I hope to be on that path. I’m in my 40s and tired of the grind. Nowhere close to retirement yet, but I am likely on track to pay off my house early in the next two years (maybe 7 years into a 30 year mortgage) which will go a long way.
I’m saving as much as I can and hoping I can retire lean in my mid or late 50s.
Right now though all I can think of is that I need a sabbatical after my current job ends (either layoffs or just quitting) because I really need a break.
Best of luck to you. I’m in a similar boat, but thankful I have a good job I don’t dread that makes an effort to take good care of me. I’m on track to retire in my 50’s, but if my investments do better than expected and I hit my number earlier, I’m out.
But I’ve also never understood why anyone works longer than they need to if they have the means to live comfortably in the first place.
It’s like that one movie…pretty sure its Shawshank Redemption? There’s that one guy that gets out of jail and then commits suicide in a few months or so, because he can’t handle the real world after spending most of their life in jail.
I think work operates in a similar way…but the cruelty of the trap is that the things that make life worth living, i.e. hobbies, friends, a life outside of work, etc. kind of interferes with your ability to get that high level income you need for early retirement.
I think a lot of people that work even though they have the means to live comfortably for the rest of their lives are there because…work is their entire life. They have nothing outside of it. No purpose.
We talk about retirement as a question of resources: do we have the financial resources to live x years? What we don’t talk about is every other resource. Social, emotional, physical (in the does your body work sense) etc. Sure, you’ve got the house and the money…but your friends are all at work, and making new ones is pretty hard…even if you manage to make bank and retire in your mid 30s.
Bingo. It’s been very interesting watching family members retire. You can get very good at seeing which ones will thrive and which won’t. Some don’t even really retire- they keep getting part time jobs, etc. because they never developed the hobbies that they could now lean into.
I hope to be on that path. I’m in my 40s and tired of the grind. Nowhere close to retirement yet, but I am likely on track to pay off my house early in the next two years (maybe 7 years into a 30 year mortgage) which will go a long way.
I’m saving as much as I can and hoping I can retire lean in my mid or late 50s.
Right now though all I can think of is that I need a sabbatical after my current job ends (either layoffs or just quitting) because I really need a break.
Best of luck to you. I’m in a similar boat, but thankful I have a good job I don’t dread that makes an effort to take good care of me. I’m on track to retire in my 50’s, but if my investments do better than expected and I hit my number earlier, I’m out.
But I’ve also never understood why anyone works longer than they need to if they have the means to live comfortably in the first place.
Institutionalization.
It’s like that one movie…pretty sure its Shawshank Redemption? There’s that one guy that gets out of jail and then commits suicide in a few months or so, because he can’t handle the real world after spending most of their life in jail.
I think work operates in a similar way…but the cruelty of the trap is that the things that make life worth living, i.e. hobbies, friends, a life outside of work, etc. kind of interferes with your ability to get that high level income you need for early retirement.
I think a lot of people that work even though they have the means to live comfortably for the rest of their lives are there because…work is their entire life. They have nothing outside of it. No purpose.
We talk about retirement as a question of resources: do we have the financial resources to live x years? What we don’t talk about is every other resource. Social, emotional, physical (in the does your body work sense) etc. Sure, you’ve got the house and the money…but your friends are all at work, and making new ones is pretty hard…even if you manage to make bank and retire in your mid 30s.
Bingo. It’s been very interesting watching family members retire. You can get very good at seeing which ones will thrive and which won’t. Some don’t even really retire- they keep getting part time jobs, etc. because they never developed the hobbies that they could now lean into.