Category Archives: Retire Often

My Second Act Retirement Jobs: What Worked, What Didn’t

Retire Early, Retire Often, Working In Retirement,

The benefits of working in retirement are many, from financial to social. I retired early at the age of 51 and planned on pursuing certain paid opportunities that I was interested in learning and doing. I was excited about the prospects of experiencing second act retirement jobs that I had passion for. A passion and excitement that was lost after decades of doing mostly the same thing with a lot of stress and legacy baggage attached to it.

I did find success in my second act efforts and can truthfully say it exceeded my expectations. There were a couple of jobs, a side hustle, and even a 4 year encore career that I enjoyed before I retired early again. Although I can look back at my second act experiences with pride and label it all a great success, there were certainly some things that worked and some things I tried to do that didn’t work as well.

My Second Act Retirement Jobs: What Worked, What Didn’t

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My Second Act Retirement Jobs Adventure

Knowing What I Wanted For My Second Act Retirement Job

I wanted to choose the right retirement job, not simply jumping back into the unfulfilling rat race. The first thing I did was identify my payable skills and experiences. I then split them between the skills that I enjoyed using and the ones I didn’t enjoy doing. On the ‘didn’t enjoy’ list I also identified those skills I wish to never do again. The idea was to target positions that were heavy on the ‘enjoy using’ side of my skills ledger. In no way did I want a second act retirement job heavily weighted toward doing things I didn’t enjoy.

Next I listed what jobs and industries I wanted to experience. I had some technical opportunities I wanted to pursue that were aligned with my first career, others were not. There were some non-technical opportunities I really wanted to experience. I also listed other desired second act attributes I was looking for, like commute limitations, avoiding the corporate world, flexibility, etc. This gave me an expanded retirement job target zone.

Then there was the early retired side of me. In my first career I was a lead engineer and I no longer wished to have the stress of a high professional position. At least not right out of the retirement gate. I wanted to look for lower level opportunities that would be less stressful.

This worked!

This was an important aspect of my successful second act adventure. I accomplished knowing what I wanted for my second act retirement job and then eagerly went after it. It set realistic goals based on the payable skills I had and enjoyed using. 

A Lower Stress Stepped Down Position

None of my second act plans revolved around making the big bucks so scoring a lower stress position was tops on my list. This turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. Even though there were many aspects of my technical career I still enjoyed doing, I prioritized finding a non-technical opportunity.

I carefully applied and interviewed for positions I really wanted to do. Even though I had some desired cross-over skills, the fact that I had no real documented experience in these fields held me back. I noticed a common issue during interviews. Because of my previous high technical past, the interviewers in one way or another had concerns about boredom doing nontechnical work. In their minds I was only applying for the position because I was bored or they were concerned I would soon become bored if hired. No matter how I tried to counter this issue I failed.

I shifted my strategy to pursue a lower level technical position that aligned more with my first career. I didn’t have to deal with the boredom issue but instead the overqualified kiss of retirement job death. But I countered honestly by telling them why I wanted the position and found success.

First attempts failed but strategy shift worked.

Seeking stepped down opportunities outside of my long career failed. I should have either attempted to work part-time in these fields of interest before I retired or signed up at a temp agency to work in those industries to get experience. That may have been enough proof that I had real interest in them regardless of my long career. However, after finding success with my strategy shift, I must say that my first retirement job was a fun and rewarding experience. Even though my initial desire to attempt staying out of tech failed, I have no regrets about how my second act journey played out. I stayed just short of 2 years with this first opportunity before accepting what would become my encore career.

Being Honest and Setting Boundaries

For my second act I was looking for something more rewarding. I was honest about my experience and skills. I didn’t want to fake my way into a job that I wouldn’t enjoy doing or putting myself in a position where I couldn’t meet their expectations. But I also set some boundaries. If during an interview things came up that were skills I never wanted to do again I would honestly explain my position and bow out. I feel this worked well for me.

I had no issues in my first stepped down position but I did experience push back in my encore career and even more so during what I call my short-term early retirement side hustle. The longer I worked for them, the more they pushed to expand my responsibilities into my no-fly skills zone. I was mostly successful in maintaining the boundaries set when I was hired on during my encore career stint. There was honest discussion that resulted in agreeable compromise. I retired early again and I still look back more favorably on that experience than my first long career.

My short-term side hustle experience within a different business segment of that same company was another story. I accepted the short-term gig after honestly defining the scope of my work. It was probably the best work arrangement of my life. But after a couple of months when the first phase of the project was completed, the pressure started again to push me into doing things beyond the scope of our agreement and what I found acceptable for my second act.  

I successfully maintained my boundaries but there were repercussions.

Sometimes honesty isn’t acceptable, especially when management just wants conformity and silent obedience to authority. I saw that everyone was being pushed to expand roles and responsibilities. I simply and honestly said that maybe it’s best we call this good and part ways. Management doesn’t always seem to like that kind of honest conversation. The situation resulted in my staying on for the last 4 months of the agreed upon contract but there was obvious hostility from my manager. I can’t call this short-term side hustle a second act retirement job win. If ever in this kind of situation again I would now just resign and happily return to retirement.

Being A Competent Overachiever In A Stepped Down Retirement Job

For my first retirement job I wanted a less stressful lower responsibility opportunity. Having been an engineer and becoming a technician in a similar field was exactly that. I was doing very well in the position and I found myself applying some of my previous self, like documenting training for new techs that went beyond my role. It was appreciated and I had a very good relationship with my coworkers and manager. That was the upside. But I did experience something I hadn’t planned for.

An opportunity to move into a different job within the company became open that I really wanted. It was a slight promotion but still within my stepped down lower stress retirement job parameters. My manager was for it and the hiring manager was ready to offer me the position. But my director had different ideas. Two things were on his mind. I was in my fifties where everyone else was 25-35 and I was basically too good to let go. He went to the VP and the offer was killed. My background and early retirement status was well-known. I was seen as a flight risk. Better to continue using me where I am already productive for as long as they can. 

I felt the sting because I forgot how business works.

I somehow let myself fall into a youthful exuberance of being in a company I liked, doing something I had passion for. All said, the director was absolutely right. I had no real intentions of staying for a long time.

It wasn’t a major setback in how I grade this second act experience. But I felt a mental sting and call this a great lesson in handling stepped down retirement jobs. My lack of life drama made me dependable. I was reliable and capable. My lesson learned- Being good at your retirement job can’t counter the realities of how management thinks. At the same time understand and remember my goals. If I really want to make a long commitment then communicate that. Voluntarily go above and beyond but don’t lose sight of my defined second act employment parameters. I have to remember that as a retiree willing to take on retirement jobs that I will always be a flight risk. Throttle expectations to that truth.

Financial Blessings

I was prepared to live off of my portfolio when I retired early, but I always planned on living a retire early and often lifestyle. This allowed me to have the courage to retire with less than a million dollar portfolio. I enjoyed second act retirement jobs for just short of 6 years and earned a little over $350,000. It’s amazing how different work can be when you do something you enjoy learning and doing. I accepted opportunities that I had interest and passion for and was paid for doing so.

This is a total win!

Money wasn’t my primary motivation to pursue the opportunities I took on. But I knew that earning even a little money in retirement makes a huge difference in portfolio longevity.

 

I always say that retirement should be redefined as the absence of needing to work, not the absence of working. I went into retirement with that definition and my experience was better than expected. Some things I did worked, others didn’t or at least only partially worked.

From education to careers, so much of our life’s employment decisions are career minded and money centric. My second acts were more about working in areas of interest, passions, and doing it on my terms. Nothing much that we do goes off without a hitch. However, by having goals we tilt the odds in our favor.

