Rethinking early retirement

[scaredyclassic]

https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/how-to-retire-early/

[gzz]

That writing is painfully bad, wordy and repetitive.

I couldn’t read past the first few paragraphs.

[pencilneck]

There happens to be an awesome local discussion group that generally uses School of Life material as a focal point for the conversations.

School of Life is terrific, but it tends to present a particularly strong view from a single narrow viewpoint of a topic. Whether one agrees or disagrees, it provides fertile ground for conversation.

If you’re interested, Google “Thinking While Drinking” The scheduling is done primarily through Meetup.com.

Currently the discussion are primarily online due to covid. I haven’t attended an online conversation. However, I very much enjoyed the in-person conversations I attended. I’m looking forward to them returning.

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=pencilneck]There happens to be an awesome local discussion group that generally uses School of Life material as a focal point for the conversations.

School of Life is terrific, but it tends to present a particularly strong view from a single narrow viewpoint of a topic. Whether one agrees or disagrees, it provides fertile ground for conversation.

If you’re interested, Google “Thinking While Drinking” The scheduling is done primarily through Meetup.com.

Currently the discussion are primarily online due to covid. I haven’t attended an online conversation. However, I very much enjoyed the in-person conversations I attended. I’m looking forward to them returning.[/quote]

Thnx . I have read almost all of dw bottons books. I would be interested in talking with people who engage with him.

[svelte]

On youtube there are a lot of channels that follow the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) crowd. Some of those folks are in their 20s and 30s!

A few things I’ve noticed:
1. Some of them consider “retirement” to be synonymous with “not working for someone else”. They’re really working for themselves as maintaining a youtube channel really is work. Depending on how often they put out videos, it could be a full time job!

2. Some of them think they can live the rest of their life on just a few hundred thousand dollars. To my way of thinking, they have a lot of audacity to think they can map out how that money will last over many more decades. Life is full of nasty surprises.

3. They seem to equate not working to happiness. I have to admit I’d be happier working less than 40 hours, but I truly do enjoy my job so I’m not sure how much happier, if any, I will be when I retire.

[sdrealtor]

I dont know that I could ever stop completely. I get too much enjoyment out of competing and winning

[scaredyclassic]

This articles a bit different. It says that while we think we want early retirement from work, what we might actually need is early retirement from other stuff. I may declare my retirement from driving, reading the news, travel, and showering in the next decade. Also retire from trying to be entertaining, hurrying, and eating out.

“Ironically, it might not even be work that many of us most want to retire from. We might be far keener to retire from, let’s say, late nights, going to the theatre, using social media, holidaying abroad or having sex with new people. Take the idea of announcing ‘early retirement’ from parties. Usually, if someone turns down every invitation and stays at home, they’d be seen as lonely and withdrawn – and probably unfit for human company. But suppose we could say that we’d ‘retired’ from social life; our decision would instantly acquire nobility and prestige. We’d be seen to be giving up not because we couldn’t stand other people or because we were gauche or unpopular. The implication would be that we might have been perfectly capable of making witty conversation over cocktails – but that we had decided we’d done enough of that sort of thing and were going to concentrate instead on deepening our friendships with just two or three people or on learning a new language by ourselves in bed. “

[svelte]

[quote=scaredyclassic]This articles a bit different. It says that while we think we want early retirement from work, what we might actually need is early retirement from other stuff. I may declare my retirement from driving, reading the news, travel, and showering in the next decade. Also retire from trying to be entertaining, hurrying, and eating out.[/quote]

yes, I read it. I usually do more of “taking a break” from those type of things. If I get bored doing them, I stop for awhile.

Sooner or later I yearn for them again and they back on the schedule.

[scaredyclassic]

When i am an old woman i shall wear purple.

Huh. Never avtually read the poem beforr… its kind of a retirement poem.

Warning

When i am an old man, i will only wear acid related t shirts.

https://tsptr.com/products/drop-acid-raglan-tee

[scaredyclassic]

Warning
Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

[svelte]

That is a great poem!

I’ve already started by list of things I’m gonna do when I retire and don’t have to care what anyone thinks…I don’t really care too much right now but have to keep up appearances to stay employed. 🙂

Maybe I’ll start buying purple clothes. To practice.

[flyer]

I’ve always felt that we should always be living the lives we want to live–retired or not–and if you’ve realistically determined your finances will last for the duration of your lifetime–that gives even more peace of mind.

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=svelte]That is a great poem!

I’ve already started by list of things I’m gonna do when I retire and don’t have to care what anyone thinks…I don’t really care too much right now but have to keep up appearances to stay employed. 🙂

Maybe I’ll start buying purple clothes. To practice.[/quote]

Poem inspired the red hat society…

Home

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=flyer]I’ve always felt that we should always be living the lives we want to live–retired or not–and if you’ve realistically determined your finances will last for the duration of your lifetime–that gives even more peace of mind.[/quote]

Haha. Lol. LOL. Loooooool.

Was reading AN UPHEAVAL,chekhov short story earlier today. An upper class wife wrongfully accuses her staff of stealing her jewelry. She searches the young governess’ room and this indignity profoundly disturbs the naive governess.

“Mashenka went into her room, and then, for the first time in her life, , it was her lot to experience in all its acuteness the feeling that is so familiar to persons in dependent positions, who eat the bread of the rich and powerful, and cannot speak their minds. There was a search going on in her room.”

Virtually all of us must for years eat crumbs from the rich and powerful. But even the rich in that story are scrambling…

And our kids too.

Fortunately, we have chekhov to help explain life…

[flyer]

Scaredy, thank you so much for enlightening me. LOL.

[Author]

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