Category Archives: Passion

The Retirement Mortality Creep Made Me Do It, What A Nag

Cars In Retirement, Early Retirement Lifestyle, Passion, ,

Having enjoyed nearly 12 years of early retirement freedom, I understand what got me here and what’s necessary. I’m now in my early 60s and consider myself fully experienced in retirement or at least my version of retirement. I would think by now that I could peacefully go through retirement without being constantly nagged that I’m blowing it, but nooooooo!  I’m instead constantly battling with the retirement mortality creep. A two faced and unrelenting little monster that has creeped into my thought process and is always hanging around. 

I know why it’s there. Choosing to retire early funded from a less than obese portfolio comes with the paradox. Wanting to live a full and free life taking full advantage of time left here. But also not doing anything stupid that would cause blowing through the nest egg before leaving the planet. Is it possible to both love and hate this nagging creep?  

The Retirement Mortality Creep Made Me Do It, What A Nag

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Trying To Find Balance With The Retirement Mortality Creep

I’ve always told myself that life’s too short to waste on doing things you don’t want to do or live a life you don’t want to live. It was a keystone motivation to ditch the corporate rat race and strive for early retirement.

That awareness of having finite time was a primary motivation to get out while young is most likely when the morality creep was introduced. It was a love fest then because it was helping me meet my financial goals. The focus was all on working to save enough to fund life’s adventures before it’s too late to enjoy them. But time and mortality is a difficult concept to mentally quantify and reconcile. 

The thought of our own mortality is one thing when you’re young, healthy, and looking at it as 30 or 40 years plus out. It’s another after you start to feel the aches and pains that a lifetime of sports, bumps, bruises, and abuse your body is coming to collect on. It starts with hints of pain specifically designed to be our daily reminder that things are a changin. There’s a Liberty Mutual TV ad of kids skipping rope into old age with the final quip “everything hurts”. It’s only funny because of how true it is. That reality is exactly what the retirement mortality creep feeds on, just when our health and mortality all comes into better focus. 

Our brain either openly or subconsciously pays attention and figures it out. 

That’s the retirement mortality creep that can throw us off plan. When we start to think and act with the view of everything within an ever compressing timeframe of health and life, or for some maybe thinking it’s a lot longer than it really is. It can cause us to impulsively change our plan or how we want to live. Part of the problem is that this little creep which was a key motivator to have a happy fully funded retirement now talks out of both sides of its mouth. 

My most recent temptation and failure to handle the mortality creep –

Our coming together was unplanned and sudden. Without any doubt, she gave all the signals that I could have her if I wanted her. She was curvaceous and sexy, making me feel younger the minute I was in her presence. I felt something I hadn’t felt since my youth. I knew I entered into a minefield, but the nag of the retirement mortality creep screamed at me, life is short, when will you ever have this chance again? 

It convinced me to allow things to go too far. I was smitten and willing to kick a decades-long love to the curb to make room for her in my life. Throwing it all away to start a new chapter. One that I knew wouldn’t last long. 

She was a beautiful early 70s Corvette Stingray. The car of my teenage year’s dreams and what could be a new addition to my retirement’s automotive passions. The price was right and her condition was spot on. I test drove her and after an hour of checking her every inch, pacing a circle around her, and enduring the mental anguish listening to the voice of my mortality temptor in my ear, I came as close as one could to make her mine. I agreed to buy her but then painfully backed away from the deal. Why? Because the creep abruptly changed its tune and started loudly wondering if the hit to cash reserves might be bigger than expected. 

I checked back later as I questioned my decision. Within 3 hours she had gone home to be with another, ensuring there would be no decision backslide. A month later and I’m still not sure if it was a missed opportunity or successful rescue.

I was shaken and then realized what had happened to me. 

There wasn’t time to fully prepare for this deal. I started to rationalize a one time retirement budget-busting purchase on something that made no financial sense, but one that would add some welcomed passion into my retirement hobby. All because it dropped out of nowhere without time to completely think it through. The mortality creep convinced me that I deserved to have it while I’m still able to enjoy it. Or at least my idea of it, because it’s too easy to only see the upside when in this mortality mind-mode. 

That is until the creep changed course, forgetting all about pushing to take advantage because it’s a short life and living it up. Now this nag was focusing on the considerable ancillary costs associated with this, as is with most things in life. It was warning me that even though I have the cash to get it, maybe I’m spending money I’ll need much later in life to aid an older, broken down me.

I was mentally rushed during this decision because I knew the opportunity for her and my healthy active life were both fleeting. A bad combination when not prepared to do battle with the retirement mortality creep. It made me see how this slow unconscious reaction to the realization of leveraging my limited time to the fullest vs the chance of living a lot longer needing me to throttle myself now. One thing I certainly now understand, this creep sure cramps my mojo.

Mortality awareness can unnecessarily drive us to both take and avoid risk.

I wrote recently how I have been dealing with a spending problem. The problem of good savers being lousy retirement spenders. I even pledged to do better with YOLO opportunities before it’s too late. Even with that spending issue already mentally recognized, it still subconsciously played a part in how my latest fail went down. It shows me that it isn’t easy and takes more effort. 

It’s a mindwarp of mixed messages. 

  • Don’t spend too much because you or your spouse might live to age 100 and outlive your money. 
  • Don’t be a miser and miss out on living. Time is spent and can’t be bought back. 

I have no problems living a frugal life for all the day to day and little things. I’ve never struggled or regret any of that. The problem is when I really want to take rare opportunities to live large and make a big one-time purchase that bounces off of an overall portfolio strategy. Giving voice to the other side, you might need it as an old human. 

What This Latest Go Around With The Creep Has Taught Me

I think this latest battle between living life to the fullest vs being responsible with spending at all costs is that I tend to lean toward the safest route. Sure, I want to be the adventurous fun seeking freak, but it is hard for me to jump in without first thoroughly testing the waters. 

I need to remind myself of this Tony Robbins quote: “People will do more to avoid pain than they will do to gain pleasure.”  Just a little something to throw back at the creep and counter my safer route tendencies.

It’s easy to say embrace life. But even when knowing that life and health are fleeting, responsibility and respect for unknown possibilities can cause us to flinch. I wish I knew the answer or formula to balancing the retirement mortality creep’s mixed messaging. Especially for those like myself that tend to lean towards always taking the safe and risk averse approach. I think we all have to work that out for ourselves. But I am going to start by asking myself a couple of things.

Is it following a true interest or passion?

There is value in spending our limited time pursuing our interests and passions. Doing things that make us tick, even when it might cost us a little financially. The criteria it must meet is that It’s something that will bring pleasure into life.

Will it provide a great experience and worthwhile memories without causing long-term financial damage?