Is The Million Dollar Barrier Keeping You From Early Retirement?

Retire Early, Retire Often, Retirement Plan,

 

It seems to be widely accepted that it takes at least a million dollars to afford early retirement. But is saving that much money really necessary? The million dollar barrier is something that most people can’t overcome to achieve their early retirement dream. Maybe it’s time to just stop chasing other people’s numbers. This million dollar thinking gets its traction from the often repeated safe withdrawal rate of 3% to 4%. With this safe withdrawal strategy, depending on the percentage one settles on, a million dollars would allow for $30,000 to $40,000 a year in inflation adjusted retirement income. Not to live a wealthy lifestyle but an amount many feel they could manage a decent life with.

Having a million dollar portfolio is definitely excellent guidance to follow if you have the income and time to hit it. It sure makes early retirement a lot easier to call and hats off to those who do. But generalized guidance or consensus about a minimum early retirement savings number doesn’t fit everyone’s situation. People have unique variables that should drive their early retirement savings target.

I retired early at the age of 51 with far less than a million dollars after 31 years of honoring my end of the career-driven devil’s bargain in the corporate world. What I did was look past the million dollar barrier. I took a hard look at what early retirement really is and what it would take to have it.

Is The Million Dollar Barrier Keeping You From Early Retirement?

Bypassing The Early Retirement Million Dollar Barrier

Early retirement still takes saving a considerable percentage of your income to achieve. For the working class there is only one way to early retirement. It’s the same advice every early retirement enthusiast preaches.

Make as much money as you can

You can make more money to amp up your early retirement plan in a couple of ways.

  • Dive deep into the devil’s bargain working overtime or increasing your skills and then killing business objectives to climb the career ladder.
  • Leverage your skills to jump somewhere else that pays much more.
  • Work a second job.
  • Start a paying side hustle.
Cut your spending

Not just a little, but in a big way. Embrace frugal living and a happiness focused lifestyle instead of the stuff-ownership lifestyle of a consumerist world. Take it as far as you can without feeling you’re living a deprived life. A sustainable budget and happy lifestyle is the long-view goal.

Be debt-free

Killing debt is a must. Even better if you can also pay off your mortgage. Any debt that isn’t associated with income producing rental properties needs to disappear. Not only does vanquishing your debt for all time free-up more money while you are working to save for retirement, but it also reduces your lifestyle cost. This then reduces the amount you will need for financial support in retirement.

Become a super saver

Saving 10% to 15% of your income for retirement is an awesome start. It’s especially a great percentage when paying off all your debt. But once debt is dead you have to put on the cape and go full super saver. This is the only way to build any sizable portfolio before you are 65 or older. It will take having a strategic retirement savings plan and investing wisely.   

Get your healthcare figured out

Most importantly stay healthy. Healthcare cost is a bear to deal with outside of work. If you have a retirement healthcare benefit at your or your spouse’s employer then do what you have to in order to secure that benefit. Others who have successfully lowered their lifestyle costs should get to know the ACA healthcare subsidy thresholds and use them. If “THEY” finally kill the ACA or your taxable income is above subsidy earnings thresholds then use a healthcare broker like eHealth to find the best rate. Don’t forget to plan for possible long-term care down the road.  

The Big Problem With The Common Early Retirement Advice

For most people, doing all the above may never result in a million dollar early retirement portfolio.

Most of us don’t make enough to save enough in dollars to hit the million dollar mark before we are well into our 60s. Especially if we didn’t start aggressively saving in our 20s. I never had a 6 figure salary while saving for my early retirement. I saved throughout my career but like most people it was a huge achievement just to hit the yearly 401K maximum contribution amount. Even with putting in herculean savings efforts, the most I could save was about $20,000 a year until the last few years of my career where it was around $30,000. That was 50% of my take-home pay.

Life, kids, all the stuff we do financially to cover raising a family and making a life has costs. Even with a frugal lifestyle, without having a huge salary it’s tough to support saving enough in dollar amounts to hit a million dollars.

Obviously time matters.

The sooner you invest the easier it is to save a large amount of money, as compounding interests and gains dramatically adds up. My earlier 401K contributions, although smaller, really increased. But it is all relative to how much is there in a dollar amount to grow. Saving 30% to 50% of your income is impressive, but not so much when comparing your saved dollar amount to the million dollar mark. My $20,000 to $30,000 sure wasn’t.

Even if there had been an impressive uninterrupted 8% return for each year (there wasn’t) my yearly contributions would each take 9 years to double. After aggressively saving for the last 10 years of my career I didn’t want to stay in the rat race another 9 or 10 years to break through the million dollar barrier. The math towards a million dollar portfolio only works if you can contribute and invest high dollar amounts over lots of time.

Shift Your Early Retirement Thinking

If you have the time and income to save a million dollars or more then that’s awesome. By all means go for it. But that’s a tall order for most of the financially responsible working class. Early retirement needs to take a different mental and financial approach. It also takes honesty with ourselves and what’s really going on in the early retirement game.

First off, all the standard early retirement advice mentioned above is a must. The budgeting, debt elimination, super saving, all of it. The shift comes in the million dollar or more portfolio thinking. Here’s the million dollar barrier busting approach I took.

Cost of Lifestyle Dictates Retirement Savings Needed, Not The Million Dollar Consensus

Your retirement lifestyle cost is the key to early retirement. The lower your cost the less your required portfolio total will be. The quick and dirty calculation based on the 4% withdrawal rate is to take your yearly lifestyle budget amount and multiply it by 25. When I did that the result was close to a million dollars and my portfolio was short. Yet when running my savings total against my funding needs in the awesome FireCalc retirement calculator I came in with a 100% success result.

I ran it to age 90 and included the amount from my full retirement age Social Security estimate. I even reduced that estimate by 20% just in case they cut payments. Why did I include Social Security? Social Security is the country’s workforce mandatory retirement account. We were forced to pay into it for decades with the promise it would be there to help pay for our retirement. I count it because I played by their rules and yes, I do expect it.

The problem I found with the 4% rule is it assumes we take that amount with inflation adjustments each year. I take the position that it may be a more valid guideline after starting Social Security benefit payments. Without a million dollars in the bank my needed early retirement funding was closer to a 5.5% withdrawal rate. But I knew that wasn’t a static withdrawal rate throughout my long retirement. It was temporary. Many things would change over the years. There could be a mortgage payoff or downsizing our home. I took my budget amount and instead multiplied it by 20 for a closer down and dirty estimate. Then I ran my assumptions through FireCalc.

Retirement is the absence of needing to work, not the absence of work.

I knew that retiring young with all my go-getter energy and drive wouldn’t disappear when I walked away from the rat race. I always knew I would do what I call the “retire early and often” thing. There were things I wanted to learn and experience that would also pay me something when doing it.

I think whenever you read about successful early retirees they all have some kind of paying pursuit that they passionately engage in or occasionally take on. Some of the posted blog income of early retirement gurus is very impressive. Other early retirees clearly have self employment or freelance activities that they happily do.

Not everyone will have an appetite to work in their early retirement. It is something that needs to be calculated into an early retirement funding strategy. It has been some time since I last engaged in a paying pursuit. I will say that working in retirement is a lot more fun than working was before retirement. When something interesting comes up I will definitely consider it. Keeping an open mind to the possibility goes a long way to realizing you probably won’t need a million dollars before you can retire early.

