Category Archives: Financially Free

The Longer In Early Retirement, The Easier It Gets

Financially Free, Living in the Moment, Non-financial Aspects of retirement,

When I was first contemplating retiring young, the idea of funding my lifestyle over decades was of high concern. A lot has happened and changed over the nearly 13 years on this early retirement ride. Even in this high inflationary period, I do believe that the longer in early retirement, the easier it gets. Not that it was all that hard in the beginning. It’s just more comfortable and enjoyable with less worry, more coasting along. 

The Longer In Early Retirement, The Easier It Gets

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It Has Only Got Easier The Longer I’ve Lived Early Retirement Freedom

Of course, a major retiree worry is burning through our money before we leave the planet. As the years have stacked up, there have been a lot of ups and downs in our portfolio. We never started with hitting the magical million dollar number to begin with. What we did was maintain a reasonably frugal lifestyle while still being able to travel as much as we wanted to, help our kids and grandkids out when necessary, and have a blast doing it. As time passes, the easier it gets.  

The Easier It Gets Financially

Budgeting

We used to feel like we had to watch it like a hawk. Now it’s pretty much on autopilot. Our frugalish lifestyle and spending habits have stuck. There is little yearly budget deviation except for the occasional emergency or small planned indulgence.
When the first of the year healthcare or other insurance/tax cycles cause big increases, we make necessary adjustments without worrying about things as much as we used to do early on. 

Since retiring over a decade ago, we’ve seen how over a 12 month period it all smooths out in the end. Even when there were some high monthly hits that were encountered. 

Adapting To Rising Healthcare Costs

We were lucky. The first few years of early retirement only brought small yearly increases. It then went obscene and it was a huge pain in the assets. Over time we’ve been able to take it in stride. We still get ticked off, but with every year that passes we get closer to Medicare eligibility. We just automatically assume we will be adjusting the budget in spending and income to cover it with a lot less worry until age 65. 

Riding Out Market Swings

There are some things we just can’t control, even with a well diversified portfolio. Market volatility swings can cause a lot of early retiree sweating. It was something that caught my attention in the early years causing some worst case worrying. 

The longer I’ve been doing this early retirement thing and living off of my portfolio, the easier it gets to just roll with it and trust the plan. I do check balances and run numbers when it has taken negative hits like it has of late. 

A quick run of the FIREcalc retirement calculator using the new lower portfolio total along with any new income requirements and Social Security data is all it takes to remove any concerns. Well, including Social Security and you know…… that growing older reduced years circling the sun thing. It’s a simple equation:

Social Security income coming in sooner

+ Less years left to fund

= Enough even with a reduced portfolio number to cover current market loss in the overall retirement funding calculation. 

If the calculated success percentage came up poorly, I would calmly do what we now have a history of doing, make necessary adjustments. 

Aging Closer to Medicare and Social Security

As mentioned above, I do use our Social Security figures as part of our overall retirement planning. That and the big reduction in health insurance costs that Medicare will provide us. We will finally reap the promised benefit from paying into our nation’s retirement system for our entire working lives. The longer in early retirement, the closer we inch to retirement portfolio funding assistance. Ya, ya, I know there is talk among certain politicians that some people of politics are looking to kill it. If they do then I suppose this country will be dealing with an even bigger and more dangerous problem than any retirement budget adjustments or income shortcomings I will have. 

The Easier It Gets Non Financially 

What Work Identity?

Early in retirement, I did everything I could to prepare for leaving my career title behind. Even so, there were still some mental adjustments that took time to work through. The longer in early retirement, the easier it was to put it all in the past. In fact, I have trouble remembering many names of those I worked with over the 31 years of that career. It all seems like a previous life that matters about as much as if not less than my highschool portion of life.

Having A Better Social Life

The first issue I recognized as a big hole in my early retirement was my social life. It took no time to realize almost all of my social circle revolved around work. I had to make a concentrated effort to grow my social life in the first months and years of retirement. My social life is now broadly community and hobby based. I have only one person that I’m still in regular contact with from my first long-held career, and that is just fine.

Wanting Less Because I’ve Already Scratched My Itches

There was a lot of daydreaming about what early retirement would be like and what I wanted to do before pulling the trigger. Once I retired at the age of 51 I was still full of the same high energy and production based conditioning I had when I was a career engineer. I enjoyed down time to the fullest and entered into paid gigs of interest and passions. I see now that some of that was also driven by another necessary transition- trying to get over myself and invisibility. Scratching these itches were both necessary and extremely rewarding in many ways.

 

A lot has changed over the 12+ years in early retirement. I scratched all my itches, transitioned away from work identity, grew my social circle, learned to fully trust my savvy personal finance skills/plan, and have relaxed over time into a comfortable energy level of retirement living. 

I still pursue new passions and ideas that I have interest in, but I’ve learned that I have nothing to prove to anyone, not even myself. 

Time, experience, and maturity has made me a better early retiree and made early retirement easier to enjoy to the fullest.

Start Out on Your Own With This Essential Advice

Career, Financially Free

This post was contributed to Leisure Freak by Linda Chase, creator of Able Hire. 

Starting out on your own can be a scary concept, but it also comes with a lot of freedom and possibilities. For young people who have never been without a guardian’s help, striking out into the world is an exhilarating time that can be made even better with a little planning. Whether you want to learn to manage your money or find the perfect job, it’s important to start right away so you can avoid issues down the road and remain independent. Taking advice from those who have been through it is a great start, and you’ll find great tips on how to manage your lifestyle for early retirement at Leisure Freak. You can also think about how to bolster your skills in order to land your dream job and maximize your earning potential. 

Start Out on Your Own With This Essential Advice

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Go back to school

It can be difficult to imagine going back to school if you’ve just graduated and had a taste of freedom, but sticking it out for a few more years can help you reach some of your career goals more quickly. The world of technology is a great place to start since it offers some of the highest pay rates out there, and you can earn your degree online while working or taking care of other obligations. Look for a program from an accredited school that offers competitive tuition rates; a bachelor’s in Business Administration or IT Management typically takes about 41 months to complete, and then you’ll have the benefit of a higher skill level when you’re ready to search for a job.

Make a great first impression

When it’s time to land your first big job interview, it’s important to make a solid first impression. This means dressing professionally, doing some homework on the company ahead of time so you can wow your interviewer, and creating a well-thought-out resume that includes everything they need to know about you. Practice sitting through a mock interview with a friend so you’ll be prepared for some of the questions they’ll be asking; this can help with nerves on the big day.

Get a handle on your money

Whether you’re able to land your dream job on the first try or need to stick it out somewhere else for a while, it’s crucial to learn how to manage your money. It’s about more than starting a savings account; you also need to make sure you understand exactly where your money goes each month. Learn how to create–and stick to!–a budget, and start an emergency fund that’s separate from any other savings. This is essential for unforeseen costs and will give you peace of mind in the event that you lose your job, have to find different housing, or need to make repairs on your car. 