In the end it’s our pleasurable memories we appreciate. They keep us going and remind us we are alive. The dream car could have certainly done that for me. The trick is doing all that we can to make sure it isn’t a nightmare scenario we’re entering into. One that spends too much money or time in areas we can’t or wish to no longer tolerate. 

Can it be considered an investment? 

Not purely financially, but personally through the experience. Taking the family on a vacation could be viewed as an investment in the relationships. One time purchases like my recent car fail, I would have invested in myself and scratched an itch that occupies space on the bucket list. It could have added some fun to my retirement hobby. The car may or may not be a financial investment. But it would never be a total loss if later sold and well worth the experience.  

Is there a practical exit strategy if it goes wrong?

I made a living as an engineer countering all possible failure scenarios. This kind of thing shouldn’t be any different. If I were to enter into a situation where it later didn’t meet retirement financial, lifestyle, and passion needs, then I need to have set those exit indicators and have a plan to fix or walk away from it. 

 

Will I ever lose out to the retirement mortality creep in the future? Probably. I am as mistake prone as anyone else and can take the wrong creep argument for or against doing something new or different. I just need to learn something from it with every encounter. 

Deciding to stretch and explore new areas to live life to fullest during our ever shortening time frame means there will always be unknowns. But you won’t know for sure until you research and try. Turning dreams into reality is always an exciting and sometimes risky move. Like deciding to retire early. Which sure has been a successful investment in life’s precious and limited time. 

Managing The Shifting Sands Of Retirement Passions

Early Retirement Lifestyle, Non-financial Aspects of retirement, Passion, ,

There Will Be More Changes Than You Think –

Coming up on retirement or recently retired? Think you’ve planned out and locked-down your retirement lifestyle for the years ahead? Not so fast pal. All those things you think you will spend your retirement doing will most likely change if not end. They are part of the shifting sands of retirement passions. Don’t sweat it. What we do in retirement evolves as our passions zigzag and change. It happens to most of us. But the key to enjoying this ride instead of lamenting a hole in our lifestyle lies in picking up some good retirement habits and ditching some bad ones.

Managing The Shifting Sands Of Retirement Passions

Photo by Fabien Bazanegue on Unsplash

Managing Retirement Passions For Inevitable Change

Planning Our New Retirement Lifestyle Based on Today’s Passions

We all know the importance of retiring to something and that includes our passionate pursuits. They include all the hobbies, sports, travel, and having a robust social life. In my case it also included some working pursuits.

They are the things we love doing, so why wouldn’t we believe it’s exactly what we will do during our retirement life? We certainly should budget for them in both our time and money. It’s a prudent retirement plan assumption. But realistically, those planned interests may only stay with us for part of our retired life.

The reason our passions will shift is we can either settle into a less than hot romance with them or completely fall out of love. That’s right, romance and love. Seems that things we love doing when we were under rat race schedules and obligations can lose steam once we retire and have all the time we want with them. Oh, it’s still hot and heavy initially in retirement. But I can tell you as time goes by, interest can wane on some of our retirement passions as our retirement lifestyle matures. I have seen this happen to me and with others. It is a normal progression for most people, one that we don’t initially think about or plan for in our retirement.

How We Should See Our Retirement Passions

Strike when it’s hot, set it aside when it’s not. Don’t worry about shifting retirement passions because if we are diligent then other things will either replace or push for its evolution. Sometimes what we enjoy and are passionate about today will open the door later on for something we consider better. In my case I followed many passions early in my retirement years that I no longer care to pursue. Others have cooled but are still enjoyed. I now even find myself pursuing interests that weren’t on my retirement radar years ago. In any case, when retirement passions fun hot, lean into them. Don’t be afraid to display your passions and interests either.

The Retirement Habits to Ditch
Rigid to a fault –

It’s common to plan on doing something you love to do throughout your retirement and sometimes with heavy frequency. But it’s like the old joke: Patient- Hey Dr., it hurts when I do this. Dr.- Then stop doing that.

The same goes for our retirement passions. When it hurts or stops being enjoyable, stop doing it or at least less frequently until the passion killing issue is worked out, one way or another.

Comfort zone ruts –

When we no longer are told what to do anymore or have to compete we can go overboard avoiding anything challenging. Retirement can have us wanting everything to be under our full control and easy. This can lead to boredom with anything we enjoyed doing.

Overdoing it –

The other end of human behavior is jumping into a passion like it’s a sprint when it should be a marathon. Nothing kills a retirement passion like becoming tired of it and burned out because of going overboard. It can turn into a unrewarding obligation and burden. Not to mention the possibility of physical injury overdoing active pursuits.

The Retirement Habits to Cultivate
Use moderation to save waning passionate retirement pursuits –

Learn to recognize that a change is necessary before it dies. If it’s something important in your retirement and lifestyle then figure out what needs to be done by pulling back on an overboard pursuit.

Spice things up –

Learn to recognize signs that you are in a rut. Spicing up a too comfortable and easy pursuit will keep it interesting and enjoyable.

Staying curious –

There are always different ways that things are done. Allow yourself to wonder what you could do differently to improve a pursuit. Also stay open to new pursuits and challenges that may appeal to you. Be curious to identify, fully investigate, and research new interests. Exploring different ideas and activities can be an enjoyable pursuit in itself.

Be open to new things, but also be able to say no –  

Balance sticking to things to explore it to the fullest. We all know we can do poorly at first with something new and it requires time to find out if it will become a valued pursuit. But stop once you’ve lost your romance with the challenges of a new pursuit or the passionate interest itself. It’s OK to say it’s not your thing and just move onto something else that will be.

Migrate toward family, friends, and community –

When in doubt, follow what’s natural. There are folks who have nothing they are passionate about doing. Others burn through what the thought they would enjoy doing throughout their retirement and found later that they no longer do. They have no idea how to fill the void that’s left. Passions can be found in simple interaction with those we care about. Volunteering, family activities, and cultivating a good social circle are naturally needed, enjoyable, fulfilling, and rewarding pursuits.

 

With over 9 years of retirement behind me, I have seen some of my passions run their course, change, or be replaced with new ones. There are necessary considerations for any retiree to mentally and financially manage as time passes and our retirement passions evolve.  

Writing In Retirement: How To Prepare For Success

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Writing In Retirement: How To Prepare For Success

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Retiring early and living a passion-driven lifestyle is everyone’s dream, isn’t it?

And the wonderful thing is, it’s not an unachievable goal either. It’s possible to gear yourself up for early retirement by thinking creatively, living frugally, and coming up with a solid pension plan.

