What to do when FI

Simple living, extreme early retirement, becoming and being wealthy, wisdom, praxis, personal growth,...
wood
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by wood »

Go see with your own eyes how people are coping in shittyer places on earth. See it, smell it, touch it. Changing perspective can sometimes help finding purpose.

sky
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by sky »

I enjoy not doing much, just little maintenance things here and there. I take naps and I have a foot massage machine that I use several times a day. Every few days I cook up a pot of beans for my favorite bean taco lunch. A couple of times a month I go to the store to get ingredients for muesli and tacos. I eat with others in the evening. I can spend as much time on bathing and hygiene as I want, it is good to care for one's self. I have a garden and have set up a nice irrigation system that I look at every day. I don't have to do much because it is automatic. My current quest is political scheming and gaming. It provides a good reason to get together with other people. We go for rides to look at the countryside quite a bit. Minor car maintenance, house maintenance, bike maintenance, etc. I have a few hobbies that are objects of fascination for a time, bicycling, canoeing, amateur radio. But I only do them when I feel like it and if the weather is good.

I have worked at a career so I can point out past accomplishments to others. To me it doesn't matter so much but sometimes it is easier to be retired from some difficult work, people understand you better. It gives you a reason and justification (to others) to be living a life of leisure.

When I look back in time over the past few months, I don't worry too much about not completing big accomplishments. I like living in the present. If my portfolio started to dip, I would get a job and try to build it up again. For now things are looking good so I don't worry too much about it.

Allagash
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Allagash »

Retirement (especially with no kids) can be a challenge, I retired 2 yrs ago at 45 years old. Everyone my age is stuck in their 9-5 lifestyle. Most people get their identity from their jobs. But, MORE importantly that many working people greatly discount, is you get DAILY social interaction at work. And you have a structure to your life (get up, shower, get dressed, take the train to work, etc...) When you are single with no kids and retired, it can be a BIG challenge to integrate daily social life and human interaction into your daily life.

The OP hit the nail on the head on what I'm trying to solve myself, how can I have a life like I have free to do what I want, when I want, but still do something that I have passion for, gives me purpose, and is challenging everyday, and gets me interacting with other human beings. The problem with paid jobs is they are structured, you have to be somewhere at a certain time and do what they tell you to do and the people you work with might suck.

Dating has also been tough for me. Most women my age are deep into their careers 8am-6pm everyday, and their career is their life. Most also have a high spending lifestyle. Being retired I have flexibility to do a lot of stuff during the week, travel, etc... and they do not. And when you are ERE type and early retired, you are just kind of on a "different wavelength" then most other people in the corporate rat race. And it can be very hard to relate to working stiffs.

Volunteering is something I need to get out and do a lot more. If I could find something I could do when I wanted to do it, make some friends, and enjoy and be challenged by it this might work. It might take me a lot of trial and error to find the right volunteer gig.

Travel can get old IMO as you get older. It was fun in 20's and 30's traveling around the world and staying in hostels, but it starts to ring hollow and get lonely in your 40's traveling alone. I don't do a lot of international travel anymore, but I do still like weekend road trips and trips to warm weather in winter. Stuff like golf, hiking, etc. is OK, but gets old too.

I think figuring out some place I could do maybe a small version of semi-urban homesteading might be a good project to get into. Just have to find out where. Where I live now (Puget Sound area of WA) land and housing is WAY too expensive!

So in summary, early retirement (on a budget!) has been a bit isolating and lonely for me, even a bit depressing at times, but I hope to find my niche.

BRUTE
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by BRUTE »

FBeyer wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2017 1:30 am
BRUTE wrote:
Wed Jun 07, 2017 9:31 pm
brute has experienced similar troubles.

seems that the only solution is to construct one's own rat race.
The positive formulation of which is referred to as: identifying what you want out of life.
brute forgot to add this previously:

positive thinking is for those who need it

wolf
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by wolf »

Allagash wrote:
Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:32 pm
So in summary, early retirement (on a budget!) has been a bit isolating and lonely for me, even a bit depressing at times, but I hope to find my niche.
I'm afraid of that. Currently I am on my way to FI, maybe RE, in the year 2024. You have summed up my main worries very well.
Therefore I am trying to build a sustainable lifestyle right now. I don't want to wait till 2024 and then recognize that I lost many years. It had to be a balance.

For some months I have started and updated my Get-a-life-tree and Ultimate-life-adventour-list, based on the book "How to retire happy, wild and free" from Ernie J Zelinski. It helped me a lot to so far. I can recommend it to everybody who think or have issues with what to do when FI / RE.

If / when I am FI I'd like to experiment a bit with various kind of occupations like volunteering, other jobs, different employers maybe as well.

Allagash
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Allagash »

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Sat Jun 17, 2017 12:18 am
Allagash wrote:
Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:32 pm
So in summary, early retirement (on a budget!) has been a bit isolating and lonely for me, even a bit depressing at times, but I hope to find my niche.
I'm afraid of that. Currently I am on my way to FI, maybe RE, in the year 2024. You have summed up my main worries very well.
Therefore I am trying to build a sustainable lifestyle right now. I don't want to wait till 2024 and then recognize that I lost many years. It had to be a balance.

For some months I have started and updated my Get-a-life-tree and Ultimate-life-adventour-list, based on the book "How to retire happy, wild and free" from Ernie J Zelinski. It helped me a lot to so far. I can recommend it to everybody who think or have issues with what to do when FI / RE.

If / when I am FI I'd like to experiment a bit with various kind of occupations like volunteering, other jobs, different employers maybe as well.
I have seen that Zelinski book and glanced though it, that is a good one.