It’s also a good idea to keep your debt under control. This can be extremely challenging when you’re first starting out and need so many costly things–furniture, work clothes, and transportation included–but running up credit cards will only come back to haunt you later. 

Don’t neglect your health

Living alone and becoming more money-conscious can sometimes lead young people to neglect their health by passing over checkups or eating a lot of unhealthy foods because they’re more budget-friendly. It’s important to stay on top of your mental and physical wellness by making regular visits to the doctor and dentist and eating right. It’s not always easy to shop healthy on a budget, but it can be done if you know where to start.

 

Starting out on your own takes a lot of planning and hard work, but it can be the best time of your life if you learn how to prepare for the future. Look for online resources that will help you along the way, especially when it comes to your finances.

Have a question about funding an early retirement? Reach out to Leisure Freak today.

Much thanks to Linda Chase for contributing this informative article. It comes at a time when many young people will soon be leaving school to start out on their own.

Author Bio: 

Linda Chase created Able Hire to help people with disabilities build rewarding, successful careers. She hopes Able Hire will be a resource for people with disabilities seeking jobs and for hiring managers seeking a better understanding of what people with disabilities have to offer.

My Shameless Anti-Economy Sins of FIRE That Can Benefit Anyone

Financial Independence, Financially Free, optimism, Saving Money, ,

To be clear, for what I’m about to confess, I remain fully unrepentant. I understand that I’m considered deplorable in the eyes of some government, economic, business, and corporate authorities. I shamelessly stand by my anti-economy sins of FIRE. Although what I confess may cause authoritative scorn, I share my path because I know that anyone can benefit from adopting my sinful examples. But do so knowing what you may risk taking this path of wickedness.

My Shameless Anti-Economy Sins of FIRE That Can Benefit AnyoneImage Source

The Anti-Economy Sins of FIRE Of Which I’m Guilty Of

Time to lighten things up. I find that in today’s divisive and anti-everything environment that the only way to get some people to pay attention is to join the darkside. So on that note, here are the anti-economy sins of FIRE that can benefit anyone who dares walk this same path.

My biggest anti-economic sin is practicing the dark arts of frugality with purpose.

Spend-baby-spend is the call of this consumer based world economy. My anti-economy sin goes beyond frugality, it also includes a heavy dose of purposeful spending. I only buy what I need and only from sources I like. Oh my, it’s my personal sinful dabbling into cancel-culture. All the laughable political screaming about “cancel-culture” has me deciding that I am willing to play in this sin to personally feel better about, wait for it…. MY LIFE. 

I admit there are some businesses and products I purposely refuse to spend money on or at.

Freedom baby! I don’t go around screaming who and why, nor wearing a provocative hat or T-Shirt to make a big deal about it. I just quietly stay on budget and purposely choose where my money goes. If a business, whether at point of sale, corporate or owner level acts like Jack-Holes or goes out of their way to promote Jack-Holes, they are cancelled from my budget.

My spending moto: Only do business where they act decently. I don’t want or need to hear about their perversions. Not everyone wants to know you enjoy humping active beehives.

Inflation has me cancel some product purchases until either prices come down or I change my mind on whether it represents a good value. 

Funny thing about all of this. We haven’t been left feeling for want or deprived. There are always alternatives. My money, my choice! 

Frugality with purpose adds the huge financial benefit of being able to live my life of freedom on less money. I needed less in my portfolio to fund my economically sinful early retirement lifestyle so I could ditch the rat race without first acquiring a massive portfolio. On top of that, because of my lower yearly income needed, I’m able to pay far less in taxes. 

Next on the anti-economic sin list is my refusal to work.

Oh the wicked horror of practicing this sin in a time of business complaints over the lack of people to hire. During this time of the anti-work movement and the great resignation where there’s a huge need to fill job openings, I’m passing on opportunities to chase carrots to build even more wealth. I must be some kind of economic heretic. It must be economically selfish and sinful when an able bodied and skillful person purposely refuses to work for the good of the consumer centric economy, profits, and the tax base. 

I’m committing the sin of breaking  the commandment that when the economic beast is hungry none shall escape except when “they” don’t need you anymore. It’s funny to me how other times it’s not a sin but totally cool with the economy gods to voluntarily lean out. As was the case when I retired young in 2009 among the masses of the downsized.

I’ve actually enjoyed working since I first retired 12 years ago.

I’ve been able to learn and do rewarding work that has been on my bucket list while increasing net worth at the same time. But I only take on retirement work when on my terms. Not all jobs are opportunities. Being picky is something FIRE sinfully allows to be the highest priority. It would take a very special retirement job pitch to get me back in the game. Shameful, just shameful, NOT! 

That said, my refusal to work isn’t set in stone as never. Just not now.

I sinfully use my credit card but I never pay interest.

Plastic, the easy way to buy whatever you want and need. Many do it as designed. Buy more than you can payoff each month and pay high interest for the privilege of being allowed to do so. Banks don’t provide credit cards out of kindness, but some do offer rewards to lure you to use them. It is easy to assume that they do this knowing most will slip up and spend more than they can clear. Then becoming locked into paying monthly interest on their unpaid balances. 

My sin is using the hell out of our rewards credit card and winning their game by always paying the balance off each month. For over 25 years I’ve paid no interest but have reaped cash rewards. We cash out credit rewards to cover 35% to 50% of our overall Christmas budget each year.

Not my biggest anti-economic sin but perhaps considered the worst: Promoting my sinful ways to corrupt others to join me.

I shamelessly promote my anti-economy sins of FIRE here on Leisure Freak and every chance I get. Although I never word it in this dark tainted manner. I’m just talking about the same personal finance habits that get pitched in a positive tone everywhere else but trying to appeal to those who are better motivated by having an adversarial emotion to do something that’s actually positive. 

Do any of the economic overlords really care about my promoting these sins? I doubt it. They know most people won’t pay attention and will continue on their normal consumer, employment, and debtor path that has systematically been laid out. Sadly, that is something I know they’re right about.  

Beware the sins of FIRE risks

Walking this wicked economically sinful path doesn’t come without risks. 

Those with the power to hire set the commandments. No matter how accomplished you are in your field, take time away and you may be punished. Skills will be seen as diminished. Your escape can be used against you if you ever wish to chase new opportunities in the future. 

You can never complain about low, lax, or incompetent service. There is a risk of over challenging your patience capabilities. If you sin against the economy then you must accept labor shortages and their impacts. You will have to lower expectations and still feel gratitude towards those who are obedient to the mainstream consumer economic system. 

There’s the risk that there may be times when you feel yourself being a hypocrite. Preaching the benefits of your anti-economy sins of FIRE while knowing full well that if everyone joined you the economy would crash. That would certainly destroy the benefits of your economically wicked ways. Nah, I think keeping personal finance and the freedom it provides a secret is the far greater sin.

Semi Retirement? What I Loved About My Scaled-Down Retirement Jobs

Financially Free, Retire Often, Working In Retirement,

Looking back over my early retirement there was a lot to love about my scaled-down retirement jobs. Right from the start of my journey to FIRE, my plan was to be open to paid work in early retirement. What some people refer to as semi retirement, I happily called what I was going to do “retiring early and often”.