 

There are also some solid options available for making money post-retirement too — such as writing. If you’re relatively creative and enjoy writing — whatever the subject — then you may have just found a fun way to keep yourself occupied at home while generating a bit of income.

 

In this post, we’ll be covering writing in retirement, and how you can prepare to ensure some level of success. Read on to find out more.

Start with a blog

Starting your own blog is one of the easiest ways you can experiment with your writing style and your topics. If you really enjoy writing, you might want to go onto something else after.

 

Creating a blog might sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be at all. These days, there are all sorts of “drag and drop” website builders that will let you create a blog easily without the need for any in-depth knowledge of website-building or coding. Plus, there’s plenty of help available online in the form of guides and public forums.

 

So what are you going to base your blog on? The topic is up to you, but it’s normally a good idea to stick to something that you know plenty about. This could be food, traveling, the industry you spent your career working in, or maybe a hobby that you’ve dedicated lots of time to.

 

Once you’ve decided on your blog’s topic, you need to think about your written content. It’s not enough to write well; your blog posts need to be interesting and valuable to your audience. You need to reel in readers with catchy post titles and then keep them engaged with relevant, entertaining content.

 

You’ll also need to write frequently; this will draw more readers to your blog and create a larger audience. Luckily you’re retired, so at least you’ve got a bit of time to spend on this!

Write articles for local newspapers

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys collaborating with a team, working to deadlines and meeting new people, why don’t you start writing articles for local newspapers?

 

You may have to pitch some of your own ideas and writing skills to the editor to prove that you’ve got something to offer, but it’s a good way to get involved in something you’re passionate about.

 

You may find that you have to write for free (at least initially) but conversely, you may get paid per article you write, depending on the publication.

 

Writing for a local newspaper (either digital or printed) also gives you exposure to a wider audience and might even generate some new job opportunities for you. Plus, it’s a nice way to get out of the house and meet new people for the pieces you’re writing.

Self-publish a book on Amazon

You’re retired — now is the time to pen that novel that you’ve always wanted to write!

 

You might find writing a book intimidating initially, but it’s not the biggest leap to make if you’ve been keeping a blog or writing for a local newspaper.

 

Writing your own book and self-publishing is a good way to generate some retirement funds that keep on appearing long after you’ve written the book as people continue to buy it. But how do you publish your book once you’ve written it?

 

Enter Amazon self-publishing.

 

With the creation of Amazon Kindle publishing (KDP), publishing your novel no longer means having to send off hundreds of letters to publishing houses and receiving the same amount of rejection letters back. Self-publishing on Amazon is now easier than ever (though still a bit scary of course!) and far-reaching too — by using Amazon KDP, your work could reach a global audience.  

 

Whether it’s a fictional novel, short story, educational resource or how-to guide, writing a book is similar to writing a blog. Find a topic that you’re interested in and can write confidently on.

 

The audience you’ve gathered and the reputation you’ve built upon your blog will also stand you in good stead when you’re promoting and publishing your book. Your readership will help to support and promote your new venture, as well as purchase your novel based on your previous writing. It’s always good to have a team behind you.

Create a course

You’ve probably gathered a wealth of knowledge and experience in your specialist subject over the years. It seems like a shame to just shove all of that information into a mental compartment and lock it shut once you’ve retired.

 

If you fancy passing on your wisdom and learning to the next generation, then you should consider writing your own online course.

 

The course you create depends, of course, on where your knowledge lies. You could write a course on how to be successful in the industry you worked your way up. Or you could create a series of tutorials for more practical application, like DIY fixes. Maybe you’re a history buff — do a fun mini history course based on different periods. Get creative, and get personal — base the course on your unique skills and knowledge.

 

Once you have picked your topic, you can use an online course platform to build and launch your course. From there, you can promote the course, start charging students and making a nice little post-retirement bonus.

 

These are just some of the things you could do to write successfully in your retirement.

 

Writing in retirement can be a great way to give yourself purpose and add value to your post-work life. It also gives you the chance to share your knowledge and passion with others, express yourself, and make some money.

 

Follow these tips to start your journey to writing in retirement today.

This informative post was contributed to Leisure Freak by author Kayleigh Alexandra.

Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit the blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe. Follow us on Twitter- getmicrostarted.

 

Do Your Retirement Plans Include A Passion For Gardening? Retirement Gardening Tips

Frugal Living, Passion, Saving Money, ,

While I was a working stiff one of our hobbies was working in the yard and gardening. It was a welcome escape from a Tech job of sitting in front of a computer and talking on endless conference calls. It was something my wife and I would do together on weekends chatting and pulling weeds or picking the literal fruits of our labor. We both looked forward to spending our increased available time in retirement to feed our passion for gardening and living a healthy lifestyle. But over the years of our retirement we have learned a few things. Here’s some retirement gardening tips and our observations for anyone planning to retire and spending more time in their yard and garden.

Do Your Retirement Plans Include A Passion For Gardening? Retirement Gardening Tips

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Retirement Gardening Tips to Save Money

Having a lush green lawn and a large garden can be costly in both time and money. Many working people have weekly lawn care to trim and mow, raking leaves, trimming bushes. Then there are services for fertilizing the lawn, aerating, spraying and/or pruning fruit trees, and spraying around the house for invasive pests like spiders and beetles. Some of these may have an ongoing contract where they just show up, do it, then send you the bill. When all added up this can run into a lot of money spent to save you time. Time that may be available once you have retired.

Chances are you already have the mower, line trimmer and other tools already sitting in your garage. Buying a couple of tank sprayers, one for weeds and one for insects, and a fertilizer spreader is not very expensive. There are multiple sources online to provide advice on what types of things to use in your area. Not only do you save a considerable amount of money but you also have knowledge and control over what is sprayed in your environment.

If plants get sugar aphids, professional companies would spray chemical insecticide. The problem is it would also kill any ladybugs that may be feeding on them. The aphids can be easily killed if you want to take the time by spraying them off the leaves with high pressure water from the hose. Try to use natural ways to remove pests and lessen the introduction of harmful chemicals to yourself and beneficial insects like bees and ladybugs when you can.

Retirement Gardening Tips to Save Time

Once I retired our lifestyle gradually evolved and we chose to spend much of the summer in our 5th wheel on our lake property. That has pretty much doubled the yard work but cut our time in half to do it.

As for saving time there are things you can consider. As most people, we have automated home sprinklers. That alone still required hand watering certain areas of the yard and garden based on watering needs. So a few years before I retired  I expanded my old system. I had extra zones on the controller box so I separated zones for flower beds, garden and lawns because of their vastly different water requirements. That way I can water my flower beds and garden twice a day for just a few minutes. My lawn is set for longer but only every 3 or 4 days.