With my first early retirement I took 5 months off to decompress and celebrate. Then I did just as I always believed and planned on doing. I started my first opportunity of interest and passion, followed by an encore career, and a couple of early retirement side hustle gigs before retiring again. I used my earned income to pay off my mortgage which lowered my lifestyle cost and increased my net worth. Then everything I earned went right back into my portfolio. This again helped reduce my overall withdrawal rate from what started as my non-million dollar portfolio.

Reducing Your Portfolio Target Amount

A million dollar or more portfolio may be needed depending on your lifestyle cost. That may be more dictated by where you live than by your frugality skills. I live in a high-cost/high-income county of Colorado. It is close to our children and their families. Had we bought a more expensive home we wouldn’t have been able to pay it down low enough to still retire early. I didn’t have to make the decision about moving to a lower cost house or location to reduce my lifestyle cost. However, that is something that is on the table if reducing cost is necessary in the future.

I have also found that we have trimmed even more costs from our budget since retiring early. We constantly reassess our happiness focused lifestyle. That and we have the time to look for better deals.

Last Words

By all means, if you can do it, go ahead and set a million dollar goal. I obviously have different views regarding early retirement and bypassing the million dollar barrier. It has worked for me but I am sure that some will question my reasoning.

  • Risky? I suppose, but so is early retirement. Traditionalist and early retirement naysayers will say so, but it was all calculated.
  • Worth it? No question about it, YES!

Obviously it goes without saying – What worked for me isn’t guaranteed to work for everyone else. We are all bound to the economy and market volatility so a wise investment strategy is paramount.

Hopefully describing the way I approached conquering the million dollar barrier will give you ideas of how you can craft your own successful early retirement strategy.

As to my portfolio health today – Overall up about 25% since my first early retirement and now at a 3.8% withdrawal rate. I’m still 7 years away from my Social Security. Maybe I gambled going against the million dollar consensus, but it sure has paid off. I have enjoyed my time in employment liberation and time is something that we can spend and invest but can’t get back once passed.

Considering A Retirement Job? Avoid These Costly Mistakes

Retire Often, Working In Retirement,

Working in retirement can bring many rewarding benefits. From social and personal growth to obvious financial rewards. But do it wrong and your retirement job can cost you plenty. Sadly, making some simple mistakes can have us end up with a retirement job that delivers a dose of regret. Having a little awareness goes a long way in avoiding any retirement job pitfalls. Here are some issues to look out for and plan around so you can walk the retirement job tightrope.

The Benefits of a Retirement Job Are Obvious

I had always planned on living a retire early and often lifestyle. Based on recent studies many people plan on having some type of retirement job. According to a 2017 Gallup poll 75% (3 out of 4) people plan on working in retirement. Part-time is the most popular option from that group. A 2015 AARP study reported “more than one-third of working Americans age 50-64 (37%) anticipate working for pay post retirement from their current career.”

Obviously, earning any income in retirement will at least mean a reduction in the amount we take from our retirement savings. That lets our tax-advantaged retirement accounts continue to grow. Starting a lucrative encore career could even mean adding more money to those retirement savings accounts. We may still be able to add earned income to a Roth IRA even in the year we turn 70 ½ and beyond when RMD is in play.

Working in retirement can be great. But we have to be smart about earning income from a retirement job and do it right or it can cost us way more than it should.

Avoiding Costly Mistakes When Considering A Retirement Job

Everyone’s situation is different. A smart strategy for working in retirement takes looking at how you have your retirement funding and benefits set up and from where it comes from.

I was aware of some of the pitfalls of working in retirement. I planned accordingly based on my retirement income and benefits. Yet I was still surprised at how easy it would be to misstep.

Retiring With A Severance Package

Many companies offer early out packages due to restructuring business direction, location, or personnel. If you began your retirement with a nice send-off in the way of a severance package, then you better pay attention to the fine print in the severance package contract. Many if not all severance packages will have a non-compete clause.

Now What?

If you figured you would accept the severance package, retire, and then take a retirement job in your same field, you best check the contract for any non-compete language. Most dictate a non-compete time frame. It usually starts from the date you left the business dictating that you must not compete in the same line of business. The last thing you want is a costly legal suit. Some states limit the ability of companies to enforce non-compete clauses. If your heart is set on a retirement job within in your same field during the non-compete clause time frame then first seek legal advice.

Increased Taxes and Managing Payment

Just like pre-retirement, the more you earn the bigger your chance of being pushed into a higher tax bracket. Knowing the tax brackets and making sure you either stay just below the next jump or make well enough that you won’t care is a necessary action to take. The challenge a retirement job brings is when your retirement funding is set and can’t be suspended or reduced while you work in retirement. Having a set private or public pension, an annuity, or taking early retirement SEPP 72t payments from your IRA, means that retirement income still comes even though you may now also have a paycheck.

In my case I had a 72t with a 10% Federal Tax withholding assigned to it. That was more than enough taxes withheld when I didn’t work in retirement. Those taxable 72t payments had to continue coming to me while I was working. Even though I filled out my retirement job W4 to withhold taxes as Married but at the higher single rate with Zero dependents, I owed over $1,000 when tax filing time came. That kind of under payment can cause an IRS tax penalty and interest charges.

What to do:  

Keep track of your income and run tax estimates. Make sure that you set aside money for taxes owed later and/or plan on paying additional quarterly estimated taxes if withholding will fall short. Being caught off guard at tax filing time is nobody’s idea of fun. Especially if your savings isn’t easily accessible.

Another consideration is stuffing as much of your retirement job income into tax deferred retirement accounts. Contributing to an IRA and/or 401K can help mitigate any retirement job tax issues. On my early retirement 5 month side-hustle I contributed 80% of my salary to a 401K. This reduced my retirement job’s taxable income for the year. It was set aside for later in retirement when I could easier manage my retirement income and tax rate.

Health Benefits

Medicare:

Once your reach age 65 you have to sign up for Medicare. If you’re already collecting Social Security, whether working in retirement or not, you will be automatically signed up for Medicare Part A. However, you must still sign up for a Part B plan or a 10% penalty may be levied against you. This is easy to overlook if you turn age 65 while working a retirement job that offers health insurance benefits. Start investigating all of the medicare rules before you reach age 65.

ACA (Obamacare):

Many people took advantage of using the ACA so that they could retire early before Medicare kicks in. A lot of retirement jobs do not provide health insurance benefits so the ACA makes it easy to accept these opportunities. If you have a low-cost of living, thus having a low enough income to qualify to receive health insurance subsidies, then pay close attention to the ACA income thresholds. Crossing them may cause your health subsidy being trimmed way back. This could cause you to pay thousands more a year for your health insurance. Take care to analyze the income to cost ratio so that your retirement job doesn’t cost you more than you earn from it.

Employer Retirement Healthcare:

If you retired with a medical benefit from your employer then pay close attention to the fine print and review the plan rules yearly. Things can change and you can run afoul of the rules causing you lose your hard-won retirement healthcare benefit.

After working over 30 years in my first career and company I had earned a retirement health benefit where I was allowed to buy into the employee health plan. With my first retirement job came a low-cost employee health insurance benefit that was 75% less than my retirement health insurance premium. I suspended my retirement healthcare as allowed and went on the retirement job’s health plan for the year.

The next year the retirement health benefit rules changed and benefit suspension was no longer supported. It became a “use it or lose it” retirement healthcare policy going forward. If I had missed the fine print on the end of year healthcare election documents I could have been dropped. Losing a 30 year employment benefit and once again being forced to work for healthcare or thrown to the expensive individual market, praying the ACA stays intact until I turn age 65, could have been a costly mistake.  

Social Security

If you take on a retirement job after you have started receiving Social Security then there are two separate issues that can come into play.