For me it was all about being able to pursue interests. Interests that my long career wouldn’t allow me to do. That and shedding some of the stuff I didn’t like doing. I looked forward to accepting opportunities for just as long as I wanted to do it. That, and also gain the life flexibility I had sacrificed over the decades while serving the corporate world system. Basically, my paid work in retirement will be a rewarding adventure or it isn’t going to happen or continue. Here’s some of what I loved during my retirement work experiences. 

Semi Retirement? What I Loved About My Scaled-Down Retirement Jobs

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The Best Parts About Working Scaled-Down Retirement Jobs 

Done right, being open to taking on scaled-down retirement jobs has only upsides. Everyone will have to decide what “done right” looks like for them. I set my own working in retirement guidelines and stuck to them to leverage the work experience in my favor. Aside from getting to meet and work with some awesome people, here’s what I loved most:

Money wasn’t my motivation, it was learning and doing something I had interest in –

I had established my retirement funding to cover things regardless of my working. Anything I earned would be added to our overall net worth, not increasing our budget or spending. It freed me to purposely target opportunities based solely on interest. I could ask myself, if money was removed from accepting this position, would I still want to do it? There are some things, like herding cats (project management) that no amount of money could get me to do. 

This mindset also made it easy to decide when it was time to end the job experience. I retired early again without hesitation from an encore career that paid more than my first long career. This mindset provides empowerment. No longer shackled to unrewarding work, unreasonable management, or a toxic work environment because of the need for a paycheck.

It allowed me to experience work in a different way as a paid observer. I was only there to perform my duties and absorb all I could without the pressure of attempting advancement for monetary reasons. I was able to learn, experience different interests, be rightfully paid, and simply move on once the itch was scratched.

The ability to leave it at the end of the day and not take it home –

My long telecom engineer career included 24×7 on-call. But worse than that was having to continually think about it to stay ahead of problems or plan ahead for the next day. What I enjoyed most about my scaled-down retirement jobs was being able to leave it all there at work. It was no longer my job to take care of the world. That was left for the career driven go-getters who still needed to. 

The pleasure of having absolutely no pressure to over perform –

During my old career we had monthly accomplishment meetings with management. Where it was all about the question, how have you performed over the past 30 days? We had to prove our worth to keep our job and add to or subtract from our annual appraisal metrics for salary treatment. Make a measurable mistake or underperform in the last month of the year and they gladly erased all previous accomplishments that year. In fact, any poor performance month was used as a reason to withhold a raise. There was none of that pressure in my scaled-down retirement jobs. If there was, I wouldn’t have accepted the position. 

I vowed to be reliable, do my job, and learn all I could from the experience. No more sacrificing my personal life or covering for incompetence, outdated and overworked software/hardware/machinery, or doing more than I really wanted to do. When I did go above and beyond it was because I really wanted to help out. Not out of some obligation to do it or an attempt to avoid feeling the sting of management’s retribution.   

Being able to refuse accepting the thieves of personal life: On-call and overtime – 

Turning down every offer of taking an on-call duty, working a nonscheduled weekend or holiday, and any overtime was a whole different feeling of freedom. This also endeared me to my coworkers who were hungry to earn extra money and saw me as someone not competing against them for that. 

Free from legacy obligations – 

Being new on a job means everything now touched is fresh and new too. In my long career there were a lot of things touched and worked on. Management created a fix-it-fast culture where they didn’t care who was really responsible. That meant anything worked on over the decades that broke, even when it was outside current job responsibilities, it still ended up in your lap because nobody wanted to take the time to learn or own it. Losing and no longer bogged down with legacy work history was a refreshing aspect to my scaled-down retirement jobs. 

It wasn’t about money, but I still loved padding net worth while enjoying a retirement job –

Who wouldn’t love adding money to their portfolio while having fun working on their terms? Even my lowest paying retirement gig went towards our overall net worth. I had retired early with a modest mortgage that we had refinanced to get the lowest budget friendly payment possible. I was able to pay that off from my earnings over an 18 month retirement job stretch.

During one short contract I was able to divert almost all of my earnings to the 401k to approach that year’s federal maximum contribution allowance. It deferred taxes, reducing it to near zero on earnings other than Social Security/Medicare withholding during that earnings stretch.

It Wasn’t All Smooth Sailing, There Were Some Challenges To Retirement Job Bliss

Time off and vacation time offered, but with a catch –

After spending decades at the same company in my first career I was caught off guard by how my scaled-down retirement jobs managed employee time off. They didn’t. For all my corporate based retirement gigs it was put on the employee to make sure either the shift was covered or have a full backup person cover you. Difficult to do when everyone is already stretched to their limits with work.

We still traveled and vacationed while on these retirement gigs. I found it an intimidation strategy to get career driven employees to not take their vacation benefits. Getting time off under their rules was a challenge. I admit that because of my retirement work mindset where there was no financial fear of dismissal that I may have circumvented their time-off process a few times. 

Scheduled to work weekends and holidays –

I accepted that I may have to work weekends and holidays as long as it was fairly assigned. It was tough to be unavailable to be with family when they were off work whenever I was stuck fulfilling my duties. I did experience having to work an early morning Christmas shift for the first time in my life. It went by fast and I kind of enjoyed the quiet day. We had already planned Christmas with our kids and grand-kids later that day anyway.

Unfortunately that Christmas the entire next shift  of 2 called in sick (they weren’t) and I refused to work a double on Christmas. Somehow I was in more trouble than those fibbing illness. Turns out it disturbed my manager’s holiday. It was nice having that conversation with my boss the following day. Reminding him that I did my job duties and it wasn’t my job to make it easier for him to manage his people and the business. The joys of financial independence in all its full glory. 

Income taxes were a handful – 

To fund my early retirement in my pre age 59 ½ days I was living off of Sepp 72t IRA distributions. Something that I couldn’t turn off without IRS hassles. I then banked all work earnings, taking advantage of 401K opportunities when offered, use of IRAs, CDs, and a savings account. I had 10% federal taxes withheld from the 72t payments and I claimed Zero at the single higher rate on my work W4. With all of that I would still owe a big chunk at tax filing each year. 

The longer on the scaled-down retirement job, unwanted legacy work obligations creep in – 

The longer I worked a retirement gig, its own legacy work obligations that I had gladly moved beyond from began to show up again. There will always be some undesirable work that people will drag their feet doing. If you have proven success with it then management will pile it on you to make their life easier. It’s the nature of most jobs where excrement rolls down hill. It’s one of the reasons that added to my decision to end what I call my encore career. I wanted to learn and experience my interests, not carry operational BS because new or full time people didn’t want to do it and management just wanted it done without disturbing their own bliss. 

Management trying to add unwanted scope –

When I was hired for my scaled-down retirement jobs it was well detailed what I used to do. They even mentioned the “overqualified” issue. I selected opportunities based on what I wanted to experience. I made it clear what I was there to do because I wanted to do it. My retirement jobs were perfectly scoped based on my being rationally unreasonable about that. But they can’t help themselves but to try and change the scope or rules. Sadly that doesn’t work for them once you are happy to call the relationship over if pressured to accept it. I did have a 4 month stretch until my contract ended where a new manager was unable to accept this dynamic and created a slightly hostile environment. 