This not only conserves water and saves money but also saves time. No more dragging a hose to water-starved plants. Through experimentation I know in the hottest part of the summer just how much water to give my lawn so that it stays green and yet only grows enough that it needs mowing only every 10 to 14 days. I have gladly given up a weekly lawn mowing routine.

Retirement Gardening Tips For Travelers

If your retirement plans include summer travel you might want to consider planting bushes and perennials that bloom at different times and let them become established. They can keep color in your yard year round with minimal care and to the casual observer it will appear you are home. Adding bark mulch around can keep the soil moist. It then requires less water and slows the weeds, or at least make it easier to pull them. Our city has organic mulch and wood chips available at the landfill at very reasonable prices. We have found that between metered watering of our lawn for slower growth, use of mulch to reduce if not eliminate weeds, and strategic planting of flowering bushes, automatic porch light sensors, and light timers within the home, that our home looks occupied for our extended travels spent at the lake.

Planning Your Garden For Your Evolving Retirement Lifestyle

In the past we grew a large garden with many varieties of vegetables. Coming back from the lake to find 20 giant zucchini too big to eat was irritating. Instead of being happy with a bountiful harvest filling the kitchen it just looked like a huge amount of work. We now only plant as much as we plan on eating with the exception of tomatoes. We harvest and either blanch, peel and freeze for use throughout the year, or we can (jar) salsa, chili and pasta sauce.

When planning your garden, check for vegetables that are cheap at the local farmer’s markets or grocery stores. Let them grow it for you instead of wasting your time, money, and garden space. We love homemade pickles. We used to plant pickling cukes and have them mature 5 or 6 at a time and sit in the fridge until we get enough to can. Now when we see them on sale we buy enough to make a dozen quarts of pickles.

We have a small patch of our garden area dedicated to herbs, garlic, green onions, chives and leeks that will grow almost anywhere. We have parsley, sage, rosemary, and yes thyme, as well as oregano and arugula. In the summer we can get a big pot of basil that we harvest 3 or 4 times and use it fresh or freeze it.

Spending Less On Fruit

Another patch in a less visible spot that used to be garden we planted some raspberry and blackberry bushes. They aren’t especially pretty but they provide a steady supply of berries. We have a small peach tree and a dwarf plum. Neither of which require spraying in our area and only have to be pruned once a year. We enjoy the fresh fruit and also make jam with it.

We enjoy many other types of fresh fruit without having to grow them ourselves. That’s because we have neighbors that have apples and pears and we exchange fruit with them. Look around your neighborhood. Ask your friends and family about setting up a fruit exchange and optimize your fruit variety without increasing your spent time and money.

 

We have found that we can still enjoy our yard and get a bountiful harvest while spending a minimal amount of money on it and only as much time as we would like. These are but a few money and time-saving ideas to consider in your retirement gardening plans. Once retired and your retirement lifestyle becomes more clear, find ways to evolve your gardening passion to align with it.

This article of retirement gardening ideas and tips was written by friend and Leisure Freak reader Ralph Arnold who retired early 8 years ago while in his 40s.

Regardless of your age, there’s nothing better than getting outside, digging in the dirt, and working in the garden. For more gardening info see Gardening Resources for Seniors.

Create A Bright And Colorful Garden On A Budget

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Do you dream of spending lazy afternoons in a beautiful, fresh and inviting garden now that you’ve retired early? Americans are spending more time than ever in their gardens, with 1 in 3 households now growing their own vegetables in their outside space. Spending time in the garden is a relaxing, peaceful and enjoyable pastime for many retirees and it’s a pure luxury to be able to put your feet up and enjoy your surroundings on a warm summer day. Entertaining family and friends in the confines of your garden is a perfect frugal activity for retirees, therefore creating a bright and atmospheric space while sticking to a budget is essential.

Create A Bright And Colorful Garden On A Budget

Photo by Marie-Sophie Tékian on Unsplash

Open up the garden

A simple tidy up and trim of the bushes can be all it takes to turn the garden from a cluttered, overgrown, unappealing mess to a spacious and attractive part of the home that you want to spend bundles of time in, and it doesn’t cost anything to have a bit of a spring clean. During the autumn, crisp leaves which have fallen to the ground will soon become a damp, soggy annoyance. Cleaning these up with a leaf blower will instantly make the garden appear bigger and, while it may be a bit of an investment, there are numerous alternative uses for a leaf blower which make them a good multi-functional tool worthy of the initial outlay.

Inject color

Colorful gardens are fun and bring a smile to your face when you step outside. Fences, planters and wooden pieces of furniture can be painted in an array of colors to instantly brighten the area. Opting for plants and shrubs in different colors, purchased from discount retailers, creates a lively atmosphere which anyone will enjoy relaxing in. While scattering pretty cushions on benches and chairs will make them comfortable and stylish. You can recycle old tin cans by painting and decorating them and filling them with beautiful low-cost plants, too. Or, get the grand-kids to transform the rocks at the bottom of the garden into animals and dot these around the lawn.

Bring the garden to life

Invite friends and family round for a get together and ask they all pitch in to spruce up the garden at the same time. This is a great cost saving method and way to get jobs completed swiftly, while enjoying time together. Someone can mow the lawn, while others trim the bushes and pot some new plants and all you’ll need to do is dish out some ice-cold drinks and pop a few burgers on the barbecue to keep everyone happy. It’s also worth asking your loved ones if they’ve got any old pieces of garden furniture in their sheds that they no longer want, or packets of seeds stashed away that they’re not going to use which you could recycle and put to good use in your own garden.

There is no need to spend a fortune on doing up the garden when there are so many ways to brighten and liven the space up for very little expense.

 

This timely spring-season related article is a contribution to Leisure Freak from freelance writer Jackie Edwards. Thanks Jackie!

Now working as a full-time freelance writer, Jackie Edwards is also a busy mum of two small children. In any free time she has (which isn’t much) she likes to volunteer and do charity work and take the family greyhound Bertie for long walks.

My Well Planned Retirement Lifestyle Got a Lot Wrong

Early Retirement Lifestyle, Non-financial Aspects of retirement, Passion, Retire Early, Retirement Plan,

My well planned retirement lifestyle got a lot wrong. Nothing catastrophic but wrong nevertheless. Successfully getting to early retirement takes a lot of planning. It certainly requires a solid financial plan. But it also needs forward thinking plans about not only financial aspects but the non-financial aspects of retirement. I got a lot of things right and my early retirement is everything I hoped for.

planned retirement lifestyle We can make estimates about future inflation and portfolio returns. We can also dream about our future retirement lifestyle and contemplate the bliss of financial independence.

I was just looking at my old planning notes. Looking back at the past 6+ years of my early retirement I see where my pre-retirement dreams and estimates split with my early retirement reality.