  • Having your Social Security payment reduced
  • Causing your Social Security to be taxable
Reduced Social Security Payment:

If you started Social Security before your full retirement age and take on a retirement job making more than the yearly earnings limit, Social Security will reduce your benefit payment. The reduction is $1 for every $2 earned above the annual limit. The 2018 earnings limit is only $17,040. For the year you reach full retirement age, the reduction is $1 for every $3 earned above the annual limit but it is only applied to earnings before your birthday. The earnings limit is also set higher at $45,360. There is no Social Security limit on earnings for working in retirement after your full retirement age.

Note: Reduced Social Security benefit amounts are merely delayed. Reduced amounts are added back to your benefit and monthly payments once you reach full retirement age.

Social Security Becoming Taxable:

Regardless of your age, a chunk of your Social Security can become taxable. According to the Social Security Administration:

file a federal tax return as an “individual” and your combined income* is

  • between $25,000 and $34,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50 percent of your benefits.
  • more than $34,000, up to 85 percent of your benefits may be taxable.

file a joint return, and you and your spouse have a combined income* that is

  • between $32,000 and $44,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50 percent of your benefits
  • more than $44,000, up to 85 percent of your benefits may be taxable.

*Combined income is calculated the following way- AGI (wages, self-employment income, interest, dividends, IRA/401K withdrawals, taxable pension/annuity, etc.) + Non-taxable interest. (interest excluded from taxes on your federal return but considered as part of the taxable Social Security threshold calculation) + ½ of your Social Security benefits. (individual, or joint-you and spouse combined).

If you are considering a retirement job and haven’t already claimed Social Security, you may want to delay beginning your benefits, if you can afford to. That way you will earn a higher benefit amount later. You also won’t have to deal with retirement job related Social Security payment reduction and/or taxable Social Security thresholds.

Be aware of these thresholds if you have already begun your Social Security benefits. That way you can calculate the impacts and the actions you can take to reduce unnecessary cost and make your retirement job worth doing.

Retirement Job Trap

One of the easiest retirement job mistakes to make is finding yourself trapped in the wrong job. This is a costly mistake because we end up spending our time doing something we are not happily doing. Choose your retirement opportunity wisely. We all only have so much time left to spend so we shouldn’t be wasteful with it. Even a carefully chosen job can later have run its course. It’s far too easy to become trapped because of our old pre-retirement work habits of business obligation and loyalty.

I certainly experienced that in my retirement job endeavours. The longer I was there the more the business added to my duties beyond my desired working in retirement happiness thresholds.

Be sure to check your retirement job happiness account frequently. If you find it being depleted then your retirement job is costing you way too much. Make the necessary adjustments to your working arrangement, retire again and find another retirement job, or re-enter a happiness based work-free phase of retirement.

Working In Retirement – Is It Worth It?

Retire Often, Working In Retirement

 

Once we retire, that’s it, right? You are finally able to give up your job and can leisurely sit back and relax. Or is it that simple?

Not all retirees want to give up their job once they hit retirement age. In fact, some even take up another job once they have retired from their regular one. Wondering why that is? Well, there are various reasons. For some folks retirement is the perfect time to pursue new opportunities of passion and interest. But the main reasons many retirees return to a paying job is they need the money or they just get bored with all the free time that retirement brings.

Thinking of calling it quits on your retirement and finding another job? Here are some reasons why it might be worth it.

 

The Benefits of Working In Retirement

Can Keep It Flexible

Lots of retirees enjoy the new lease of flexibility that it brings. They are no longer trapped by their nine-to-five. And it’s now possible to find a flexible job that they can do in their spare time. This is why there are a lot of retirees who are now becoming entrepreneurs and freelancers – the flexible way of working fits into their new lifestyle. You just need to remember to stay highly organized with your working schedule, paystub generator for your payroll, and filing your taxes. Being highly organized and having plenty of free time – they are the best things for helping your new flexible career become a success!

Provides You With A Regular Income

When some people hit retirement age, they are surprised to find that they haven’t saved up enough for their post-work life, despite all of their best efforts. If you find that you are in this situation, then you might be forced to go back to work. Don’t worry, though, even if your pension pot isn’t as big as you were expecting, it should make it possible to only go back to part-time work rather than a full-time job. Even taking on a full-time opportunity in retirement can be enjoyable. Especially if it’s aligned with what you are interested in doing or passionate about. Who knows, it could be the start of a rewarding encore career.

 

Social and Personal Growth Benefits

Of course, it’s not just the monetary benefits that people get from going back to work. They also enjoy the social side of having a job as well! In fact, some retirees who feel quite lonely after leaving work choose to find a part-time job just so they have some regular contact with other folk. This is especially the case with retirees who live quite far away from their family.

Aside from this social benefit, working in retirement allows retirees the opportunity to learn new skills they have long admired. Personal growth is a rewarding self-investment that adds immense satisfaction.  

Delay Pension Withdrawals

If you do go back to work after retiring, you won’t have to begin your Government Pension (Social Security) or withdraw from your private pension (retirement accounts) as you will be living off your regular income. At the very least you will be able to withdraw far less. So, you will be leaving most of, if not all, of your pension for a later date, when you finally do retire for good. And, while your pension waits for you to fully begin withdrawing from it, it will be amassing more interest and will grow as a result. So, when you do decide to start making withdrawals, your pension pot will be larger than right at the start of your retirement!

 

Just because you are now at retirement age, it doesn’t mean that you absolutely have to retire. As you can see, there are a few different reasons why it might be worth returning to work!

Create Your Own Phased Retirement

Retire Often, Working In Retirement,

Just because your company doesn’t support phased retirements doesn’t mean you have to delay your retirement. Staying in their full-time rat race grind may be the only solution they offer. But it isn’t the only solution for anyone wishing to ease into retirement using a phased retirement approach.

Create Your Own Phased Retirement A recent study done by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) found that 77% of employers actually believe many of their employees plan to continue working after they retire. 47% of these employers also say many of their employees envision they’re using a phased retirement transition approach for their retirement.

Yet only 31% of the employers that Transamerica surveyed said they would let their employees shift from full-time to part-time employment. Not surprisingly, only 27% of employers said they would allow phased retirement seeking employees to move into less stressful or demanding positions.

Caution is Needed for Employer Allowed Phased Retirement

Retiring employees do need to be careful entering into a formal or informal phased retirement work arrangement with their employer.

Careful attention has to made into the impacts that a reduced schedule or a lower stress/lower paying position will have on any defined retirement benefits there may be. The defined benefit rules and the formulas they use are tough to get around. The last thing you want is for your phased retirement time dragging your retirement benefit amount down.

Other active employee benefits like medical insurance and paid-time-off/Vacation will also need to be carefully examined. Entering into a phased retirement arrangement will most likely impact them.

Signs to Look for Before Staying With Your Company in a Phased Retirement Agreement

Being able to have a phased retirement with one’s current employer is certainly the most comfortable way to go. We already understand the business, the work processes, and the culture. But based on my first career I believe caution is justified.

I think my corporate world experience isn’t unique and is a shared experience. Entering into a phased retirement agreement with one’s employer may not be the no-brainer decision you might think.

Think about the following:

Does your company have a habit of expecting employee loyalty but never reciprocates?

In other words, do they treat long-time loyal and dedicated employees as just a disposable number? Your phased retirement gig may be just short-term to ring out all they can before letting you leave on their terms, not necessarily yours. They will and do value younger employees who they think they can retain longer-term.

Do employees who have transferred to a new position or have been promoted get sucked back into their previous roles every time feces hits the fan?

