Before I started blogging, I can honestly say that early retirement never once crossed my mind. I thought that the normal age to retire was somewhere around 65 and that would be around the same time that I would retire.
I didn’t think people retired early, and if they did, I thought they were just lucky (which is a little funny if you read my post from the other day – Following Your Passion Is Not Just Luck).
Then, I started blogging and found a few early retirement blogs. Some of these include blogs like Retire by 40, Early Retirement Extreme and Mr. Money Mustache, which all show different people who worked hard to retire early.
I, of course, got hooked on all of these blogs and I knew that chugging along in a job that I didn’t like just wasn’t for me.
So, I made plans to leave my job so that I could live the life that I want. I knew that if I stayed in my day job that reaching early retirement would not be very easy, and that working on my own business would mean that I could enjoy my life while also working towards early retirement.
In October of 2013, I had my final day at my day job and switched to full-time self-employment.
Even though I left my traditional day job and I now work for myself, I don’t consider this early retirement. Many people have asked me what it’s like to be retired though, which I almost always have to laugh at because I am definitely not retired.
I don’t see myself ever fully retiring.
I actually enjoy working and staying busy. However, I will say that when I am 80 years old I hopefully won’t be working 40 hours per week. BUT, I would like to option to do what I want, and when I want.
If I find a new passion later in my life, I would like the option to do it if I can, without being controlled by how much money is in the bank.
So, what is early retirement?
The key in my case is that early retirement to me means financial independence. Yes, yes, I know, some of you are probably saying to yourself “they’re not the same thing though!” I don’t care, everyone can spend their retirement however they want, and I want to spend it still being at least somewhat productive.
If you look at how many “early retired” people live, you will see that most (if not all) are still doing something. They most likely don’t have a full-time day job chugging along for someone else, but they are doing something.
And that’s how I see myself.
Early retirement to me equals financial independence. And to me that means that I have enough money in the bank to live off until the day that I pass away, all while living my same comfortable life (i.e., I will not be eating beans and rice for every single meal, day after day).
It means that if I want to do something, I can go do it.
Leave a Reply
At 35, I don’t plan to retire “early” but I do plan to get to financial freedom as early as possible. I am working hard now when I have the energy so that when I am older and have less of it, I can have options and “slow down” if I want to.
Sounds you like you are doing great. Thanks for stopping by Shannon!
Sounds like you are right on the right path 🙂
I agree with you. Early retirement and financial independence are tied together in my mind. It’s about having the freedom to pursue what you want, even if that brings in money.
Is financial independence something that you are looking to reach? If so, when? 🙂
I had never even thought about early retirement until recently. I don’t think I could ever really “retire” because I always want something to do. But I would like to have the financial freedom to do what I want and when I want. It would be awful if I was 80 years old and still felt like I had to work just to survive.
Yes, that would be absolutely awful to be 80 and still worried about money. I can’t imagine.
I’m with you. To me early retirement means being able to do what you want without having to worry about money. It doesn’t necessarily mean quitting your job if that’s something you like to do. It just means doing whatever makes you feel good without worrying about how much you earn.
Thanks Alexa!
i’d love to retire early – either with a full retirement or at least where i’d just be working parttime. I’ve been saving for retirement but hope to work on side income so I can grown my retirement savings faster!
Yes, side income helps people do that. Gotta love it 🙂
Haha, I do LOVE rice and beans, but I don’t think I could do it for every meal 🙂
I view “early retirement” similarly to you. I would love to be debt free and financially independent in my late 30’s early 40’s. That being said I can’t picture myself not working… ever… I hope to be able to open my own clinic once I reach financial independence and therefore only take on clients I’m interested in working with and be able to make my own hours (as many or as few as I like)
Sounds like a great “retirement” 🙂
Same here – if I can enjoy the work, then that is the best.
Hi Michelle!
I’m with you on just finding out what early retirement is and got hip to it from surfing the blogosphere. It really hits home for me as I’m by far the youngest in my office and seeing how much people sacrifice in life working for someone else’s business is (for lack of a better word) SCARY. There HAS to be more to life! My idea of retirement has greatly changed because of this experience… I want to be comfortable, financially free, and self employed.
Taylor
Yes, there has to be more to life! And, it sounds like we have a pretty similar view of “early retirement” 🙂
It is inspiring and awesome that you were able to quit your job and do something you enjoy. There’s no need or reason to “retire” if you enjoy what you do. I work in government which has great benefits and a pension…I sometimes call it my golden handcuffs. I like the stability it provides and with a family to provide for, I’m too risk adverse to quit. Although if I was doing well on my side hustles then that would be a different story…I could make the jump.
Thank you Andrew 🙂
Early retirement to me is having the choice to do what I want when I want. The word retirement seems very final. I like to look at it as financial freedom and it’s something I want to achieve in the next 5-10 years. It’s not going to be easy but I love a challenge, plus it’s going to be fun trying to achieve this as I’ve heard so many people tell me that it’s unrealistic or impossible. I think anything is possible as long as we believe it to be and the biggest obstacle in the way of achieving our greatest expectations is ourselves.
I think that you Michelle are a prime example of someone achieving their dream and not being fazed by the barriers society and even family and friends sometimes place on us to have to work for a pay check because it’s ‘secure’. It’s great motivation to come here and read about your goals and achievements.
Thank you so much 🙂
For me it’s freedom and not having to work if I don’t want to. And having no boss. But I like to stay busy as well.
Yes, same here!
Yes, this is something that I think about a lot. It’s a great reason to want to be financially independent!
We define early retirement the same – having the financial independence that turns working into a conscious choice instead of a requirement. I think we still have 10-15 years before we’re there…
We still have quite some time. We haven’t really started saving or preparing for it yet.