Sometimes you just have to live it to fully understand it.

Here are some things I got wrong that anyone should think about and beyond with their planned retirement lifestyle.

My Planned Retirement Lifestyle Oops

The Financial Side of Things

Inflation isn’t evenly spread across the board –

We all do it. We plug into the retirement calculator  our future inflation estimates based on at least a 3% increase per year or use the PPI or CPI inflation option to understand our retirement funding. But it isn’t that simple. Some things defy that logic by having a far higher inflation rate. If those things are already a high percentage of your budget then all bets are off.

My planned retirement lifestyle oops was about health insurance and how it affected my real inflation rate. I knew health care would be above the standard 3%, PPI or CPI inflation estimates. But I figured other things would be below and it would even out overall. Not so. My health insurance cost is now 80% higher than it was 6 years ago. Not only that but changes in my retirement health benefit plan has done away with copays and I now have higher out-of-pocket costs for any medical issue. What was a yearly $6,700 retirement budget item 6 years ago is now $14,200. It alone represents 36% of my yearly budget which is far more than I estimated.

Inflation Calculation Tip: Take things you believe that could have a higher inflation rate aside from the rest of your budget. Look at everything from insurance to your travel. Calculate what percent it represents of your budget and figure out how much it will increase your overall retirement lifestyle costs. Then raise your overall inflation percentage used in your calculations to account for it. Using the standard 3% or 4% inflation rate may not be enough if you have high-flying budget items.

Retiring with a Mortgage –

Many retirees do retire with a mortgage and I was one of them. I had a low-interest 30 year mortgage and a retirement budget to pay for it. I decided to stay invested instead of paying it off. After all, the numbers worked out in my retirement calculations.

My planned retirement lifestyle oops is about how I underestimated the freedom of being mortgage free. It also allows for more budget options. I only looked at the monthly payment and low-interest rate to decide to keep it. I later began an encore career and used the income from it to pay off my mortgage. Now I see things differently. There were 2 financial factors missing from my first “retire with the mortgage” decision.

  • I didn’t have enough tax deductions and was no longer able to use the mortgage interest tax deduction.
  • My budget was higher to cover the mortgage payment, meaning the possibility of having higher taxable income.

I also didn’t consider the peace of mind factor. Aside from that, it didn’t take long for me to be grateful that the mortgage was paid off once my health insurance and medical costs rose so dramatically. Having no mortgage makes it far easier to absorb such increases in retirement lifestyle costs.

Retiring With or Without Mortgage Decision Tip – When mortgage interest rates are so low it is easy to only consider that in the decision. For many the decision is to stay invested because the investment returns can be higher than mortgage interest saved with a payoff. But it is important to also look at your tax situation. Not only for mortgage interest deductions but also the impact of needing to have higher taxable retirement income to support paying it. Look at the interest saved with a mortgage payoff as a guaranteed return on your money. If you are planning on staying put for a long time then a mortgage payoff might be the better choice.

Can no longer do what I used to do –

I don’t think I am alone with this. In my mind I am still 35 years old and can do anything. The reality is there are things I used to do that I shouldn’t be doing or can’t do anymore. I have now slammed against many physical limitations associated with past sports injuries and overall age related issues. A couple of things have come up since retiring that has opened my eyes. I need to account for this going forward. I am now only 58 and my limitations will only increase over time.

My planned retirement lifestyle oops is I didn’t increase my miscellaneous retirement budget category enough to cover for this. I am surprised at how much it costs to hire someone to do some of the things I do now and things I used to do. Stuff I did back when I could just do things without thinking twice about doing it.

Reduced Abilities Tip – Look at the physical things you do now. Then calculate what it will cost to hire them out when you can no longer do them. For me it is associated with auto repair, home repair, tree removal, etc. Some things like repainting your home exterior will only come up every 5 years or so. I used to do it myself, spending many days on a ladder. Not anymore. Calculate what will be needed in the budget to cover a growing list of new future miscellaneous retirement budget items.

The Non-Financial Side of Things

Less Free Time Than Expected –

You hear it all the time from retirees. “I don’t know how I had time to work before.” I used to think they were nut-jobs. Not anymore. I am really surprised at how little free time I have. In retirement I am way busier than I thought I would be. I attribute it to this: Time flies when you are living life on your terms.

My planned retirement lifestyle oops was around my project plans. I way over committed what I thought I would accomplish. That led to some disappointment when I saw my project list go nowhere. Or at least it is slow-moving.

Less Than Planned Free Time Tip- Lighten up! Enjoy yourself. Don’t make a hard schedule of projects. Prioritize and do what you can. Retirement is to be enjoyed, although I do enjoy completing a long-planned project. I now see that what needs to get done gets done when it’s supposed to get done. Also, don’t do what I used to do. Don’t tell everyone about all your project plans. That way you don’t have to explain why something isn’t finished or even started.

Ageing Parents –

We planned to increase our traveling once we retired early and we set a yearly vacation budget. At first everything went as planned. However the past couple of years have had much more family oriented travel instead of leisure or adventure based vacations.

My planned retirement lifestyle oops is about our aging parents. I did not look ahead at future issues associated with our parents needing more help or they’re becoming immobile as they grow older. When we dream and plan about the future, most people focus on all the great things ahead. We now travel and spend much more time staying with and helping our mothers. We always had plans to frequently visit and do things with family. But it has changed in the last couple of years. It started as planned. Running around together doing fun things but is now spending weeks away from home sitting and visiting with our parents. That wasn’t high in our retirement vision. It is now the reality.

Family Considerations Tip- When making retirement lifestyle dreams think about not only your own aging issues but also of your loved ones. Make the necessary adjustments to your retirement travel plans to allow for the stages of life. Have both active and quiet family visiting/helping time in your ongoing retirement lifestyle vision. Our families are the most important thing and dynamics change. Life is finite so take advantage of the time we do have together by including family time in your planned retirement lifestyle.

Changing Passions and Interests –

Everyone should retire to something not just from something. Before I retired I had a bucket list and some hobbies that I was very passionate about. They were fun and part of my planned retirement lifestyle. I still enjoy and pursue them today.

My planned retirement lifestyle oops is about underestimating how quickly some passions and interests can change once retired. I had a lot of time to pursue them and did so happily. But like anything else when done over time, my feelings have changed about some of them. From bucket list encore careers to my automotive hobby, my interests have changed.

Retirement Hobbies, Interests, and Passions Tip- Understand that some of the things that you planned on retiring to may someday not be as enjoyed. Retirement should be over a long period of time. Pace yourself in the things you enjoy doing and always be curious and open to trying new ideas and activities. Playing golf every day over months and years may end up becoming less enjoyable over time.

