happily retired. Many of them had work they did not find fulfilling, so they will generally not speak to the positive aspects of work.
I am wondering what traits would someone who is financially independent need to have for you to recommend they NOT retire?
Based on my friends/relatives three thing would cause me to advise against.
- If their self-worth is defined by their job
- if all of their friends are work related
- if they never take vacations [-]or when they do they are always working[/-]
What are things that would cause you to recommend against?
There's nothing strange about the question, but this is an odd place to ask. This is a community of people for whom (early) retirement was a primary goal, so they obviously didn't enjoy their work enough to stay much past FI. I'm sure most here are genuinely happy with their decision, and few would admit it if they had regrets. But you might get a few.This question may seem strange.
Is there anybody out there that regretted it? If so, what do you think you did wrong? That could help a fella like me out from making a mistake either in planning or execution on the big RE. Even second hand info is most appreciated!
Just search "OMY syndrome" on this site and you'll find plenty of discussions dealing with this.
I am wondering what traits would someone who is financially independent need to have for you to recommend they NOT retire?
Based on my friends/relatives three thing would cause me to advise against.
- If their self-worth is defined by their job
- if all of their friends are work related
- if they never take vacations or when they do they are always working
What are things that would cause you to recommend against?
I'm going to assume the OP is emotionally intelligent, resourceful and disciplined since he's in position to RE. Apply those same traits to early retirement and you'll be equally "successful".
Do I like early retirement? Absolutely!
Do I sometimes get bored or frustrated? Absolutely!
Is it all fun and games? Certainly not!
....
[R]etirement can be great if you've prepared yourself in more ways than just financially. I highly recommend it, but I also recommend that you be prepared for periodic "slow" times, things that don't go exactly as expected (stay flexible), and perhaps even a bit of loss of self worth tied to your working role. Learn to relax in ways that you do not or cannot now. Good luck with your preparation and decision making process.
Latent alcoholism. A friend wrote "When my father retired, his alcoholism set in hard. The last 10 years of his life he never left the kitchen table". I'd recommend against retirement if w*rk keeps a person off the cirrhosis express.What are things that would cause you to recommend against?
...I don't think I would ever go back to the Mon-Fri 9-to-6 corporate treadmill. As each year passes, I'm getting better at this ER thing and find myself recoiling at the thought of sitting in a cubicle all day long or commuting back and forth to an office every day. Just writing that last sentence and thinking about those soul-sucking things made me shudder.
I can relate to that. After 14 years, I don't know what working is like. I remember installing Compuserve email on a computer in a hobby club near our resort, but that was because I had a No Calls policy when on vacation plus wanted to stay in touch with friends.I'm not 'retired', (I had nothing to retire from), but I did quit working 28 1/2 years ago.....thing is, I'm not quite sure what constitutes these supposed 'pitfalls' you've alluded to.