Turning down extra shifts, overtime, etc., on occasion caused some conflict with management – 

Most of the time there was a ready supply of work go-getters willing to snap up any opportunity to make more cash. But when there wasn’t, my response of “no thanks” to their requests was less than acceptable. I hate to admit it, but they paid the price for my pre-retirement decades of work abuse and my unrelenting desire for a balanced working-in-retirement lifestyle. My refusals were always done with a smile and soft tone.

My Retirement Gigs Didn’t Last Forever, Nor Meant To

The list of my paid retirement work isn’t vast. I retired early at the age of 51 from a traditional and ravaged Bell System company as a lead engineer. 

I took some months off and my desire to learn wireless technology guided me to a Wireless (Cellular) company Network Operations Technician position. 

My interests in cable technology and past experience led me to an opportunity to become a Video on Demand Systems Analyst. It’s what became what I consider my encore career. Even though it was going very well and paid more in salary than my first long engineering career I got all I wanted out of the experience and then retired again.

Months later I accepted a short Cable Telecom Systems Analyst contract. The recruitment came from some people I enjoyed working with before. It started as the best contract experience of my life. Once that project ended after 2 short months I was extended 4 more months for another project. It was a lesser experience but tolerable due to my set retirement job boundaries. 

Then one summer I worked as a Craft Beer bartender to help out in a small local coffee shop/Pub that I frequent. I worked during busy weekends and events. That was by far the most fun I have ever had while getting paid.

There were also some super short contracts that were more like paid tasks than anything else through the 11 years of my early retirement. 

Going forward?

I have no idea what I may try to do next or when I will do it. I’ve become extremely picky about work now that I have met my jobs bucket list goals. Maybe never, it doesn’t matter. But I do know I will frame any opportunity I do accept to be aligned exactly with what I want to do under the retirement freedom rules I created. 

I don’t consider what I do as semi-retirement. I believe that retirement is the absence of NEEDING to work, not the absence of working. What I consider “scaled-down retirement jobs” goes beyond having lesser responsibilities or salary. What it means to me is having a different mindset about it. Working on my terms, doing what I agreed and accepted that I would do, for as long as I want to without financial fear of losing the job or being forced into unrewarding situations.

I’ve had some fantastic and rewarding scaled-down retirement jobs over the years. They’re awesome because I set my own rules and I can leave before it can become a bad experience.

Because of this freedom to live this way, I’ve been simply retired since the first day I walked away from my long demanding career and during every one of my paid retirement opportunities since. 

How I Knew I Had Enough To Retire Early

Financially Free, Retirement Doubt, ,

Many people want to retire early to live a life free from the rat race. It takes having a certain mentality and the financial means to pull it off. Even with meeting those requirements on paper, it can be difficult to really know when we have enough to retire early and make it work over the long-term. 

I was mentally ready and willing to ditch the career at age 40. But it wasn’t hard to figure out then that I didn’t have the means to do it. At that time in 1998 I only had around $100,000 in my 401K ($160K converted into today’s dollars), some debt, and no idea how to fund our lives without my demanding career. So began an early retirement plan and the 10 year journey to get there. Then came questioning my readiness until the moment I knew I did have just enough to retire early. Enough in more ways than one. 

How I Knew I Had Enough To Retire EarlyImage Source

Once I Knew I Had Just Enough To Retire Early It Was Easier To Jump

Knowing that you have enough to retire early is a lot tougher than knowing you don’t. It was obvious when I first started my early retirement journey to see there was no way to pull it off. But as financial goals are met and numbers vastly improve, the real math and mind warp begins. 

The Mechanics Of Knowing I Was Good To Retire When I Did

I Became A Budget Master

I wouldn’t have been able to call it time to retire without first knowing exactly what our preferred lifestyle would cost. We had years to dial it in. I knew how much I not only needed to fund our lives but how much I wanted. 

I Cleared Date Milestones

When I started my FIRE quest I knew when I would qualify for some retirement benefits at my job. My 10 year plan revolved around hitting those milestones for a pension and retirement healthcare. Even though during my 10 year plan the company was taken over through a merger and the company promised retirement benefits were heavily diminished, I still cleared the date milestones to get what was left that I’d earned. Other milestones to consider are bonuses, meeting 401K thresholds or company match payment dates, stock option vesting, or other beneficial age based milestones. 

I Tracked My Portfolio And Retirement Calculator Results

I tracked my early retirement portfolio chances through the FIRECalc retirement calculator during my 10 year plan. Talk to 100 people about what kind of a calculated success percentage they need to feel comfortable pulling the retirement trigger and you’ll get 100 different answers from 85% to 200%. Everyone has to make that decision. I was satisfied with 90% and up. 

Settling The Mental Conflict Of Taking The Retirement Leap 

Reversing Decades Of Conditioning 

We are preconditioned to always want more. Better grades, bigger degree, more pay, higher career position, newest doohickey, the list goes on. Our dreams can even become inflated. I knew I was mentally ready to retire after years of reversing that conditioning through frugal living and distancing my identity from what I did for money. It was easy to walk away and made it easier to get through my retirement transition. 

Trusting The Numbers And Accepting Calculated Risk

It’s easy to submit to doubt when breaking norms. There’s a feeling of safety in conformity and portfolio overkill. For anyone who doesn’t equate retirement to a traditional or particular age, or having a million dollar plus portfolio, actually knowing you have enough to retire goes far beyond running numbers. It requires trusting the plan, your calculated results, and believing in your own ability to adapt and be flexible as things change going forward. There is always risk for those who don’t have the benefit of an extremely fat portfolio. I was mentally ready and willing to accept that risk for the reward it offered.  

Acknowledging The Work And Lifespan Tipping Points

I was there, I knew I mentally had enough to retire early. I was at the working tipping point when the job became less attractive than the income and portfolio padding it provided. The little voice became louder that there must be something better than this. Then the lifespan tipping point of years slipping away. Years that can’t be bought back. 

I Still Had A Hiccup

I had done everything right and still had to make an adjustment until I could confidently know both financially and mentally that I could retire early. 

The recession set in just as I approached my planned early retirement date of October 2008. It sent many of my financial goals into retreat. Numbers can look good one day and bad the next with market volatility. But the recession’s subsequent and prolonged market drop was off the charts. I delayed retirement a year until I felt the market drop had bottomed out and my calculated success rate returned within an acceptable range. That and a little mental push, courtesy of new asinine executive directed policy and work changes coming. I had enough!

 

Seeing what we need to see to know we have enough to retire early is going to look different for everyone. It’s like beauty. It’s always difficult to explain but we know it when we see it. The same applies to knowing it’s the perfect time to retire on our terms when we’re truly ready both financially and mentally to take the leap. 