For me, my encore career passions and interests have run their course and are now behind me. I was somewhat surprised at how quickly I was ready to retire again. That is just fine with me as there are other passions to pursue. Some of my hobbies are still high on my list. But I have purposely throttled back a little with them to allow more time to explore and grow other activities and hobbies as part of my updated planned retirement lifestyle

In Closing

My well planned retirement lifestyle got some things wrong. The things I have listed gives an idea of how there will be some misses in planning for life after retirement. They don’t have to be retirement downers. Just understand that retirement means staying flexible and agile with what you do and how you do it.

A Fun Retirement Job Starts With Your Motivation

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I have had a few working opportunities since my first early retirement. I can tell you that a Fun Retirement Job Starts With Your Motivation. Work and Fun together in the same sentence seems to be the ultimate oxymoron. But the reality is that working for the right reasons in retirement can be fun. I love the definition of retirement as the absence of NEEDING to work. Basically we are still retired if we choose to work for reasons other than our financial survival. Being forced back to work for a paycheck just to make it is unfortunately another flavor of the rat race.

More and more people plan on working in retirement. There are many reasons why retirees choose to work. Motivators include:

  • Working in a Field of Interest and Passion
  • Being Social
  • Brain Stimulation
  • Staying Active
  • Learning New Things
  • etc.

For some retirees the motivation to work in retirement is for a financial boost or extra play-money. For a fun retirement job money can’t stand alone and shouldn’t be the only motivator.

No matter what our reason is for starting a new retirement gig, having a fun retirement job starts with our motivation. Then using our motivation to pick the right job that checks off all of our motivation boxes.

My Fun Retirement Job Experiences

I had always planned on retiring early and often. Since my first early retirement as an engineer from a long telecom career I have had some amazing retirement jobs. I call these fun retirement jobs my passion driven opportunities.

Wireless Telecommunications NOC Tech

A stepped down responsibility position from my land-line engineer career where I was able to learn everything I could about wireless networks.

Cable Video on Demand Systems Analyst

This was my encore career. It was a nice transition into IT away from my earlier life in network operations. I was able to use a lot of my passion focused skills to learn and work in the video world.

Cable Telecommunications Billing Systems Analyst

This was a 7 month early retirement side hustle. It started as the most perfect and fun consulting gig I have ever done. I was able to use the skills that I like doing from my first and second career together.

Craft Beer Bartender

This was a part-time gig of passion. I love a good beer and the craft beer movement. It’s a totally new working experience and it gave a huge boost to my social circle.

Not a bad run of opportunities since first retiring in December 2009. These passion driven opportunities were all fun retirement jobs for me. It was my motivation that made them that way. Many of my coworkers in these gigs were not having fun. That is because they HAD to work there. They were motivated by career driven money reasons and their financial survival.

What was their rat race existence was my learning, social outlet, rewarding (financially and otherwise), passion driven and fun experience.

Having the Right Motivation: The Key to a Fun Retirement Job

We have all been there. Having a job to pay the bills and enduring the crappy commute. We lived for payday and the weekends. If we were lucky we had some fun doing what we did for money.

Working in retirement has the same challenges. There is still usually a commute and a work schedule which obligates our time to be committed to the employer.

The difference that makes a fun retirement job is we only work in retirement because we want to. The key is tying anything we do to our passions and interests. Otherwise we trade one rat race lifestyle for another.

Work is work but if we choose our retirement job correctly, the Fun comes when everything is aligned perfectly.

My motivation has always been to try and learn new things. I also focused on skills I enjoyed using and steered clear of skills that I had and didn’t enjoy doing. My passion driven opportunities were for reasons other than money.  That is what made them fun. Money was just the frosting on the cake. I targeted areas of high interest and passions. How could I not enjoy doing them? It also doesn’t hurt knowing that leaving a job is always an option.

Sometimes it doesn’t Work Out or Last

We will never know until we know. As we grow and move forward some of our passions and interest can change. That is when a passion driven retirement opportunity can stop being fun. The money side of the brain can take over and convince us to stick it out. But that isn’t what working a fun retirement job is about.

When the fun ends then that is when it’s time to move on. Life is short. That is the “retire often” part I love. When I hear that little voice that I have all I wanted from the opportunity and it loses its fun-factor it is time for me to go.

Sometimes the opportunity is still something I have interest in or passion for but other elements have made it lose its luster and fun.

  • Difficult Coworkers and/or Managers
  • Difficult Clients
  • Change in Work Scope
  • Commuting Changes
  • Health and Wellness Issues

There can be a number of reasons that can make what was a fun retirement job turn into dreaded unsatisfying work. Once our motivation is no longer being met then it becomes another obligation slog. Just like any pre-retirement job. It is then time to move on to the next fun retirement adventure.

In Closing

a Fun Retirement Job Starts With Your MotivationI just ended a short 3 month run as a Craft Beer Bartender. It was a blast and totally outside of anything I have done before. The people were great, the PUB was awesome, it was close to home and I learned a lot.

However my old back injury was aggravated by all the standing on hard surfaces and the constant bending over for low stored items / low dish sink. I have had to limit a lot of things I used to do because of my back issue. So I had to resign and return to loyal customer status.

I only worked part-time a couple of shifts a week. It was still a scheduled obligation and if it wasn’t fun it would feel like an unwanted obligation. Looking forward to going in for a shift was exactly what a fun retirement job is about.

On my last shift which was this past Saturday I felt more sadness about leaving coworkers and the business than I did in my first 2 early retirements. It was hard to quit something I was enjoying doing and being a part of. Sometimes things just don’t work out but we gain great things in the experience.

Who knows what or when the next passion driven opportunity will come along. Early retirement is an adventure. My primary motivator is to strive to keep it fun and rewarding.

Are you open to considering working a fun retirement job?

Early Retirement is like leaving the Casino when ahead

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My Father-in-law told me, Do Not Let Greed Delay Your Retirement, Early Retirement is like leaving the Casino when ahead. My father-in-law passed away suddenly a year ago and today has me remembering his wise advice. His is a cautionary tale that stuck with me and contributed to my own early retirement story. I was still several years away from my early retirement goal and my father-in-law had only been retired for a couple of years when he offered his advice to me.

Early Retirement is like leaving the Casino when ahead – Odds Favor the House

Your Employer Can Change the Rules

My father-in-law worked for United Airlines on their Ramp Services Crew. His career was about loading bags and freight with a mind to keep the plane’s cargo evenly distributed, de-icing planes in the winter, and everything else that they were to do. 30 years into his job that provided awesome travel benefits he could retire with a full pension, his 401K, and a bunch of United Airlines stock given to employees instead of salary raises. As he explained, only after you retired could you cash out of that stock and diversify (before new rules about employee stock holdings).

