Retirement Is A False Idol
The whole idea of retirement is based on the assumption that you dislike what you’re doing enough to want to stop one day.
Instead, you should be pursuing “financial freedom” - the moment when your passive income exceeds your living expenses - because then you can really start to do your life’s work. Maybe you’ll try to cure malaria like Bill Gates. Or maybe your “work” will be for a charity that doesn’t pay a dime. Whatever it is, I guarantee you won’t have retirement on your mind because you’ll enjoy it too much.
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Creer un site said,
Wrote on November 14, 2008 @ 8:48 am
Retirement is not doin ‘nothing’, but stop working for doing these :-)
And we would like that happen sooner than those who work 40h/week :-D
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Chris - Manager's Sandbox said,
Wrote on November 14, 2008 @ 10:01 am
GREAT post Brian!!!
- Chris
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Caroline said,
Wrote on November 14, 2008 @ 11:57 am
I don’t think any of us will be retiring any time soon:(
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Bcarter said,
Wrote on November 15, 2008 @ 6:42 am
The whole retirement idea comes from the crap that is loaded into our heads from kindergarten on: go to college, find a job, and then retire after 50 years of doing the same thing. Then we end up making money for the people that are willing to take risks and buck the system. Why not make that money for yourself instead?
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Andy @ Retire at 40 said,
Wrote on November 15, 2008 @ 7:29 am
I wholeheartedly agree. Even though my blog has ‘retire’ in the title, it is essentially a plan to become financially independent. That way, you can choose what you want to do instead of being forced to do something (whether you like it or not)!
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Matt Thomas said,
Wrote on November 15, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
“Retirement” also suggests that we have to wait until we are 65 or older to actually pursue what we want. If I want to go traveling, start a more risky venture or spend time with my loved ones, why wait until my golden years when I am not nearly as physically able as I am presently?
I agree with what Bcarter said in that it is a concept that is forced on us at a very early age, where entering into “lifetime employment” is the ideal, while in reality, being financially independent is truly ideal. Like Andy said, financial independence is the real definition of retirement and it shouldn’t be a function of age.
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Brian Armstrong said,
Wrote on November 15, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
Good points everyone and thanks for the comments.
Personally, I get pretty stir crazy after a few days of vacation and usually have to get back to work. I’m not very good at relaxing so I probably wouldn’t be very good at retirement :)
It’s amazing how people think they’ll “pay their dues” with lots of hard work up front so that they can relax later. Relaxing is actually really boring after a fairly short period of time! Better start doing what you love now, that’s about all there is in life…
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