Yesterday, my husband sent me an article from Marketwatch written by a practicing CFP about people who had enough money to retire, but were afraid to. They simply weren’t sure they would like being retired. I smiled when I read it- I’m also a CFP and saw the same thing several times when I was working. The reason I was smiling though, is that its clear that my husband is now thinking about this.
I have to tell you that quitting a job can be absolutely terrifying, especially (like in my case) if the decision is irrevocable and a different job would mean a huge pay cut. It is also scary letting go of a stream of income that you’ve been living on for 25 years, and making the switch from saving to living on your assets. Remember that scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies when Harrison Ford stepped off of a cliff into what looked like an abyss? (There was an invisible bridge- he was fine.) Feels like that. Really, it does, even if you know you have plenty of assets. The day I turned in my resignation I felt physically nauseous all day.
Like the author of the article, I didn’t really understand the enormity of the change when I was advising clients. I could show them on graphs and reports that they had enough assets, explain how they were going to address each challenge, and pay for each expense, and yet they were still afraid. It’s a huge life change and its not just about money. I get it now.
My perspective is quite different now that I am retired. The things I thought were really important while I was working, turned out to be much less important to me now that I’m not working anymore. And I have to say, that I think that advice about retiring “TO” something rather than just retiring to get away from your job is well meant, but it isn’t very helpful in real life. Most of the plans I had for what to occupy my time with in retirement seem less attractive now, and I never even considered the things I’m currently enjoying. The point of all this is that the view looks very different from the other side- you cannot accurately view what your retirement will look like when you are working, because working colors your view of your life.
Back to my husband. We argued about my retirement a fair amount before I did it. He really thought I was going to regret leaving my job. And in his defense, I am a really “busy” AKA hyperactive person. I am always DOING something. He was genuinely worried that my job was a major outlet for my mental energy and that I was going to be bored without some problem to solve. I’m just solving different kinds of problems, and that’s even more fun to me. Yesterday I fixed a connection issue with our wireless printer and learned how to use some additional features in Google Docs. I’ve never thought of myself as a “tech” person, but it was fun, and my 13 year old, who had been unable to fix the problem, was impressed.
I couldn’t convince my husband that I wouldn’t be bored in retirement, but seeing is believing. I’m having such a good time with MY hobbies, that he is spending a little more time on HIS hobbies- and enjoying them. He told me yesterday that he was going to cut back on his work schedule this year. He has said this countless times in the past, but he’s been talking about buying an RV and going camping for several weeks at a time. He might mean it this time.
I’m talking in hindsight here, and we often remember things a little differently so my recollection may not be completely accurate, but…
One of the best things I did when I was trying to get to my own early retirement decision was to realise I couldn’t accurately envision what the future would look like.
Now, if I’m honest, this only occurred after I’d spent a lot of time trying: making spreadsheets of possible financial scenarios, plans of what I’d do etc, and they were helpful, it was something I needed to do and I’m glad I did. But eventually I figured out that I couldn’t plan every detail of something that I’d never done before and didn’t particularly understand. It was then that I realised there would be a leap of faith involved. Strangely, that was a useful realisation as, even though a leap of faith might sound scary, it let me find peace with not knowing all the answers is OK.
The important part is, just as you’re finding, it seems to be working out pretty well!
It is working out well. The leap was scary, but worth it. Blogs like yours helped, and also an early retirement group where I could see that many others were agonizing over the same decision. Most of them reported back after they retired to say how they wished they’d done it sooner!