At age 58 he was still healthy and although he had plans of retiring and traveling the world on the retired airline employee travel benefits he decided that by staying a few more years he could build up more savings and collect higher social security later on.

A few years pass and some freight shifts during loading a plane and injures his back. After medical treatment and some rehab he returned to work but his back was never the same. He hung in there a few more months until he hit 35 years of service and retired.

Aside from health issues associated to his back injury something else happened during those last months while he was getting ready to retire. United Airlines filed for bankruptcy. His company stock representing years of raises was all but wiped-out overnight. You don’t get a warning so you can quickly retire and sell your stock (that would be insider trading). So he counted his blessings and retired with his pension. Soon afterward United Airlines ditched their pension and handed it off to the PBGC which came with a reduced monthly benefit.

Your Health Can Change

6 months after retiring he found out he has bladder cancer. After surgery and other cancer treatments it was successfully removed but left him tethered. He needed to always be close to a rest-room which made the thought of traveling less attractive to him. Still feeling blessed for beating cancer he couldn’t help but to think what if. “What if I had retired when I was 58 with my 30 years? I would have been able to sell that stock and travel as we had always planned.” What if indeed.

As he told me, “I got greedy and should have left the casino when I was ahead”. Ahead in both retirement money and health. He knew of my early retirement goal and then warned me, “Don’t Let Greed Delay Your Retirement because your future is unknown”. He then said he didn’t believe in crying over spilled milk but knowing what he knows now he would have left as soon as he could. The old hind-sight dealio for him but great advice for me to chew on.

Cancer would have still visited him but they would have had a few healthy years to get out and do all the traveling they had long-planned to do.

Leaving the Casino When Ahead

I did take his advice to heart. We don’t know what our future holds for us. Early Retirement is like leaving the Casino when ahead. If you stay too long or linger eventually the House will win. The “House” or “Casino” is the system of life in the modern world. The system where we work doing things other than what we really want to do by trading our time for money.

We choose financial responsibility as our game of choice which is our gamble to winning a chance to have as much time as possible HAPPILY LIVING free from needing to work.

We gamble that financial responsibility will pay off and we will be able to follow our passions and our interests before our slowing through aging, decreased health and then leaving the planet with our inevitable death.

With the anniversary of my father-in-law’s passing it is something that I have thought a lot about lately.

Do Not Let Greed Delay Your Retirement – The Temptation for More Money

There are the internal factors like greed and fear at work tempting us to work longer, save more, and delay our retirement for more money. There are also the externally applied messages to feed our greed and fear.

  • Messages telling us we need huge sums to retire with the same lifestyle we have when working.
  • Messages telling us we need to delay retirement to get bigger Social Security checks.
  • Messages telling us we need to plan on funding retirement until age 100.

Early Retirement is like leaving the Casino when aheadThese generic messages can cause us to look at what we have and decide to risk doubling down to have even more. Gambling our decreasing time for more money. Some folks pull it off but many lose. The odds favor the house. Life is finite. We burn through our time no matter how much is left, great or small. Most people have to burn through their time because they don’t play the game well (spending foolishly instead of saving/investing, heavy debt, making bad financial decisions) or have a long run of bad luck (poor work opportunities or underemployed) where the cards never came up for them. However if we do play well and have luck fall our way then we should resist greed or fear and know when to leave the casino when ahead.

Early Retirement is like leaving the Casino when ahead – Know When Enough Is Enough

This article isn’t about being financially reckless and pitching a career without first having done all that needs to be done to fund our retirement. Beating the House and winning with early retirement means we had just enough good luck and have played the game well through practice, commitment, and learned skills. We gambled with our earnings by saving and investing instead of seeking instant consumerist gratification. Gambling that we are going to hit the jackpot of retirement and have a greater tomorrow. If we are fortunate we will have retirement earlier than most who are spending time in the casino.

With the constant generic messages of needing more and more to retire comfortably we should take that in stride and run our own numbers.

Everyone’s retirement lifestyle and lifespan is different.

We can’t exactly pinpoint our lifespan but we do have clues.

  • Our relative’s health and lifespans
  • Our current health
  • The actuarial lifespan estimates

We can account for the chances of longevity and hedge that bet either with our investment bucket strategy or by throwing in a QLAC if we want a longevity annuity.

Knowing how much we need to live our retirement lifestyle and how much we have wisely invested tells us whether we should exit the casino. It allows us to put our winnings to the test and know when enough is enough. I like to use the free Monte-Carlo type Retirement Calculator by FIRECalc. We can’t know when enough is enough until we finish running our own unique and specific numbers.

Having the right focus isn’t greed

Some believe that people who become frugal and super savers are money focused and greedy. I think they miss the point. If there is greed to be found in financial independence and retiring early it is in our wanting to cherish our time and not waste any more than we have to stuck in the rat race. We are time focused not money focused. Time is what we all gamble with. Greed comes into play when we lose sight of that and stay in the Casino far longer than we need to.

Final Thoughts

I miss my father-in–law. My father who I also greatly miss had passed away years earlier at an age below actuary lifespan estimates. Both of them succumbed to a form of cancer. Another piece of the casino’s bad luck that many of us may have a run of.

I have got a few calls lately from recruiters wanting to pitch opportunities that are aligned with the encore career I retired from not long ago. I admit the temptation of earning some extra cash and its high paying salary. I am all about retiring early and often.

It stokes some interest but only until I think about this game of chance I would again be playing. Re-entering the Casino and gambling my time for extra cash. Doing something that I am not passionate about and the entire time hoping I will still have time tomorrow to follow what my passions and interests are, living life again on my terms. I retired from that work for a reason because it no longer interests me. Why gamble with my time?

Once we know when enough is enough and have the smarts to leave the Casino while we are ahead we get the other prize brought by our won financial independence: Removing money from our life’s decisions. We can make decisions made at our spirit, our heart, our soul’s level.

Do you have any thoughts about Early Retirement is like leaving the Casino when ahead?

Retired Multimillionaire Busboy Dishwasher

Passion, Retire Early, Retire Often, Working In Retirement,

This weekend I saw a Retired Multimillionaire Busboy Dishwasher. I know many early retired folks who since retiring have either happily started their own businesses, began their dream encore career, or simply have taken on part-time work for a scaled down approach to working. All of them doing what interests them and doing what is aligned with their values and passions. They don’t need to work but they want to. After all, that is what retiring early and often is all about. However this guy is someone I would not have expected to see with an apron on and taking on the cleanup role at a grand opening for a new (craft beer) micro-brewery.