Do you think your phased retirement agreement will stand if your company has a habit of doing that? Are you OK with a prolonged or indefinite return to your pre-retirement job obligations?

Has there been times when your company has backtracked away from promises made?

Think bonuses, raises, 401k match, pensions, health insurance, promotions, etc. When they do, did they include executives in the pain or did they state they decided not to include them in order to attract and retain the best for the company? Do you think they will honor your phased retirement agreement for as long as you want, need, or agreed to? If your company throws employees under the bus but never its executives then maybe you should think twice about extending your relationship with them.

Just take a moment and really think about your experience with the company.

If your career there has been nothing but a stellar experience then I think you are in the minority. If it’s that good I would also question why even consider a phased retirement. Just enjoy it until you can feel like fully retiring. If you have concerns now about the company then why enter into a phased retirement agreement and continue with any negative feelings in your life?

For my first early retirement I wasn’t thinking “phased retirement”.

I was fully in a “retire early and often” mindset. I have successfully done that with some rewarding and interesting post-retirement work. In hindsight some of the things I did while preparing for that included asking myself the above questions about my long-time employer.

Let’s just say that I have never worked for them again in post-retirement. I admit that there is some truth in the saying “better the devil you know (than the devil you don’t)”. However I found entering into a new relationship to be in my favor when working in retirement.

I could work without a legacy of career obligation baggage to be dragged back into. I could create a retirement lifestyle where I would only seek opportunities aligned with my interests and passions. That includes only working under my terms for as long as I wanted to.

Not having to worry about upsetting or angering a long-time employer who may still have control over some of my retirement benefits, thus having control over me. That to me is a big deal.

Why Creating Your Own Phased Retirement May Be the Better Way

First off, understand what kind of phased retirement you really want. Even if your company does offer a phased retirement option it may not be aligned with what you envision.

  • Are you looking to go part-time?  
  • Change job duties to something with less stress and less responsibilities?
  • Wanting to only work certain parts of the year or specific seasons?  

Also try to figure out how long you want the arrangement to last. I think the fact anyone is willing to bring up phased retirement with their employer means they aren’t afraid to signal their retirement intentions. Hopefully this is done only after knowing one could actually retire because employers may sideswipe someone who have prematurely signaled their retirement intentions.

Rather than thinking only “phased retirement”, open up your options by thinking of retirement as the absence of needing to work. You can think of it as a phased retirement or as I had planned to do and have successfully done. That is retiring early and often.

If your plan is to go directly into your desired phased retirement position then begin finding, interviewing, and accepting a position before announcing your retirement. This will at least allow for you to explore your options over only attempting to stay at your existing company.

Here are some reasons supporting why you should create your own phased retirement:

Make a clean break from your employer. No worries of negatively impacting any retirement benefits through a reduced salary (less stress-pay/fewer hours) phased retirement agreement.

Free to choose opportunities aligned with your interests and passions. Not what your employer thinks is their best way to use you. It’s easier to limit your duties to agreed upon responsibilities and negotiate rather than be dictated when our role needs to be changed.

No previous legacy obligation of work to be dragged back into in any time of crisis, real or otherwise. That certainly could circumvent your phased retirement wants and needs.

New working environments offer new experiences. In people, work, education, and culture. It may not be as comfortable starting out but it makes up for that by being more exciting. We all stay in our ruts too long.

It’s easier to move on or as I call it “retire early again” when there are no long-term ties. Knowing that I can simply leave once a retirement job isn’t checking off all my boxes anymore makes working in retirement fun and not a dreaded burden.

Last Words on Creating Your Own Phased Retirement

The company I worked for over 3 decades did not offer any phased retirement options. It was “their way or the highway”. I waited some months after retiring early before I began looking for my first dream retirement job. It all worked out wonderfully. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t take some effort on my part.

I have several pages on this Leisure Freak site that might be of help:

Retiring Early and Often 

How to Choose Your Retirement Job 

How To Find Your Early Retirement Job 

Retire Early and Start Your Own Business 

Check under the Retiring Early and Often tab at the top of the page and there are pages on retiree resume  and interview  tips, handling the dreaded “overqualified”  issue, and even how you can increase your wealth by retiring early and often. 

Before I close out this post I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fly in the ointment. It’s called health insurance. If you retire without a retirement medical benefit then health insurance must be considered. A phased retirement agreement at your employer that allows for employee group medical insurance does carry some weight.

When looking at creating your own phased retirement, include health insurance in your decision process. Look at staying with the same employer, looking for new opportunities that provide health care benefits, or buying health insurance in the single payer market.  

Retire Early and Often: A 7 Step Plan for Scoring a Successful Encore Career

Retire Often, Working In Retirement,
If I was able to retire early and have a successful encore career then you can too.

When I retired early from a long career at the age of 51 it was late 2009. Unemployment was high and the economy was low. It took having a plan of action for a successful encore career to happen for me.

People have many reasons for wanting a retirement job or starting an encore career. There are obvious social and financial benefits. For me there were some things I really wanted to learn more about and experience. Getting paid to do it was the frosting on the cake.

Successful Encore CareerI had always planned to retire early and often.   I needed to set aside my decades long engineer persona and all of its associated all-consuming obligation. My wish was to spend more of my time doing things closer aligned with my passions and interests.

I didn’t need to return to work. What I wanted to do was cherry-pick opportunities that concentrated on the skills I enjoyed using. I was and still am grateful for all that the earlier version of me and my career gave me. But I needed to move-on and reinvent myself  to living a more passion-driven lifestyle.

I’d like to share my seven-step strategy for landing a successful encore career.

Second Act, Here I Come

My 7 Step Plan for Scoring a Successful Encore Career

Phase one of my plan started with taking some time off to decompress and enjoy some alarm clock freedom. Phase one had it’s unique importance. It’s where I could mentally shed decades of institutional career-driven conditioning. That and embrace the new life to be lived on my terms. Phase two is where the 7 step encore career actions came into full play.

Step 1: It’s All About and Not About Money

Have Your Financial House in Order

Obviously my retiring early meant having a good handle on my finances and lifestyle cost. In my case my early retirement funding paid for my primary living expenses. This allowed me to remove money from the retirement job decision process. With money off the table I can ask myself whether I would really want to pursue an opportunity. That question is a tool I use in what I describe as “retiring well”. 

Even if lifestyle funding isn’t at 100% for the long-term, knowing where we are financially removes any job search desperation. I believe part of my encore career success was the lack of financial desperation in my opportunity selection process. I Chose well. It was at no time salary driven. I also believe having a lack of financial desperation helps in the interview process.

Encore career success isn’t just about money. It’s about scoring an opportunity aligned with our values, passions, and what we are interested in doing now.  What I did was focus on the opportunity first. I then only negotiated an appropriate salary after being offered the position.

Step 2: What Floats Your Boat?

Identify Your Passions and Interests

I asked myself, what do I want? The whole idea is picking the right encore career opportunity.  I began with a self-assessment of my passions and interests. There were specific industry and positions I wanted to pursue.

I then listed my relevant payable skills and divided them into 2 columns. Those I enjoy doing and those that I don’t. I only targeted opportunities that tilted heavily to the payable skills I enjoyed using. There will always be a need to do the things from the less desired payable skills column. The encore career idea I embraced was to limit my exposure to the non-enjoyed column skills as much as possible through purposeful opportunity targeting.

Step 3: What’s Your Story?

Be Able to Enthusiastically Answer the “Your Story” Question

The question can come in many forms. Tell me about yourself. Why did you retire? Why are you interested in doing XYZ? That’s when understanding my story became important. In my story I am the protagonist. I am more than a chronological list of my experiences. My resume certainly lays out that professional experience and accomplishments list. I didn’t want to just roll through that boring narrative when given the opportunity to tell my story.

