The truth is I don’t know if I’m retiring.
Every time I tell someone that I am retiring, they quickly tell me “You can’t retire!”, “You are too young to retire!”, “You have too much to give to retire!” It’s as if every time I say “I’m retiring” they hear “I’m dying!” In fact, in our society, retirement seems to be closely related to associations of death, instead of life!
I have been working for the same company for the past 22 years in increasingly challenging leadership roles and capacities. I have worked in the U.S. and led businesses in Europe. I was a Vice President of a large international corporation. I was the CEO of a rapidly growing national company. I managed acquisitions and divestitures for businesses and organizations. I feel I have been successful and, fortunately, I have saved money; but I am only 46 years old, with three young children, will it be enough to last? That is one of the fears of early retirement.
What I know is that after 22 years of an immersive work career, I want to live the rest of my life differently. I want to spend time with my wife, kids, family and friends. I want to spend time with myself for fitness and personal development. I want to spend time to see how I can improve my community. For now I will call that a sabbatical — if it makes people feel better. However, I am pursuing a sabbatical which I hope to stretch out long term !
I may or may not be retiring right now; but I am going to
- re-tire
- re-tool
- re-tread
- re-new
- re-calibrate
- re-visit
- re-kindle
- re-fresh
- re-juvenate
- and re-assess life!
As much as some people think of retiring equating to death, I am looking at Retiring to Breathe New Life – MyLife2.0!
In today’s world this is the new and true meaning of retirement. To re-visit life so you can live it on your own terms and not the terms of your corporation or the path you set when you were 21 years old. To step back and re-focus on your priorities of today, your family’s health, personal development and new adventures. This is the retirement I want to pursue today. After all, why should we wait?
Welcome to The Joy of Retirement – it starts now! Get ready for a great journey!
Congrats on the first step. My best advice is to use the 3% rule to estimate the size of nut you will need to live the type of life you want. It isn’t infallible, but it does provide perspective.
Yes, having a plan to live off 3% of your invested savings can help you live off dividends for years instead of depleting your retirement savings. For many, you can also pursue activities you love which can bring in some income (teaching, tutoring, repairs, etc.) and extend your savings even more.
I look forward to observing this part of your journey. You’ve had a fantastic career to date and you are marinating in the right questions!