He happens to be the only Multimillionaire that I know.

We met years ago through our shared automotive hobby interests and through some of my volunteer work. That said I won’t be specific with his name or the establishment for privacy reasons. He is a good guy, very down to earth, and active in the community. His is a story that illustrates that working in retirement doing what you want to do and enjoy doing is the new retirement model to strive for. It also illustrates how those who do retire early don’t lose all ambition and never work again. We the early retired just never trade our time for meaningless work anymore.

His story is common for many Multimillionaires. He started a business, grew it to great success, and he and his partners sold it years later to a larger corporation for a massive amount of money. He took some time off and could have just taken another corporate executive position but instead wanted to stay in town and make a difference locally. He saw an opportunity to buy an automotive repair shop in town where he shows up daily and promotes the business and stays active in the automotive enthusiast – hobby world. His manager and mechanics do the day-to-day grind. Not a bad gig for him. I am sure even he wouldn’t have thought a few years ago that he would be a Retired Multimillionaire Busboy Dishwasher but that is what makes the early retirement adventure so interesting. You don’t know what your next opportunity or passion driven endeavor will be.

Why Be a Retired Multimillionaire Busboy Dishwasher?

Retired Multimillionaire Busboy DishwasherThe simple answer is he is a part-owner of the new craft beer micro-brewery. He invested in this new business as something of interest and passion. He also knows the mastermind behind the operation. The primary has owned and operated the Home Micro-Brew supply store in town for years.

You may be saying, “Man I knew it. It’s his joint. No wonder he was busing tables and washing dishes.” Sure, that is normal for business owners but not so much for Multimillionaires. He could just have easily hung out, shook-hands and back-slapped all day long. Nope, you see those who worked hard, made wise financial decisions, and lived within their means to get to early retirement are driven, motivated and not the type to be sitting around just counting their money or worrying about looking like a rich jack-hole who is above any menial work.

Are You Thinking You Might Join the Retire Early and Often lifestyle?
  • Have all the necessary financial and non-financial early retirement boxes checked.
  • Always keep an open mind.
  • When something interests you dig into it and find out everything you can.
  • Always stay curious because you can never know enough about anything.
  • Figure out what you would love to do.
  • Understand the necessary skills.
  • Assess your skills against the required skills.
  • Close any required skill gaps.
  • Learn all you can even if it means working somewhere starting at the bottom to get it.
  • If later you find you no longer enjoy what you are doing in retirement then retire again.
  • Don’t lock yourself into something you don’t love doing anymore.
Final Comments

So I saw a Retired Multimillionaire Busboy Dishwasher this past weekend and I wasn’t really all that surprised. I know the dude enough to get what makes him tick. His early retirement has him still active in the local small business world and he is having a ball. They guy is always smiling living life on his terms even when getting down and dirty.

For those of us who have reached early retirement and have been open to pursuits of passion and interest it truly is worth all the hard work, spending discipline, and saving to get here. For those on the path toward financial independence this kind of life is a worthy goal to strive for even for us non-Multimillionaires.

If you were a Multimillionaire could you see yourself busing tables and washing dishes?

Never Say Never Just Say No Thank You

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I was just reminded of my diplomacy mantra “Never Say Never Just Say No Thank You” when I need to reject an opportunity. I also use it on myself to quell ego and greed. Two insidious human conditions that are counter to the way I want live now. You see, sometimes when you least expect it and are least prepared an opportunity can present itself. After the initial surprise my best instinct is to follow my gut. But then my brain kicks in. You may think that is how things are supposed to work. But my making a shift to a passion driven mindset means thinking beyond money when living my retire early and often lifestyle.

My brain is very good about identifying financial benefits.

Especially after all the exercise it got during the long trek to financial independence. My brain can’t help itself, running the numbers starts-up immediately. However my being open to opportunity in my early retirement does come with important limits. After all it is my finite time I am trading for money when I CHOOSE to accept paid work. In this case the opportunity was aligned with what I have previously identified as work I enjoy doing and have interest in. It even matches up with my last early retirement side hustle but this time my gut immediately said something else to me. It said, “Hell no, not again”.

Passions Can Change so Never Say Never Just Say No Thank You

Sometimes I see or hear about opportunities that look interesting because I have done them before and I am very good at doing it. My ego then will have me consider stretching the work interest and passion limits that I have set. My brain runs the numbers and lets greed chime in to make its case.

But my gut is the gate-keeper trying to calmly keep things balanced and aligned with the passion driven way I have chosen to live. This time with this latest opportunity offer my gut had something important to say.

  • Perhaps it was how my last side hustle turned into an extension and didn’t go as promised.
  • Perhaps the corporate world is just more than Leisure Freak Tommy wants to deal with anymore.
  • Perhaps I am just having too much fun now not doing paid work and not ready for any paid work.
  • Perhaps I just have too much planned now. Projects, travel, celebrations, and whatever I want to do.
  • Perhaps my passions and interests have changed as it just doesn’t fit well with me anymore.
Putting Trust In My Gut

There was no “perhaps” about it. After some self-assessment of what my hesitation and gut was telling me it was all the above.

I hadn’t given it much thought until now so I am surprised with the results of my honest self-assessment which put money totally aside. I really don’t want to engage in Tech anymore. Not as a telecom engineer or technician. Not working in IT and being a business, data, or systems analyst. I am no longer interested in any of it and have scratched those skills and work from my passions list. At least for now. They served me well with my first career, my encore career, and even my early retirement side hustle but I want to move on. I checked off some bucket-list items doing it and now it is time for new adventures when I am ready to begin another.

So to this opportunity I simply said to myself Never Say Never Just Say No Thank You. To the consulting company I replied No thank you, due to current obligations I am unable to accept the opportunity at this time.

It is a truthful response.

How to Walk Away from the Money

  • Ask yourself, if money was no object, would you want to do this work?
  • Set Retire Early and Often (working in retirement) limits tied to and aligned with your interests and passions.
  • Live by the interest and passion limits you set so you won’t dread any paid work you accept.
  • Remember your mortality. I see the government actuary tables  show my life expectancy to be 84. Simply do the math. No sense wasting any of it in misery for money.
  • Remind yourself that your health is best now while younger and don’t put off doing what you want to do until later when older age physical conditions will change.
  • Trust your gut. If it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t regardless of how much money it pays.
In Closing

I use saying to myself Never Say Never Just Say No Thank You to cope with the fact that my passions and interests can and will change. For all I know someday I may have a change of heart and would enjoy doing tech work again. So I leave myself open to that fact this way.

Life and early retirement is an adventure. You never know what you will find along the way.

How about you. Can you see how your passions and interests can change but see the benefit of saying never say never?