New Retirement
Retirement is one of the most disempowering words in the English language. It conjures up the image of someone who has worked long brutal hours for tiresome year after tiresome year with an annual three week “vacation”. Then when society deems they are no longer at full productive capacity they stop doing what they have an ingrained habit of doing, and they “retire” on far less income than they are used to. Not only that, most people have to trust the government to top up their savings in order to give them a decent standard of living.
Leaving the standard of living of my retirement to a group of future politicians is not my idea of certainty and peace of mind!
Now I believe in being youthful for as long as possible. But the idea of a three month surfing vacation with my kids now is much more appealing to me than watching my grandchildren surfing when I’m in my seventies. Just like you I want to retire now, not when I’m getting old!
That is one of the things I loved about Tim Ferris's book “The 4 Hour Work Week”. He recommends restructuring your life so you can take “mini retirements” now. Work two months then take a month off. Work for a year then take six months off and backpack around the world for six months. Completely restructure your life so you earn passive or near passive income by only working a few hours a week from anywhere in the world.
Ferriss’ book also makes the excellent point that most people actually don’t want to be millionaires. What they really want is to be able to experience the lifestyle activities we think millionaires enjoy – time freedom, boating on the Mediterranean, diving the Great Barrier Reef from a boat you have chartered, having a full-time chef for a month. All these are possible if you live smart and think globally. If you are ready for a lifestyle change, I thoroughly recommend his book.
Another wonderful advantage of re-ordering your life towards running your own business in line with your passions is that you never have to retire! You can keep on managing your business and your life until they take you away in a box!
Imagine your life from next year onwards as a series of adventures or missions or experiences interspersed with periods of earning money doing something you love. That is the way I live my life, and there is nothing stopping you doing the same.
“Retiring early” can also be a trap. If you decide to work super-hard from the time you finish your education until you “retire” at 45 you have made a big mistake. First, you force yourself to work long hours and endure stress. Second, you will ignore far more important pursuits such as friends, family, spirituality and exercise. Third, you lose some of your most creative, energetic and productive years. Fourth, you are establishing a bad work habit that will be hard to shake off later. Fifth, once you reach 45 and “retire” what will you do all day, play golf and catch up on all the movies you missed? You would be bored within a month. Believe me, I tried something similar once.
I decided to have a six month retreat and just play my guitar and read the Bible. The first day I did a few hours of each, a few days later a bit less a week later a lot less, a month later I was sleeping 12 hours a day, I had no motivation, no energy, no drive, no direction. I played no guitar, didn’t read my Bible, felt miserable and did basically nothing – it was horrible.
Human beings are designed to have habits and structures. My point is you need to develop great habits and structures now so the rest of your life is balanced. Live your life as you want to live it but keep structure, discipline and good habits.
Most of us take far too little vacation time. In February 2001 the World Tourism Organization reported that Americans took only an average of 13 days annual vacation, the fewest in the industrialized world. Further they reported:
• 34% of respondents said their jobs were so pressing they had no down time at work;
• 32% work and eat lunch at the same time;
• 32% do not leave the building during the working day;
• 19% said their job makes them feel older than they are;
• 17% said work caused them to lose sleep at home.This is people in the wealthiest nation on earth! What is wrong with this picture?
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you will work hard for 30 years and then retire early. This is a lose-lose situation! You work too hard and miss out on 30 years of life and when you stop, you have too much time and no reason to get up in the morning. It is far better to plan your life so you make the most of each year by building in mini-retirements as well as regular fun, creative, spiritual, community and family-centred times.
Action Step 22:
Start now and plan one mini-retirement in the next six months (cannot include usual annual vacations).
Action Step 23:
Schedule vacation time now. Block out special days (anniversary, friend’s birthday, long weekend away) on your calendar, and if you are employed, apply for a vacation day immediately. If you schedule it now, it will happen!