Retirement is a Worthy Goal
... Even if you Never Quit your Job
Now that retirement has gone from being a dream to a goal to be achieved in about six years, I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit. My husband, a martial arts practitioner in the past, said, “You can’t focus on where the punch lands, you have to try to punch through where it lands.” So be it. Let’s not be so focused on retiring; let’s look forward to what life will be like when we have achieved financial independence / retirement.
I notice a reticence among people to discuss retirement, however. Usually, I see one of two reactions: Either they say something like, “Oh, I’d get bored, so I’m never retiring,” or they say, “If only I could, I would, but I can’t afford to.”
The issue in the above comments, I think, really isn’t retirement, though. It’s usually what we don’t like to talk about - money. Usually, those comments translated are: Not only do I not want to discuss money, I don’t even want to think about it, even by myself.
This thought process is bolstered by the Puritan work ethic, however, that is alive and well. The idea of retirement as someone who lazes his day away was, sadly, how I thought about it for a long time as well. Aren’t we made to work, I thought. Shouldn’t we keep working till the day we die? Doesn’t it keep us young?
Well.
Yes, but…
Check out these definitions of an often maligned word:
“Retirement or financial independence simply means that you have your living expenses covered by non-work income.”
“Retirement is the activities you pursue once you are done searching for money.”
I heard those definitions in Tim Ferriss’ podcast with Mr. Money Mustache. That is when I believe financial independence / retirement (FI/RE) truly came alive for me.
Next month, we are reading Playing with Fire by Scott Rieckens as a family to get everyone on board.
So, to those of you who can’t imagine sipping margaritas on the beach all day every day, take heart. Retirement need not be a bad word. It doesn’t imply being lazy or bored.
How freeing is that?