Why You Should Eliminate Debt Before Saving Money

Financially Free, Managing Debt

 

Today’s informative post was contributed to Leisure Freak by money master Chris Panteli of the site Life Upswing.

Building up savings is an essential part of becoming financially healthy. At the very least having an emergency fund that can cover 3-6 months’ worth of expenses is recommended. However, if you have debts you may be wondering if you should save or pay off debt first!

How do you know if you should eliminate debt before saving your money?

Good news, this guide will help you understand why you should pay off your debt first. As a bonus, there will be some tips on how to pay off debt quicker.

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The First Steps

OK, you’re in debt up to your eyeballs and are asking yourself what to do first. First, take a deep breath and tell yourself that it will be OK.

The next thing you need to do is to create a realistic budget. Include all expenses to the exact penny and importantly every debt. Once you know exactly what your incomings and outgoings are you can build a plan to tackle the debt.

Why You Should Eliminate Debt Before Saving Money

There are a few reasons why you should concentrate on paying debt down before saving. To start with, some debts have insanely high-interest rates. Debts like payday, pawnshop, and car title loans can have an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of over 100%!

When debts have high rates like this it’s important to get them paid off as fast as you can. Otherwise, those debts can quickly spiral into enormous amounts of money.

Another reason to pay off    debt first is that in the long run, you will have more money available. Paying only the minimum payment means it takes longer to pay the debt off    and you pay more because of interest charges. When one debt is paid off, you now have that money free to put towards other debts. When all the debts are cleared you now have plenty of money to add to your savings!

What Is The Best Way To Tackle My Debt?

As mentioned earlier you should pay off the high-interest debts first. Once those debts are cleared start tackling the low-interest debts like student loans, car loans, and mortgages.

To pay off your debts there are two strategies you could consider using.

The first strategy is called the snowball method. To begin with, list all your debts by total amount with the smallest first. Then concentrate on paying them off    in that order, from smallest to biggest. When each one gets paid off    the money you are saving can help pay off    the next debt quicker.

Many people find the snowball method works well for them because getting a debt cleared is a psychological boost. Even though at first, it’s only small amounts getting paid off    this motivates many to keep going.

Another method that is popular is called the avalanche method. You will need to list your debt by interest rates rather than the amount owed. Once listed start paying off the debts with the highest interest rates first. Make sure to keep paying the minimum payments on everything else of course. If you have a lot of high-interest debt like credit cards or payday loans, the avalanche method is usually the best one to follow.

Whatever method you choose for paying off debt never forget to pay at the least the minimum payment on everything. Keeping accounts up to date helps avoid falling further into debt with additional fees or higher interest.

4 Tips To Pay Off  Debt Quicker

To get debt-free quicker here are some suggestions that anyone can do. All these tips can result in having more money available, the extra money can then be used to pay off    debts quicker!

Start A Side Job

Starting a side job has never been easier thanks to the internet. You could find work online or offline and earn extra money. Ideas for online side jobs include starting a blog, freelancing, or data entry.

If you prefer working offline think about finding work as a delivery driver, an uber driver, or look around your area for part-time jobs.

Give some thought to your skills and search online for suitable opportunities. There are thousands of things you could do to earn extra money!

Live Frugally

Frugal living is all about prioritizing your spending to make sure not a single cent is wasted. To live frugally cut out all unnecessary spending on things like eating out, subscriptions, and memberships.

When making a budget ensure that every single cent is accounted for.

Make sure to claim coupons, discounts, and cashback whenever you can. To get started check out sites like Ibotta, Honey, and Swagbucks to find offers that can help save money. Switching to cheaper brands when grocery shopping can also be a great way to save money.

Use The 30-Day Rule

A great tip to cut spending is to use the 30-Day rule. When you see something that you want to buy you need to put the money aside for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days, you can buy the item if you still want it. Often the result is you will no longer want the item and can now use that money for anything else, including paying off debt quicker!

Negotiate Bills

A great way to save money is to reduce your expenses. Negotiate every bill you can such as insurance, energy, and cable. Also, cancel subscriptions you no longer need. Don’t pay for the gym, Netflix, or magazines if you aren’t using them anymore!

Should I Save Anything?

Ideally, everyone should at least have an emergency fund that could cover 3-6 months’ worth of expenses. However, if you have lots of debt it makes sense to clear that first, and then you can save more. However, does that mean you should save nothing?

If you can afford it, try to save something each month. When creating your budget prioritize debts and expenses, but if there is some left over do try to save it. Building the habit of saving will be good in the long run. This is because when you do have more money you will find it easier to save all or some of it.

Ultimately the choice is yours. You could put everything towards debts first, then start saving but saving just a few dollars a month soon adds up over time.

Final Thoughts

One thing you mustn’t do is ignore your debts. You can’t eliminate debt without taking action!

Start by listing all your debts and making a budget. Then, follow the advice here and get those debts paid off. Once those debts are gone you have extra money to save, invest, or treat yourself to a dream holiday!

 

Thank you Chris for contributing this debt elimination guide to Leisure Freak. One of the first steps towards financial independence and the freedom it brings is clearing debt.

Author Bio
Chris Panteli contributed postHey, I’m Chris Panteli. I have a degree in Business Economics from the University of Liverpool, own a small fast food business and run LifeUpswing.com. I will help you to make money, save money, and think about money in a way that will give you back your freedom.

 

My Early Retirement Was Never About Retirement

Financial Independence, Financially Free, Retire Early, Retire Often, , ,

Sometimes we have to adapt to difficult and changing circumstances. As people are being forced to reevaluate their retirement plans and careers, it’s easy to get hung up on the perceived safety of coloring within the lines of traditional definitions and norms. For many it may look impossible to figure out a way to financial security. Maybe a mental shift is needed and perhaps my retirement story will provide ideas. Even though what I did was characterized as early retirement, my leaving my career at the age of 51 was never about retirement. 

Everyone has a mental picture of what retirement is. I had a retirement image too and I knew that someday I would reach an age that the traditional definition of retirement would materialize. But that vision of retirement was decades away. My early retirement wasn’t that. Not even close. I wouldn’t accept that there was just one way to go. 

My Early Retirement Was Never About Retirement

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I Retired Early But It Was Never About Retirement 

I do understand why I got the heat I did about my early retirement not being considered retired. I’ve gone with a different solution to counter the dregs of youthful work life. I wanted to ditch the rat race much earlier than waiting until a traditional retirement age. So I adopted a “retire early and often” mindset. I then created and executed a plan to achieve it. Taking a different direction where I wouldn’t have to wait until old age or having a million dollars in the bank. 

My Employment Liberation Motivation

After decades of relentless and unrewarding work, living under the threat of downsizing and the resulting financial ruin it could cause me and my family, I was motivated to reach a point of employment liberation. A financial condition where I never needed to kiss Corporate-keister or if forced into long-term unemployment have to rely on stingy safety nets to survive.