Choosing an encore career path different from one’s first long career can be challenging. Instead of my early retirement and subsequent search for a new opportunity looking like I’m some kind of unpredictable, undependable flake. I wanted my story to be about coherent transition. My story is about all my experiences and discovering what I am really good at, love doing, and what I have passion for. It shows how I am pursuing opportunities that are on a logical path forward to grow and be productive in those areas. It’s why I should be seen as an asset and not someone making a nonsensical disconnected jump.

What I found necessary for encore career success is telling my story by adding emotion and interest to the chronological history. I used feelings to set myself apart by adding how I felt during certain milestones or personal discoveries. I also emphasized the impact it had on me, the business, and/or others. My belief in my story is projected out when telling it.

Step 4: Keep Growing

Add New Skills that are Aligned with Your Early Retirement and Encore Career Goals

I am very curious and that is a big part of my early retirement. I’m always exploring new concepts and adding new skills. I had many interests that went in different directions when I was looking at opportunities. Even though I was targeting opportunities based on what I loved doing, the job ads listed things I had never done or wasn’t as proficient at doing.

I took free classes that were offered at my library. It was a gardening class and had nothing to do with my eventual encore career. It was about other encore avenues I was exploring. I also did volunteer work in what was another path unrelated to my eventual encore career. Although they did not result in an encore career the experience was still rewarding and helped me in other ways.

I did sit for a few sessions with a friend of mine who was an Excel and SQL-pro. He tutored me on advanced spreadsheet and database query skills. They were skills aligned with my targeted technical encore interests. Those skill learning sessions were directly related to my eventual coveted retirement job. There are many ways to learn new skills.   

When we keep growing in areas of our interest and passions it makes our early retirement fuller and only improves our chances for starting a successful encore career.

Step 5: Practice Makes Perfect

Test the Waters and Yourself

I actually started interviewing a year before I retired from my first career. At that time (2008) job opportunities were limited due to the deepening recession. Doing it gave me practice. Job interviewing is like a game or dance. The better we are the more likely we are to stand out. It’s something we get better at the more we do it. Our resume facts are the same. But it’s all about feeling and acting more natural and comfortable in the role of self-promotion and being judged.

I also did some volunteer work and a side hustle. The volunteer work was very physical and allowed me to test my interest and passion for the outdoor recreation industry. For the side hustle I was a private consultant. It was a contract related to telecom litigation and paid extremely well. I was able to explore my self-employment path in an area I thought I enjoyed from my long career. In both of these examples I decided the experience showed me that they weren’t exactly what I wanted to do in my retirement.

The volunteer work was too physical for my 50ish old body and I couldn’t easily keep up with my younger team members. I had to set aside that targeted path and honor my limitations. The other was too close to my first career. Requiring heavy use of skills I preferred to limit using going forward regardless of how much it paid. However it did bring to view how much I really loved some of the other skills I had to use. The experiences fine-tuned and narrowed my focus to the space where my eventual encore career lived.

Step 6: Get Off Your Island

Stay Connected To and Keep Expanding Your Network

After retiring it’s easy to withdraw from our professional connections. Our focus happily changes and the last thing we want is to stay connected to anything associated to the past grind. That withdrawal is what I allowed during my first phase of my early retirement (career mindset decompression). It was a time I concentrated on building my social circle. I began reconnecting to my professional circle in phase 2. I did this by email. No big drawn out dialog. Just reconnecting and reminding them of my retire early and often plans that many thought was crazy or funny when I mentioned it during my pre-retirement years.

I also expanded my network using LinkedIn. There were many people who had left my orbit over the years that I had worked with and respected. I reconnected and mentioned my intentions when appropriate. What all of this did was lock-in what I was going to do. It gets the word out but more than that it made me accountable to myself. I then started mentioning to my social circle that I was always open to the right opportunity. Retiring early and often became a great conversation topic at social events when others discussed work matters.

My successful encore career came out of LinkedIn. An email came to me asking if I would be interested in talking about an opportunity. Using social networks like LinkedIn is a necessary tool but it is important to go beyond them. Through face to face social conversation I met executives and other key connections to add to my network. Just by talking about what I did and what I wanted to now do.

Step 7: Throw Your Name Into the Hat

Post Your Resume Online and Talk to Everyone

I did what everyone does. I started searching for opportunities that were posted online or in the newspaper. Unfortunately applying for those openings and getting a call back during those times had a very low success rate. Hopefully things are better for that now. I did successfully get a lot of contact from simply having my resume posted online and viewable to recruiters. I have used Snag-A-Job, Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice and InDeed.

Obviously not all targeted jobs use recruiters to fill positions. If you have no network connections for a foot in the door, then the good old-fashioned way of going on site or to their online portal and applying is the only way to get your resume in front of someone. My stepped down retirement jobs came that way. The resume posting sites I mentioned above allow you to directly apply your posted resume to job listings. 

A key tip is to talk to everyone you can. Even when they are calling or emailing about a position that you know upfront you wouldn’t be interested in. Don’t just ignore them. Have fun and learn what’s going on. It is easier talking with them when you don’t want the job. I would return their calls/emails and ask for more details. After listening to their pitch I then would explain why I didn’t feel it was a good fit and what it was I was looking for. I would be totally honest. I would also share the name and contact details of anyone else I knew that was looking for an opportunity in that field. What this did was create a certain rapport and a new professional connection. I still get contacted from many of them even after removing my online resume over 5 years ago.

In Closing

I believe that retirement is the absence of NEEDING to work, not the absence of working. That doesn’t mean I will always do paid work or even look for new opportunities. But when I do it is something I really WANT to do. Parts of all seven of these steps came fully into play for me to score my encore career. They will again if I choose to do another opportunity.

Now that I’m in my second early retirement I look back at all of my retirement work opportunities far more fondly than my first career. I believe that’s because they were all on my terms and aligned with what I valued doing. Doing what I wanted to do for as long as I wanted them in my life.  

There is nothing special about me. We all have our own unique skill-sets and experiences. I hope by sharing my approach for scoring a successful encore career that it inspires you to see a way to set your own retirement job strategy into motion.

A Fun Retirement Job Starts With Your Motivation

Passion, Retire Often, Working In Retirement, ,

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?

Proudly Just Another Corporate Has-Been: It Takes More Than Money

Early Retirement Lifestyle, Living in the Moment, Non-financial Aspects of retirement, Retire Early, Retire Often

Let me explain why I am proudly just another Corporate Has-Been and share the overlooked aspect. It’s beyond financial. A conversation with an ex-coworker reminded me of that. “You were at the top of your game, traveling the country, influencing national standards and the go-to engineer for the company’s multi-billion dollar revenue stream. Now you just casually stroll through life. What happened to you?”

Ouch… I had to think, is that really what he and some others are thinking?

Sadly yes but it’s what I think that matters.

Proudly Just Another Corporate Has-Been? What is there to be proud about?

Think about the definition of Has-Been: A person or thing that is no longer effective, successful, popular, etc.

Why should I be proud of that?

You see, I am now powerful. OK, in the eyes of the unaware corporate enslaved there is nothing for me to be proud about. In fact I may be seen as a loser from anyone still in that corporate world where title and salary is seen as the true measure of a person.

For too many people this is a world where you measure your accomplishments and success by the amount of revenue you can produce or retain, the amount of data that can be processed without defect or loss, the number of billable clients you can land, the size of the department and employee count that are under your control, the number of deals you can close, etc. It’s the all too common career mindset view of what a real winner is.

