(Early) Retirement? No thanks.
It seems to be a dream for many to retire early. That certainly would be a financial accomplishment. For a time, I embraced this notion and goal. You would think that as one ages, one would tire of working and truly look forward to some rest and relaxation in his/her retirement years. The odd thing is that as I age, I am beginning to relish the thought of not needing to retire, if I can help it.
Vacations are nice, but a permanent long-term vacation is frankly a bit boring for me. There’s only so much lounging around that I can do before feeling ansy. The quest to keep busy and plugged into society burns strongly within me. I’m not sure if that flame will ever die just because I’m older. Sure, I could keep busy playing tennis or drinking wine, but business (profit or not-for-profit) is my passion.
Maybe the urge to relax will take over after a certain age, especially if plagued by illness, but if I’m otherwise mentally and physically sound, I wonder if taking a permanent vacation is my cup-of-tea. Both my grandfathers owned and worked in their businesses without seeing retirement. Not for lack of financial wealth, but for a passion for business, I’m guessing. I can’t say I know either well enough to know this for a fact, but I suppose the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Is it entirely necessary to take on that kind of stress, say past age 70 or even 80 (like my grandfathers)? What about just volunteering somewhere and lending my business experience as a consultant pro bono or otherwise? That only sounds partially fulfilling to me, only because when you don’t take the risk (as most consultants don’t – they get paid for their time whether or not their advice is any good…at best they get a sweetener for being successful, but they hardly get penalized to a point of real pain like a business owner would), you don’t have “skin in the game” and you lack that fighter X-factor injected into the winning equation.
But really, if I were to be lucky enough to win, say, $300 million in the lottery, would I really still be working? Yes, in a foundation probably instead. And after a traveling around the world for maybe a year or so. I can’t imagine doing nothing for a longer period of time. So there, it’s in writing. You can hold me to it…when I win the lottery.
Vacations are nice, but a permanent long-term vacation is frankly a bit boring for me. There’s only so much lounging around that I can do before feeling ansy. The quest to keep busy and plugged into society burns strongly within me. I’m not sure if that flame will ever die just because I’m older. Sure, I could keep busy playing tennis or drinking wine, but business (profit or not-for-profit) is my passion.
Maybe the urge to relax will take over after a certain age, especially if plagued by illness, but if I’m otherwise mentally and physically sound, I wonder if taking a permanent vacation is my cup-of-tea. Both my grandfathers owned and worked in their businesses without seeing retirement. Not for lack of financial wealth, but for a passion for business, I’m guessing. I can’t say I know either well enough to know this for a fact, but I suppose the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Is it entirely necessary to take on that kind of stress, say past age 70 or even 80 (like my grandfathers)? What about just volunteering somewhere and lending my business experience as a consultant pro bono or otherwise? That only sounds partially fulfilling to me, only because when you don’t take the risk (as most consultants don’t – they get paid for their time whether or not their advice is any good…at best they get a sweetener for being successful, but they hardly get penalized to a point of real pain like a business owner would), you don’t have “skin in the game” and you lack that fighter X-factor injected into the winning equation.
But really, if I were to be lucky enough to win, say, $300 million in the lottery, would I really still be working? Yes, in a foundation probably instead. And after a traveling around the world for maybe a year or so. I can’t imagine doing nothing for a longer period of time. So there, it’s in writing. You can hold me to it…when I win the lottery.
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