Thinking and dreaming about my own impending early retirement is one of my favorite things to do. I have so many reasons guiding me towards this decision that I thought I’d share a few here. This list applies to anyone thinking about retirement at any time, though, not just early retirement. One of my favorite quotes by Ernie Zelinski in How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won’t Get from Your Financial Advisor
1. Life, love and the pursuit of happiness.
You deserve to take time for yourself and your relationships with others. Taking care of yourself enables you to be a better friend, spouse and family member. Somewhere along the line, many of us were taught that we had to work hard and keep our noses to the grindstone and compete to win and climb the social ladder and all the rest of it. There’s a high price to pay for living like that. Fortunately, there is still time to change our direction and teach ourselves about having fun and enjoying our lives.
2. You are not enjoying your current job or are truly bored with it.
Know that you are in good company on this one. According to The Conference Board, best known for the Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators, in a report published in 2005, they state
Half of all Americans today say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from nearly 60 percent in 1995. But among the 50 percent who say they are content, only 14 percent say they are
5 responses so far ↓
1 MichelleVan // Feb 3, 2008 at 9:33 am
I was sort of ‘retired’ after selling a business. Now I’ve started up again… I’d love my hubby to retire though so we could work together … ha ha ha. he wants to retire to quit working.. and ride his bike. putter.. enjoy.
2 Cheryl // Feb 3, 2008 at 9:42 am
The nice thing is that, from what I can tell by visiting your blog and reading through your materials, you are enjoying a business you have your heart in and are very good at. It’s wonderful! This is my goal for what my retirement will become for me, i.e., no longer working for the “man.” I can sure relate to your husband wanting to retire to quit working, too. So, work 4 hours (or less) a day and play the rest. Mwangi just turned me onto Timothy Ferriss’ “4 Hour Workday” What a concept!
3 MichelleVan // Feb 3, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Tim Ferris is pretty cool. The book is great. Even if all you get from the book is an understanding of what is important and what is busy work, you’ll get a lot from it.
4 lissie // Feb 11, 2008 at 12:58 am
Hi Lissie from HubPages here. #8 rings a bell with me - we are currently living in a boom time so both my partner & I have got work easily, and I’ve managed to change “careers” in the process - its nice to have some desperate employers around! I have always worked for a while travelled for a while, now we are in a financial position not to retire but not to have to save for retirement anymore - so we can just get jobs to cover expenses and keep on travelling - next stop hopefully Eastern Europe next year
5 Cheryl // Feb 11, 2008 at 7:46 am
That sounds like a perfect arrangement. When I retire from this job, unless I move to Thailand or Malaysia, we won’t be able to afford for me not to work anywhere, although I won’t have to earn as much and I will not work full time again. I know you have the same travel bug as we do!
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