You get to also be measured by consumer measurements. The size of your home, the snob-status of your automobile, your exotic vacation factor. Then there are all the little trappings of life. Like your cell phone and plan; your Cable or Satellite TV package, fashion choices, the bicycle you ride, etc.

For those in the world’s consumerist and career minded track, people are measured by how well they keep up with the Jones’s to satisfy their social class peer acceptance and all of its perceived view of success.

I am proudly just another Corporate Has-Been because I know that is all horse crap

Proudly Just Another Corporate Has-Been: It Takes More Than MoneyThere is pride for my successfully living a frugal lifestyle beyond the reach and concern of what others think and my becoming a super saver. Thus earning my freedom from the rat race. But there is something else that must be done to proudly go where few go.

It is important to get this right and become our own rock. We have to be confident and with purpose. Don’t think for a second that everyone we know is going to celebrate our decision or understand retiring early to a free but frugal lifestyle.

When it comes to those close to me who are confused about my pitching the big-time I get it. I was once the unaware corporate slave who didn’t realize I was climbing farther and farther into the rat race trap. Always climbing and volunteering for more responsibility or accepting my corporate masters dumping it on me. All for some promised or falsely perceived corporate status and career mindset prize.

The cruel truth is until you reach the point in the trap where you are no longer able to move, of which I mean have a life outside of and free from the pay-check source, you don’t even know you are in a trap.

An all-consuming trap of both job status and possessions with its associated debt. All geared towards some false feeling of success and approval from our social class peer group. It is all taught to us as being the normal way of life. Make money, spend money. Make more money, spend more money. A vicious cycle of dependency. Job, paycheck, debt, stuff.

So I understand why my unenlightened ex-coworker pal sees my early retired lifestyle as a wasteful casual stroll through life.

I can also see why my early retirement lifestyle looks like nothing for me to be proud about in the eyes of the trapped. Even though they can’t understand me I can empathize and understand them. I was once them.

The Overlooked Aspect to Proudly Being a Corporate Has-Been: Our Ego

Every occupation has its trappings and meaningless life measurements of success. They are either self-applied through years of working with career mindset conditioning and/or by our close circle of influences.

Certainly it takes financial independence to proudly just be another corporate has-been. But to win at this game it also takes letting go of our ego. It takes both. Having one covered without the other isn’t going to cut it.

There are all kinds of people sharing tips on the financial side of things. This site has plenty written about it. But the overlooked side is all in our heads.

Think about it. There are a lot of people who make a lot of money and are set financially for life. Enough to be financially independent even if they are irresponsible consumerist. But if they lost their job, title and career based identity they would be miserable. That career title and all they felt important would be gone and their ego will hammer them. Money is no problem but their head is a mess. This can happen to anyone at any income level and often does.

This is especially a problem when the corporate world is finished with people who are still clinging to it. I have seen many who were financially secure discharged with every business and economic bump. Some never really recovering from a depressed self-worth.

Even people who successfully planned their retirement can and do suffer a loss of self-worth if their ego hasn’t been addressed. A conversation like the one I had with his shared negative perception could have anyone questioning their reason for retiring early. Certainly it could challenge retirement happiness.

How to Tackle your Ego in Early Retirement and Proudly Embrace being a Corporate Has-Been

Here is how you can proudly be another Corporate Has-Been.

It takes time to reinvent your self-identity. It is easy to link our identity with our jobs. I have turned down some great opportunities to come back and do what I have retired from.

Early in my retirement I would think how I could easily do a job similar to my long career and my ego would push me to investigate it further or at least question myself until my gut told me otherwise. It took time for my ego to let go of who I used to be and the false need to reprove myself.

I purposely retired early while on the top of my game. Sure I took some hits but I won the big game and walked away. I knew I didn’t want to continue serving the soul damaging corporate system and that there was a more meaningful way to live. Yet I still had my ego telling me I could still play the game at the same level.

Fortunately I was able to quiet and now control my ego. My ex-coworker’s comments didn’t rock my world or early retirement lifestyle. It reaffirmed the reasons I am on the journey that I am on.

When I started my encore career it was all within a passion driven mindset. When it no longer met my interests and desires I quickly retired again. Ego did not have me walk into another career mindset trap and stay longer than I wanted to.

Ego Management Tips

Forget about approval from others

Concerning ourselves with what others think allows ego to mess with us. Our ego loves being told we are popular or admired. This human need to feel accepted by our peer group does nothing but misdirect us down wrong paths. It leads to irresponsible behavior.

How many have been financially ruined by keeping up with the Jones’s or wasted their lives and relationships chasing an all-consuming career? The answer is too many.  By retiring early we are responsible for our own self-worth and new life with purpose. Don’t allow ego to have you treat that irresponsibly.

Stop Greed to starve Ego

Greed is Ego’s super food. Know when enough is enough and start living life on your terms. Ego loves to drive us farther into situations that we don’t enjoy or even hate being in. If you feel the need for more stuff and more money than you really need then ego is alive and well.

When I was looking at starting my encore career I took money off of the table and only viewed the opportunity from a passion driven mindset. Then once the perfect match came my way I negotiated salary appropriately for the position. Our time is finite. Trading our time for money shouldn’t be ego driven.

Let go of what we were

I think anyone who was successful in their career, even if they grew to dislike it, will have thoughts of returning to prove they are still a top performer.

Let go and be thankful of what we were and tell ego not again. Time for something new and more meaningful to dedicate our finite time to. Refocus all of our energy and drive that gets us to early retirement to passion driven pursuits.

If it’s a return to a prior position then at least do it differently and more aligned with your values. Not what you decide it was time to retire from.

End the comparing and competitive urges

Ego’s sibling is envy. It can happen to anyone. Together these two sibs can be very powerful. Seeing others accomplishments or possessions may make our ego want to have it too at all costs. That’s the problem with this. It WILL COST TOO MUCH. Wasted time chasing the wind. There is no top in this kind of ego driven endeavor.

It is nothing more than chasing your tail. There will always be someone better and you will always be looking over your shoulder at who is coming up behind you. Allowing ego to make your life a competition with others will only lead to unhappiness and frustration.

A better strategy: Count our blessings and stick to our plan.

Conclusion

To my misguided ex-coworker I may be wasting a productive life. However instead of letting him lay a downer on me I just told him

“I am proudly just another Corporate Has-Been. How happy are you in the trap?”

“Happy? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything.”

What makes me proud is that I did it. Putting the rat race behind me with my early retirement has been the most enjoyable adventure of my life. I don’t care if from a corporate world perspective that I am now no longer effective, successful, or popular. Their point of view is a false measurement of success.

If I could describe the way early retirement freedom feels it’s like being a kid again but without having anyone telling me what to do all the time. When someone THINKS they can tell me what I need to do I get to laugh, mock, blow a kiss, agree only with any good advice, or silently ignore and mentally dismiss them. Try doing that as a corporate slave.

In all honesty and full disclosure, I do still have to submit to any law enforcement and the rules of the universe even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. Oh, also my wife which may fall under the rules of the universe.

If you have the financial side of early retirement and escaping the rat race figured out make sure you also get your head straight and tame your ego. I say tame because aside from Gurus, you can never conquer it.

It will be a process and it will surprise you. I feel that after leaving the corporate world I will always be in recovery. Were ego and career mindset trappings will always raise its head and tempt temporary wrong thinking. The trick is to be aware of it and stay focused on what really matters. That being the rest of my life on my passion driven terms.

Have you ever found that your ego is pushing you in the wrong direction or leading to unhappiness?