By the time I decided to work towards early retirement I had already made an interstate relocation to keep my job. Then came the long days in the office, 24X7 on-call duties, business travel, and constantly increasing workloads. There were harmful economic market bubbles and the recession that cruelly added more grief by providing easy excuses to further hammer workers. Sacrifices were made for the workplace promises of something better later. But as I and many people know, you can’t count on corporate world promises. 

What My Early Retirement Plan Targeted

I knew from day one of my financial plan that I was going to retire early and often. I later found a retirement definition that better captured that same mindset: Retirement is the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working.

It all came down to deciding that I’d commit to saving enough to cover living expenses and be free to pursue opportunities of interest and passions. I would welcome paid work in my early retirement but only on my terms. I’d only accept work that meets my criteria and always free to walk away at any time without threat of financial ruin.

What I Did To Reach Employment Liberation

Instead of trying to save a million dollars or more, which at my salary would take me well into old age if ever, I decided to go a different route: 

  • Create a sustainable happy lifestyle without wasteful spending. A frugal lifestyle that may not have included months of exotic travel, expensive cars, or second homes. But it also didn’t include feeling like we were living a deprived life. It was all about simpler living. 
  • Ramp up savings to save enough to cover that lifestyle in retirement. 
  • Maximize income with eyes wide open to leverage wins in the corporate world’s game. 
It started with cutting waste from our budget. 

We adopted a smart frugal and balanced lifestyle. It does take time and practice to figure out what a sustainable and happy frugal lifestyle is. We perfected it during our journey to early retirement. It was the lifestyle we wanted to live before and in retirement. 

Next was eliminating all non-mortgage debt. 

That effort further reduced our cost of living, that reduced our required budget, which equates to less needed saved for retirement to support it. 

Redirect excess income into savings.

It was then all about ramping up our savings to hit the portfolio target sooner than later. Once expenses are cut more money is freed up to invest. There was nothing extreme in my early retirement story. Just the same basic stuff everyone else in personal finance talks about. 

Always recognize opportunities to increase income and continually gain marketable skills. 

This is an effort that we all should do in our careers. Increased income results in more money to save. Increased skills adds to increased income opportunities now and after early retirement. 

My efforts also required me to better play the corporate world’s game. 

I focused on what management valued. They happily load us down with important but non-valued work. All the things we worked hard to do but meant nothing to management during our evaluations for raises and advancement. Tasks that management seldom loaded onto their pet employees. 

That stuff ate time. Usually eating into our personal time and always taking time away from game winning opportunities. I used their own values to decrease my efforts on that segment of responsibility and put all effort into their home run values. 

I then used their own values to challenge any of their objections to my work priorities. It was clear that the issue comes down to every personal success I could leverage into better raises for me equated to management taking some credit and reward too. 

How I Viewed My Portfolio

I did run my numbers through a retirement calculator to get a feel for my success chances. As for how much I saved, I didn’t have the luxury of shooting for a sizable portfolio that would perpetually generate enough passive income of dividends and interest to totally live off of. I knew I’d also spend down assets as part of my retirement funding bucket strategy. 

I simply thought of early retirement as a condition of unemployment. Whenever I saved money I thought in terms of how many days, weeks, months, and years of being unemployed would be covered. This thinking continued even when working in my targeted retirement gigs. I looked at my earnings that same way as I set the money aside to increase my net worth. 

I just had a different early retirement vision.

It was always my plan to retire early and then freely pursue opportunities of interest that were outside of what my first career allowed. Once that itch was scratched, I would then go on to the next one when the opportunity to do so presented itself. 

I was also content to sit out doing any paid work at all. It was an early retirement plan born of the hope for freedom through employment liberation. That and being shielded from the economic cycles and the corporate world decisions that seem to always mess with the working class. 

I didn’t have the luxury of a fat salary to pad a huge portfolio. 

Although it sounds wonderful if you have the bucks, I never even considered an early retirement of nothing but pure leisure and neverending travel. To tell the truth, that wouldn’t appeal to me regardless of money. We travel as much as we want to but enjoy where we live. I didn’t have to work in my early retirement to live our lifestyle. But I planned on being open to opportunities. Knowing I would most likely take on a paid gig at times. 

Wrapping up-

What having this mindset and plan did was allow me to take on rewarding work in retirement that I wanted to learn and do. Since I stayed on a budget funded by my portfolio, I funneled all earnings back into my net worth. After 11 years of portfolio funded early retirement, with a few working adventures thrown in, I now have a fatter portfolio to go along with my ability to live a better and freer lifestyle. 

Retiring young means still having all of the energy, spirit, and discipline that brought us success in life and career. I’ve found that we’re happiest when we can direct that energy towards something we value. I simply took what I had saved, created a way to access it to fund our frugal living lifestyle, and freed myself to accept opportunities when they were available to me. My early retirement was never about retirement as it’s hardly what many would call a retirement. Not unless the same retirement mindset that I have can be accepted. There’s always more than just one way. 

Celebrating My 11th Year Of Early Retirement, Although…

Financially Free, Living in the Moment, Retire Early,

Wow, today is my 11th early retirement anniversary from when I walked away from a long telecom career. It has been quite a ride, although I would be fibbing to say year eleven was a stellar year of early retirement living. I hope to soon look back and say at least I survived the pandemic of 2020. Not just the virus, but also the numerous other assaults on reason and humanity over the year. I will also look back knowing we did what we could to help others so it might be a little better. No, my 11th year of early retirement has nothing to brag about. There was a lot given up even within our frugal early retirement lifestyle. But with all of that, there are still some 11th year blessings to celebrate.

Celebrating My 11th Year Of Early Retirement, Although...

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It Wasn’t Great But I’m Still Celebrating My 11th Year Of Early Retirement

There are things that were cancelled or I had to stop doing this year. 

Hiking – 

We would hike the trails near our home 5 days a week. Just pick a path and go out for an hour or two. Normally we would see a handful of other hikers. But with lockdowns and the fortunate who could work from home, the trails were packed with people. Many without masks huffing and puffing. We grew tired of trying to avoid being too close to people and gave it up. 

Library – 

I really enjoy spending a little time at our library once a week. I had a routine to browse the DVD section for new movie releases and score a few for the week’s entertainment. First they were shut down and then once opened under restrictions I decided not to go back until vaccination. 

Social life – 

I missed my daily trip to the local coffee shop for a cup and social interaction. Once socially distanced indoor service opened up during the summer I would mask up and have a seat when there were few inside. A small taste of pre-pandemic life. But many times that meant going when nobody else was there for a break out of the house but not so social. Still, I wanted to continue supporting the business and when crowded I would simply settle for take out. 

Events – 

Our community has many free events. Concerts, car shows, Oktoberfest, art festivals, county fair, etc. I attend many and volunteer at some of them. It is one of the special things that make early retirement fun and a bonus for living here. This year they were all cancelled and a couple that went ahead were heavily limited and restricted.

Travel –

All of our travel was cancelled. Our yearly travel includes seeing extended family to stay connected. That really hurt. We did a few day trips June through September. Mostly to the mountains or small town destinations where we could sightsee and avoid crowds. For the most part we avoided going out and about anywhere public on these outings. 

