Mini Retirement as an Alternative

I read an interesting article today by Susan Johnston for US News providing some insight into what they called a Mini Retirement as an Alternative to the standard retirement. You know. The standard retirement where you work until you are too old to do all the things you want to do. As said in the article:

“Instead of waiting until their golden years to retire, some Americans are now embracing the concept of mini-retirements: periods of work alternated with shorter periods of reflection, travel or activities otherwise curtailed by full-time work.”

Mini Retirement as an Alternative. What’s a Mini Retirement?

I had not heard of the term “Mini-Retirement” before. Being someone who loves looking at things outside the box when it comes to retirement (I am a Leisure Freak after all) and I am all about changing the definition of what retirement really is, I read the article with some interest.

I initially thought this was a new way to say “Sabbatical”. That’s because the piece is actually titled Why a Mini-Retirement May Rejuvenate Your Career. But the article then lays it out there with some quotes by those who are in the know:

The concept goes by different names in different circles: gap years for young people; mini-retirements for those inching toward traditional retirement age; sabbaticals for academics and professionals. It’s gaining more awareness as people share their experiences through blogs and social media”

And

“I think people are starting to ask the question about traditional retirement,” Russell says. “You front-load all of your work experience and make it to 65 and hopefully you get time off.”

So clearly sabbatical is mentioned but so is retirement. Using those terms together with the other descriptive name “Gap Years” I think I do see Mini Retirement as an Alternative to the standard retirement. It is much like the Retire Early and Often lifestyle that I live. I always find it fascinating to hear about how other people are redefining retirement and making it work for them.

Looking Back. Could I have Done This?

While reading this article I began thinking about my long career as a telecommunications engineer. How the last nine years were the hardest thing I have ever had to do. That was the years within my age range of 42 to 51. I asked myself, would I have been able to pull this off? Would I  now be looking back more fondly of that time in my life? Nine years is a pretty big chunk of someone’s life. If I had been able to pull it off, would I have stayed in my career longer and delayed retiring from there?

I think the answer is no for all the questions. Not because I wouldn’t have wanted to do it. But because my company wouldn’t allow it. Also because I was following my own strategic retire early plan. Trying to get to 30 years and grab what little there was left of a pillaged pension benefit.

I do think this mini-retirement is much like my retire early and often lifestyle. Where I am following my passions now that I am free. But I see this as a way to think about living today if you don’t have the means to retire and want to live a fulfilling life now. Instead of just slogging it out waiting until you are too old before experiencing all the things you want to accomplish. You know, all that fun stuff that full-time work year after year just gets in the way of.

Limitations to be able to do Mini Retirements

I do however see huge limitations to people being able to pull this off. It would depend on what they do to earn a living. As the article explained, it does take a unique mind-set. The article does have some high level tips and things that need to be considered. If you want to read it, here are the links:

Why a Mini-Retirement May Rejuvenate Your Career (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-mini-retirement-may-rejuvenate-130000843.html).

I see parallels to the “retire early and often” lifestyle and some differences. I am always open to new retirement ideas and this was very interesting to me. The big thing is people are starting to realize that there is more to life than a big career-driven mindset until it is too late. Our time is finite and you never know when your last trip around the sun will be.

What do you think? Do you see the Mini Retirement as an Alternative to the standard retirement?