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?

Voluntarily Unemployed or Early Retiree

Retire Early, Retire Often,

What am I? Voluntarily Unemployed or Early Retiree. A recently read newspaper article talked about how the employment percentage numbers are not as high as being reported. This was due to many people opting for Voluntary Unemployment.

Unemployment or unemployed to me has always been a kind of negative financial status to be in. You need a job and are looking for one with urgency. My first thought was who are these Voluntarily Unemployed people choosing to be in this financially negative status and in doing so screwing up the national and state measured unemployment numbers? I mean, who are these people who need a job and money to survive but voluntarily chooses unemployment? All of which results in eventual starvation and homelessness.

As usual when I come across a new term I am not familiar with my Leisure Freak curiosity latches onto it. For me it starts with a web search to find out how people define and use the terminology.

How is Voluntary Unemployed Defined?

Oh boy. Based on the first definition of Voluntary Unemployment found in my search I was mostly wrong about how it is defined and what it is:

“Voluntary unemployment is a situation when a person is unemployed because of not being able to find employment of his/her own choice.”

Hold on a minute, are they talking about me?

Well that definition isn’t too bad but it is certainly extremely broad. I admit that this definition describes me perfectly as an early retiree. Someone doing the “retire early and often” thing. Like other early retirees I know we are always open to opportunities of interest and passions. That is as long as the opportunity aligns with what we value. Not so much of not being able to “find employment of our choice”. But taking time off when we want to and being super picky about the work we trade our time for. Hardly the negative financial status I have always associated with being unemployed.

Voluntary Unemployment as defined – a bad generalization

Voluntary Unemployment as defined is a bad generalization. By using a word as in “unemployed” that usually means being in a bad financial situation and needing to work. There are a lot of generalizations thrown around these days. Even though we all know generalizations are usually false. Mostly devised by some select specific group or special interest group upset that things aren’t going their way. Generalization is the tool used to persuade the masses to their cause. Those with the money and media’s ear know that many people lazily fall for their targeted generalizations.

That Voluntary Unemployment definition describes my first impression. Someone who is unemployed and unable to support themselves yet chooses to not look for a job. It also includes everyone in between. Like freelancers, threshold earners, stay at home parents, etc. Basically Voluntary Unemployment includes anyone who is able-bodied who chooses to not be employed whether they can support themselves or not. Talk about a broad-stroke label and generalization of people who are choosy when choosing to work.

Voluntarily Unemployed or Early Retiree, it’s all the same to the Generalizers.

Look, some of us have earned the right to be picky about the work we agree to do. And there I believe is the issue that THOSE who coined the term “Voluntary Unemployment” and so broadly defined it are most likely at odds with. Some other observations found in my reading about Unemployment paints pictures with warnings and dread. All to further discourage voluntarily unemployment:

Unfulfilled Economic Obligation–

Unemployed resources (meaning people) are idle and an economic waste. For those who have received education and training and do not work the costs associated to their learning and skills is wasted.

Loss of Government TAX Revenue–

The unemployed pay no or much lower income taxes. They pay less indirect taxes like sales taxes because they ultimately spend less.

Decreased Human Capital–

Many skills are gained while working on a job. Being unemployed can mean that fewer new skills will be acquired and their existing skills will be lost.

Gap in Work History-

The longer people are unemployed the harder it is to rejoin the world of the employed. Business believes the longer you are unemployed the more skills you lose. Some even believe the long unemployed lose the habit of working.  Over time some workers may become permanently excluded from employment with little or no prospects of work.

Stagnant salaries for the employed –

There is political pressure to paint a rosy economic picture and unemployment is one of those measurements. Corporations, businesses, and their stooge politicians believe that the unemployment numbers are not as low as reported. All due to the Voluntarily Unemployed and don’t feel the need to raise wages. Of which they normally would with today’s positive unemployment figures. Raising wages may bring more to the table thus negatively impacting unemployment numbers and returning to an employer’s market so why bother raising salaries.

The generalization label of Voluntary Unemployment is starting to look like some great big guilt trip. By the way I am chuckling inside because it’s not working.

For those of us who have worked hard and embraced frugal living. Who became super-savers and avoided debt to reach a point of early retirement. To choose to retire early and often by only working on our terms. I say there is nothing to feel guilty about even if all the above is true. But it’s not true.

My detailed rebuttal:

Unfulfilled Economic Obligation–

Not hardly. If I decide I don’t want to do that work anymore then I owe nobody my labor or an explanation. I was educated, trained, and I worked my keister off which repaid any associated costs ten times over. By the way, who are you calling idle? I am busy doing what I want to all day long and using the skills I WANT to use.

Loss of Government TAX Revenue–

I am sure this one stings because I use to pay more in yearly Income Taxes than my entire yearly early retirement lifestyle budget. It shouldn’t be an issue because you would think the corporation would back-fill. Then someone else would pay the taxes. But that is only if they hire someone or should I say hire someone in this country. Of which in my case they did not. Don’t blame the early retiree or voluntary unemployed for this one. As for spending less thus reducing indirect taxes. Early retirees (myself included) spend just about as much as we did when employed minus commuting cost. Early retirees get there by being a frugal living super-saver. So the voluntary unemployment generalizers are wrong here. The Government never received an unbridled consumerist level of indirect taxes from us.

Decreased Human Capital–

This could happen if your skills required constant practice. But many skills only lose value if they become obsolete. Most new software applications in business are made so that working with them is easier. So if someone had done it the hard way before they should easily pick up the new crap. At least just as easy as if they were chained to the desk when it was deployed. So what if people get a little rusty. Rusty is better than having no skills at all.

Gap in Work History Punishment –

Yep, the punishment by the corporate world and adopted by every HR and hiring manager because the employment authorities made this a thing. Out of work too long then you can’t work again. Or should I say they won’t let you work again. Same old warning I have heard since retiring early the first time. Seems more like an institutional punishment for free thinkers and free workers. Punishment to those who defy the call for every able-bodied person to be shackled by an employer. Staying shackled under any condition until they say it is OK for you to leave. If someone forgets how to work and becomes a lazy employee later then fire them. Why punish everyone?

Stagnant salaries for the employed-

Just another excuse for the “Man” to show who is in charge. They are right. You make a job attractive enough with increased salary and flexibility and people who are sitting on the side-lines would maybe come give it a looky-loo. So what? Don’t blame the Voluntary Unemployed for a business strategy to horde cash and increase pay for executives instead of raising salaries for all employees.

In Closing

So how do I see myself, Voluntarily Unemployed or Early Retiree? I see myself as an early retiree. As for Voluntarily Unemployed it’s too broadly defined to be a thing. Or represent a group to have any real meaning. Voluntarily Unemployed does describe every retiree who leaves their career or work on their own terms. Including every stay at home parent who has made that choice for their children. It even includes the people who can’t support themselves but won’t look for a job. The list goes on.

A better definition if they really need to have a label for people who are Voluntarily Unemployed that are making employment measurements difficult is – “Voluntary unemployment is a situation when a person who needs employment to support themselves is unemployed because of not being able to find employment of his/her own choice.”

See, by adding that little statement it narrows the definition to those who need employment and they should be counted in unemployment reports. Go ahead, label me and other early retirees with a broad and meaningless generalization. It won’t bother me as I stay free from meaningless work living life on my terms. I do apologize for ruining the corporate and political master’s Unemployment Measurements. But I never consider myself unemployed. Voluntarily or otherwise.

Are you striving to join the Voluntary Unemployed through financial independence?

Will you be able to live with yourself knowing you are screwing up the employment measurements?