Robert Redford is Right about Retirement, well sort of. Redford was quoted in a Market Watch financial article today from his interview with The Wall Street Journal,

“I think retirement can lead to death, and that’s not for me.” The Market Watch article is titled Did Robert Redford get it wrong on retirement?

As someone who believes in living a lifestyle of retiring early and often I may be grouped with the Never Retire crowd and my agreeing for the most part with Robert Redford as no surprise. However I limit my being open to opportunities (paid-work) to only those I WANT to do that are aligned with my interests and passions. Otherwise I am one happy early retired Leisure Freak. Meaning I am not chasing after work and I am just living life on my terms enjoying my time and freedom. Just between me and you, Robert Redford is already retired, he just doesn’t know it.

I have non-traditional retirement beliefs

My definition of retirement breaks with the traditionalist. I believe retirement is leaving behind meaningless and soul sucking work but being perfectly open to paid work and still be considered living a retired life on my terms. I have also referred to my retiring early and often lifestyle in a couple of my site pages as somewhat like an actor’s lifestyle were I am always open to the right part, being choosy about any project I sign on to. I am only as good as my last gig in some cases to be able to continue catching the waves. The waves of opportunities that come my way.

So I see where Robert Redford is coming from because I use the same mindset-model. I am sure he is one picky SOB when it comes to the movie parts he agrees to do and the people he works with. His lifestyle off-stage is hardly working in the sense that the rest of the world endures either. It is probably closer to retirement between gigs than grinding it out in a nine to five situation. Even with his Sundance Film Festival and everything else he has his hands into. It is all exactly what he wants to be doing and any long hours are out of passion not dreaded grind. When he does work he works hard for as long as the gig lasts. Sounds a lot like what I and others are doing in our early retirements.

Retirement is Living Life on your Terms.

Successful actors and those who have always had the ability to work at their true passions and live life on their terms have always been retired, they just don’t care to realize it or call it that way. They retired long ago by retiring to the life they WANTED to live, a life they never need to retire from. Walking away from a lifestyle you love would probably lead to death.

Robert Redford is Right about Retirement Leading to Death

The Market Watch article states many study results that both support and reject Robert Redford’s retirement leading to death comment. The mixed results support for my mind and others who are living their lives on their terms that it all depends on what work you are doing. Obviously for someone in heavy labor careers in construction and the like will not be able to physically “never retire” even if they loved doing it.

I truly believe that if I had stayed in my first Telecom Engineering career that the stress and soul sucking environment would have certainly caused my early death. But if someone in those laborious or stressful fields have outside interests and passions that they could turn into paid opportunities then they will agree with Mr. Redford and maybe say they will never retire under the traditional definition.

Living with purpose

Living with purpose is the reason why anyone who has plans to continue working at some capacity in their retirement will agree with Robert Redford.

We have to strive for something that is important to us, something we enjoy doing. Something that we love doing or love to support. If there is nothing that we want to be involved with or do then what would we do in retirement? Sit on the couch and watch TV all day long, complain about politics with the other old geezer down the street or your spouse? That is the real path to a short life. The sweet long life is all about what we retire to.

We have to have a reason to want to get up and move our asses and dance in this life. Stay curious, keep learning, keep growing, and know you have value, not retired and sent out to pasture. It doesn’t HAVE to be paid work but we should never be closed to it being paid work just because of the word and label “retired”.

In Closing

I love articles like this from Market Watch where something can be said and people come out and add all their negative comments at the bottom. Obviously Robert Redford is talking from his life experience, passions and opportunities not from the view of a ditch digger. He knows just as I do as a Leisure Freak doing my “retire early and often” thing that as we age the waves of opportunities may slow and eventually end and we will have to support our passions and purpose in another way.

Maybe there would be no question if he had simply said retirement from acting and film, my passion and purpose can lead to death then it would have been accepted 100% with all easily agreeing that Robert Redford is Right about Retirement. There would have been nobody giving a second thought and a whole different Market Watch article written about Robert Redford and retirement. We all will die someday but as long as I am still moving my ass and dancing it won’t be because of my retirement.

What is your view of YOUR retirement? Will it lead to your death?