Sit down restaurant eating, movies, and shopping –

Our last sit down restaurant meal was Valentine’s Day. Although we don’t typically eat out or go to movies all that much, we miss being able to freely do it. Occasional takeout was a less eventful substitute. Although we aren’t big shoppers, being able to just drop into grocery without much thought was missed. We’ve relied on online order and pickup and every trip into grocery for small needs took crowd analysis and run-ins with the infectious undead, I mean unmasked.

Lost friends –

I did lose people I knew or who were friends through death or beliefs. There were a couple of people who couldn’t accept my mask. My thought is that they were free to believe what they believe and to risk it all by having-at-it. But somehow my decisions to mask in public and heavily limit my social interactions were an affront to their existence, worth verbal attack and shunning. They at least gesture that I’m number 1 when they see me in town. 

There are plenty of reasons for me to celebrate early retirement year number eleven

No forced dangerous work –

I can imagine how things would have been had I still been in my first long career. A dark corporate mindset that loved to pick winners and losers based on measures other than performance or even job responsibility. Seemed I was constantly chosen for all the dangerous or less savorable duties. Sometimes under threat when challenged. I felt fortunate that I didn’t have to endure what many had to during this past year. Deciding between risking their health or losing their income. I feel for anyone whose work wouldn’t or couldn’t protect them from this plague. 

No threats to shelter and food –

Because of FIRE I never had to worry about making ends meet, unlike far too many others. Being debt free, frugal living, and having a long-term sustainable early retirement budget aligned with my savings meant uninterrupted sufficient income. 

Saved a lot in spending that allowed us to help our kids – 

Without travel or recreation this year we had extra room in our budget to help our kid’s families. They took income reductions and had added expenses when food and some service needs costs went up.

A couple of months working at my daughter’s new place –

My youngest daughter spent the lockdown with a teenager and two hounds in a 2 bedroom rented condo. That was enough for her to decide she wanted a home of her own. She was fortunate her lease was up and she jumped early after restrictions were eased to find a house. She scored an older home that needed some maintenance for a price within her budget. I was able to spend 2 or 3 days a week during August and September getting reacquainted with my tools, ladder, and old guy homeowner skills. It broke up the mononanty of pandemic life and helped her get to a good place. I also won the approval of her neighbors who were happy to see the place being fixed up. 

The ability to donate –

With so many in need we were able to up our donations for the socially oppressed and needy this year beyond our normal church and supported charities. We feel the unfairness of the power dynamics and the pandemic’s impacts. I’m still trying to grasp this crazy situation where those that work for a living get hit worse than the stock market. I get that the market looks ahead, but that doesn’t help those in the now. I don’t celebrate the situation but that we had the ability to do what we could. 

Freedom to believe in God, medical professionals, science, and decency –

This 11th year taught me a lot in how much freedom is within our own minds. I consider myself financially free but it means nothing without health, love, and life. How different my 11th year would have been had I been mentally imprisoned by conspiracy theories and idol worship. I’ve the freedom to not worry about what others do or believe, nor feel I’m a victim of “the others”. I’m the master of my own domain and don’t require anyone’s approval, acceptance, or membership. 

My 12th year early retirement planning

I don’t know what the future will bring. There is a lot quickly changing both near and far. I do know what I plan on doing at the most basic level. The rest will be a let’s see what happens first. If I’ve learned anything in these 11 years of retirement it’s the importance of embracing flexibility.

Vaccine –

I will freely choose to get the vaccine as soon as my number is called. I believe the rest of my year will bank on accomplishing that first. 

Masks –

Even after being vaccinated I plan that I will be wearing a mask until the 4th quarter when enough people have been vaccinated and COVID-19 trends look good. I’m hopeful events will start up again and I will happily attend them while being masked. The same goes with hiking, going to the library, shopping, and all the other little things that I enjoy doing. 

Limited travel to see extended family –

I am hopeful that I and my family will be vaccinated by this summer so that we can get together once again. Other than that I think we will wait for any other travel plans. I suspect as things safely open up that the overwhelming pent up travel demand will make things tough to get a decent deal anywhere. If I’m wrong about that then I will reconsider.

Hair –

I haven’t had a haircut since last February. It has gone far beyond shaggy to long and I’m reintroduced to my mid-1970s teenage long hair life. I fully embraced the bandanna headband, channeling my inner Tommy Chong while open top convertible cruising all summer. I see this next year going with more of a Viking look. Half up ponytail and maybe some micro braids. That is as long as my wife keeps her sense of humor. 

4th quarter normalcy – 

I am hoping for, thus planning for, pandemic numbers and facts to be great by 4th quarter 2021. Then full maskless life can once again safely make sense.

Continue my same asset allocation –

My portfolio asset allocation has been maintained through rebalancing and will continue doing so as needed. The market has escalated in hopes of a rebounding post vaccine economy, pent up demand, and a new presidential administration. Let’s hope it’s right.

 

Yes, my 11th year of early retirement was nothing fantastic. But I still feel blessed. I’m not planning on a fantastic 12th year either because of Rona and its damaging impacts are far from over. When I look back at this 11th year I will think about a mentality parallel between people ignoring pandemic safety recommendations and the basic FIRE principles that would better their lives. Basically you just can’t save everyone. And that’s OK. We all should have the freedom to choose our own path as long as we don’t drag others down with us if things don’t go our way or later cry about it. 

My early retirement journey was born of both crucible and hope. Something that this past year offered in abundance. Perhaps this pandemic and everything that has happened will cause us all to rethink our future and plan for a better life. Then do something to make it happen.

Binary Early Retirement Is Nonsense

Financial Independence, Financially Free, Retire Early, Retire Often,

What seems to be an issue with some folks when it comes to financial freedom and early retirement is it’s either this or that. You’re either financially free and retired or not. Basically, If you choose to do any kind of paid work or activity then you are no longer retired or financially free. Give me a break, what a crock! Binary early retirement is nonsense. Having financial freedom means having choices without financial worry when using our common sense. Yet people just can’t shed outdated notions about early retirement and the financial freedom that allows for it. Especially those binary early retirement loving critics who haven’t experienced it for themselves. That said, let me say I do see why they think what they think and I hear their criticism. Simply, there are long entrenched traditions regarding retirement. However, let me explain where I am coming from. 


Binary Early Retirement Is NonsensePhoto by Franck V. on Unsplash

Why Binary Early Retirement Is Nonsense

After nearly 10 years of early retirement through financial freedom that has included a stepped down position, a highly paid encore career, a lucrative retirement side hustle, a fun little short-term retirement gig, and this early retirement focused website, I speak from REAL experience. I claim and truly believe I’ve been retired and financially free through it all. All the way back to day one in 2009 when I ditched my long career. I live it and I have enjoyed the hell out of it. I’ve even increased my wealth at my pleasure, on my terms, and at our corporate world’s expense (yes, I have a particular attitude toward the corporate world). A total win-win!

 

I use the terms “highly paid, lucrative, and increased wealth” above to get the attention of any financially focused binary early retirement believers. 

