You don't need to have retirement figured out before you FIRE. Why giving yourself permission to do nothing might be the best way to start early retirement.
I'm getting close to retirement myself after nearly 40 years working in technology, and I think you've made a really interesting point here.
I've actually started experimenting with different things before retiring. I've borrowed £5K at 0% to see what happens when I invest it, published a book, and I'm having a go at making and selling some rather unusual physical products.
Some might work, some might be complete disasters. I'm rather looking forward to finding out.
But I think the important bit is that I don't HAVE to make any of them work. After decades of deadlines, targets and people wanting things yesterday, the last thing I want is to turn retirement into another job with performance objectives!
I'm curious, though. Have you discovered anything in retirement that you never imagined you'd enjoy when you were still working?
I think you nailed it with the "i don't HAVE to make any of them work" part of it all. That was always my central goal with FIRE. It isn't that I won't earn money from random projects/consulting/coaching... but I don't NEED any of them. I can focus more on only doing things that really give me purpose.
I am still always figuring out the right balance. For example I find 1:1 coaching to be extremely energizing, but once it hits more than 5 hours in a week it starts getting less fulfilling. So finding the balance across different projects to get the sweet spot of "purpose" has been the real game. It also seems to change for me. Giving myself permission to make those changes has been a key part of making it all work.
That's funny you should mention that, Andre. I had a very similar conversation with a friend just the other day.
They make rather unusual wooden lamps for family and friends, and I suggested they should start making and selling them.
Their response was that the moment they had to start making lots of them to meet orders, it would suck all the enjoyment out of it.
And I think that's exactly the point you're making. There's a big difference between doing something because you enjoy it and doing it because somebody expects you to.
I suppose the trick is knowing when something you enjoy is starting to become something you have to do. Not always as obvious as it sounds!
I worked on "GROWTH" for 15 years. So there it this trained inner voice always saying "You can SCALE by doing XYZ... GROW GROW GROW". It is hard to turn that part of your brain off! I keep reminding myself that I don't need everything to scale. If I wanted to focus on making more money for the sake of making money I should just go back and work full time in tech.
Hi Andre,
I'm getting close to retirement myself after nearly 40 years working in technology, and I think you've made a really interesting point here.
I've actually started experimenting with different things before retiring. I've borrowed £5K at 0% to see what happens when I invest it, published a book, and I'm having a go at making and selling some rather unusual physical products.
Some might work, some might be complete disasters. I'm rather looking forward to finding out.
But I think the important bit is that I don't HAVE to make any of them work. After decades of deadlines, targets and people wanting things yesterday, the last thing I want is to turn retirement into another job with performance objectives!
I'm curious, though. Have you discovered anything in retirement that you never imagined you'd enjoy when you were still working?
Cheers,
M.👽.G.
I think you nailed it with the "i don't HAVE to make any of them work" part of it all. That was always my central goal with FIRE. It isn't that I won't earn money from random projects/consulting/coaching... but I don't NEED any of them. I can focus more on only doing things that really give me purpose.
I am still always figuring out the right balance. For example I find 1:1 coaching to be extremely energizing, but once it hits more than 5 hours in a week it starts getting less fulfilling. So finding the balance across different projects to get the sweet spot of "purpose" has been the real game. It also seems to change for me. Giving myself permission to make those changes has been a key part of making it all work.
That's funny you should mention that, Andre. I had a very similar conversation with a friend just the other day.
They make rather unusual wooden lamps for family and friends, and I suggested they should start making and selling them.
Their response was that the moment they had to start making lots of them to meet orders, it would suck all the enjoyment out of it.
And I think that's exactly the point you're making. There's a big difference between doing something because you enjoy it and doing it because somebody expects you to.
I suppose the trick is knowing when something you enjoy is starting to become something you have to do. Not always as obvious as it sounds!
Cheers,
M.👽.G.
I worked on "GROWTH" for 15 years. So there it this trained inner voice always saying "You can SCALE by doing XYZ... GROW GROW GROW". It is hard to turn that part of your brain off! I keep reminding myself that I don't need everything to scale. If I wanted to focus on making more money for the sake of making money I should just go back and work full time in tech.
Why can't "not having to go to a soul-crashing job" be considered as firing/retiring to something?