But the reason I can honestly say that I was still retired and financially free the entire time I was getting paid working is I had the financial freedom to accept worthy opportunities I was interested in doing without regard to pay. I also had the financial freedom to quit doing them as soon as my interest ended, regardless of what they paid, and I certainly did. 

 

Financially free early retirees still have all the energy and drive that got them there. If they choose to work pursuing their interests and passions they can still consider themselves retired and financially free. 

They can then add any earned income to their portfolio, donate it to charity, or use it to help support a cause or hobby they want to continue pursuing. That’s the freedom lifestyle earned through executing a successful spending, debt elimination, and investment strategy.

 

It’s the absence of NEEDING to work that defines retirement, not the absence of working 

 

That’s not just some catchy concept, it defines retirement perfectly. Reject the outdated and rigid notion that we work until we can afford to retire and then never work for pay again. Why be financially free and then put limits on our freedom? 


Everyone’s vision of financial freedom and early retirement is different 

What’s common among them is that they have enough of a portfolio and/or passive income to be able to pull off their desired version of FIRE. A version which may or may not include any paid work. 

 

If doing any paid work in early retirement turns you off then don’t do it. I’ve freely chosen not to be in the paid work game since the summer of 2016. But, if the right opportunity presents itself I wouldn’t binary label myself retired and not pursue it. That’s the beauty of financial freedom.

 

There’s no call for trolling or shaming anyone who engages in a paid activity in their early retirement. Nor any other dictates of binary early retirement where it’s this way to be considered early retired or you’re not. Don’t let others negative opinions who unproductively criticize dissuade you from your own early retirement vision. Take away ideas from financially free early retirement stories and live your own vision. 

 

OK, I feel better now.

 

It’s OK To Have Dark Early Retirement Motivation

Financially Free, optimism, ,

Early retirement is something that doesn’t need much promotion. Thinking about having the time to pursue whatever it is we want to do is extremely motivating and positive. It can push us to do everything it takes to get there. Most early retirement stories and articles concentrate on the absolute rainbows and unicorns of early retirement life and why we should shoot for it. That is if we heed the warnings and do it right. Happy thoughts and outcomes, that’s what people want to see. But let’s not kid ourselves. That isn’t our only motivation to ditch the rat race. For many, they also have some dark early retirement motivation that equally pushes them to achieve their financial goals. And on our last day on the job we truly understand the meaning to the saying, success is the best revenge.

It’s OK To Have Dark Early Retirement Motivation

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Bringing Dark Early Retirement Motivation Into The Light

After almost 9 years of early retirement under my belt I now feel ready to reveal the obvious.  Not everything about my early retirement desires were about freedom and pursuing passions. Wow! That is so liberating to no longer keep secret. I know I am breaking from early retirement article rules of keeping things cheery and positive or “how to”, “how I did it”, types of advice. But I just can’t keep quiet about it anymore. If I spell it out maybe others who silently suffer with dark early retirement motivation can stop wondering if they are alone or normal.

When Powerless You Can’t Openly Block The Backhand Of Dark Authority, You Make Bricks

I had many great experiences and good runs of decent and competent superiors and peers. But I also had a lot of, way too much of, dark early retirement motivation. If my long career experience in the corporate world was overall fair and rewarding I certainly wouldn’t have considered retiring early. There are very few people who love what they do and where they do it their entire working lives. Few have the privilege of working in an environment of true corporate nirvana where everyone is treated fairly and with respect. At least I have been told that such places exists. But from my experience that wasn’t the reasons people generally loved their corporate life for the long-term. Some lived a charmed existence through connections or power. While others were happy to drink the kool-aid or ignore their plight as unchangeable, expected, and accepted.

I wasn’t any of the above. I had no connections, was considered unprotected, and completely competent at my job. The perfect target for lazy and sometimes incompetent, power-drunk, self-serving managers in a fast-paced technical environment. Throw in a few backstabbing ladder climbing peers and you have numerous opportunities to encounter the darkness of corporate life.

I saw what happened when someone in my same employment class attempted to openly challenge their unfair situation. It never went well. It’s always best to diplomatically handle oppressive or unfair treatment, or at least try to. Sometimes it will work, but much of the time it won’t. And when it didn’t work, it built a foundation of dark early retirement motivation, brick by brick.

Turning The Dark Into Something Positive

When in dark work related situations you either whither, win or lose resisting it, or somehow subversively turn it to your advantage. I watched others lose-it and challenged corrupt or incompetent authority and lost, then paying the ultimate price or just walked off with no clear plan forward. I instead resolved to put my darkness inspired feelings towards what I really wanted- My eventual early retirement freedom.

There is no question that earning income must be sustained to save enough to retire early. I learned to control emotion to outlast and maneuver through or around any dark bullying idiots in power or their sycophants. Being in a position that had executive exposure where some were as “Dick” as they come, proven later with felony convictions, I experienced a couple of close calls when someone, anyone “unprotected” had to pay for another’s blunder.

The dark certainly triggered my freedom journey. It ran beneath the surface of all the great and happy motivations for early retirement. Knowing what I hoped to never continue living with, helped define what I wanted in early retirement. Reaching the point where I could retire gave me personal power. When there is no longer a financial or career threat that can be leveraged against me, I then could turn the tables on the power dynamics in a world that has no shortage of bullying self-serving authority figures and their merry bands of rectal fingerlings to do their dirty work.

Using The Dark Experiences For A Better Early Retirement

I used my experience of the dark in the corporate world to not only help motivate me to retire early but also create what I wanted to retire to. I feel retirement is defined as the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working and I have been able to successfully live it.

Since my first retirement I have experienced some great retirement gigs and a super rewarding encore career. Not that there wasn’t any of the same dark bullying BS going on around me. It’s just when you are doing something because you want to, not need to, they have no power over you. I could successfully decline indecent and unfair demands, deploy being rationally unreasonable in setting my work terms, or just walk away. I learned what I wanted to learn and did what I wanted to try doing. They paid me for my work and it was a win-win relationship. Right up until the moment I decided I was done and retired again.

Having now finished my bucket list of opportunities that I wanted to explore, I am perfectly happy being away from paid work. Especially staying clear of the corporate world. That is until something interesting comes along. I’m always open to opportunities. For me, that’s the way to retire early where only the light, unicorns, and rainbows are welcome.

A Toast To Dark Early Retirement Motivation

Here’s to all the dark I experienced and saw during the 31 years of my first career. It helped motivate me to be an early retirement success- The bullying, manipulation, lies, backstabbing, politics, theft, deception, threats, scapegoating, nepotism, favoritism, cover ups, and even sexual harassment (holy crap she was the worst). I say thank you for providing me all the necessary dark early retirement motivation that I ever needed.   

Finally to the darkest of my past corporate experiences that motivated me to do everything that was necessary to retire as early as possible. Here’s to my team members Don and Jim with whom I shared time in the trenches with. Both kind, dedicated, and competent at what they did. Two decent human beings who after decades of service were corporate downsized before they were ready to retire and ended up taking their own lives. R.I.P., you are not forgotten.