I've never seen hard facts on it, but I have heard it said before that many men die a few years after retirement because of the loss of purpose in their life. And retiring in your 40's is a whole new deal because you still have so much time left.

Its really hard to understand until you fully retire. Everyone thinks, wow I will have so much free time I'll go on hikes in the middle of the day, play golf whenever I want, travel, etc... But after a year or so all of that gets old. That's why a lot of uber successful people like Warren Buffett never retire and still go to the office every day at 87 years old, it keeps him alive and healthy. Then again Buffett loves what he does. If you were a high achieving person especially, it can be hard to be middle age and not have something intellectually challenging or exciting, that next big goal, to pursue everyday. You start to ask, "what the hell am I doing with my life"?

For me I would still take retirement over a normal job ANY DAY :!: I just hated the structure, routine, doing what someone else wanted me to do everyday that profited them not me, working with people who I didn't like and who were incompetent, traffic, etc... I didn't love what I was doing, and unfortunately was never one of the lucky ones who found a passion that was also my paid work (like guys like Buffett).

I think I will eventually find my niche in retirement. I spend some time researching and working on investing my money most weeks, so that is somewhat work. But that doesn't get me around others interacting socially. I think a key is to find you niche and routine of some activities that get you interacting with others everyday, meeting new people, learning new skills.... I don't think it's a good thing to be a hermit. It's not as easy as it sounds. I have done a lot of meetup.com activities but they get old too (hikes, happy hours, etc...). I've looked at a lot of volunteering, but a lot of it is very mundane (working check ins at non profit fundraising and charity events, trail work clearing trails in state parks, creek restoration, building houses habitat for humanity, etc...). I need to put more effort into trial and error to find my volunteering niche. It just takes a lot of time to look up these opportunities, drive out to them, you may not like it and waste you day or night, etc... Just lots of time consuming trial and error.

Recently I thought about living in a RV full time and roaming around the U.S., but I think it sounds a lot better than the reality of it. And I have seen a lot of the U.S. already being a avid road tripper and car camper my whole life.

I also hike, ski, golf, camp...but I've yet to find a new hobby that is really engaging to me. I'm on the look out for one. I think I've heard Jacob mention bike repair and woodworking...I think those are interesting hobbies. I might get more into biking around to everything I do more, and repairing my own bike.

To repeat, one of the most difficult things I have found being single is finding a partner that is also retired or has a really flexible job. I have dated a lot and it just doesn't work well with women that are into their 8-6pm 6 days a week corporate rate race job. I want to possibly live in two or more places (snowbird) or RV part of year or travel part of year, very challenging to find someone near my age in my 40's who can also live this lifestyle. There are plenty of 65 year old+ retired women who can do this lifestyle though! But a bit out of my age range!

leeholsen
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by leeholsen »

you have to figure out big things that interest you, like learning Chinese, going to college for an applied sciences degree in a field that is nearly limitless like astrophysics or growing your own forest within you properties limits, mastering a difficult musical instrument, traveling to see virtually every paved mile of the usa.

there's something out there for you, you just hadn't found it; or you could just play those video and online games all day.

thrifty++
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by thrifty++ »

Allagash wrote:
Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:32 pm
Retirement (especially with no kids) can be a challenge, I retired 2 yrs ago at 45 years old. Everyone my age is stuck in their 9-5 lifestyle. Most people get their identity from their jobs. But, MORE importantly that many working people greatly discount, is you get DAILY social interaction at work. And you have a structure to your life (get up, shower, get dressed, take the train to work, etc...) When you are single with no kids and retired, it can be a BIG challenge to integrate daily social life and human interaction into your daily life.

So in summary, early retirement (on a budget!) has been a bit isolating and lonely for me, even a bit depressing at times, but I hope to find my niche.
Sounds like you might need to find an ERE dating pool. As scarce as that is Seattle is a big city at least. Maybe you could start a meetup here. Or start a more generic personal finance meeting group, not necessarily off this more specific and niche site.
Last edited by thrifty++ on Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

Allagash
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Allagash »

That is a good idea. A local meetup for early retired folks.

FBeyer
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by FBeyer »

Jean wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:43 am
Yes, thinking that i have to make music seems to help a lot. I produced one tune a day for the last days. Having responsabilities seems key.
It's a take on procrastination that I've yet to see. Not 100 percent novel, but tackles procrastination from a different angle than usual.

http://lesswrong.com/lw/3w3/how_to_beat ... stination/

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Re: What to do when FI

Post by jacob »

thrifty++ wrote:
Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:44 am
Sounds like you might need to find an ERE dating pool.
There was a forum here for dating long ago but nobody was using it. I figured here would be the obvious place to hook up with like-minded individuals but I don't think we have the density. I don't know if anything is going on behind the scenes. If that's the case, I've never heard about any couples who met on ERE.

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Jean
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Jean »

FBeyer wrote:
Sat Jul 08, 2017 2:27 am
Jean wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:43 am
Yes, thinking that i have to make music seems to help a lot. I produced one tune a day for the last days. Having responsabilities seems key.
It's a take on procrastination that I've yet to see. Not 100 percent novel, but tackles procrastination from a different angle than usual.

http://lesswrong.com/lw/3w3/how_to_beat ... stination/
Really?
It seems obvious to me that the meaninglessness of a task is a good reason to procastinate it.

Allagash
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Allagash »

jacob wrote:
Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:31 am
thrifty++ wrote:
Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:44 am
Sounds like you might need to find an ERE dating pool.
There was a forum here for dating long ago but nobody was using it. I figured here would be the obvious place to hook up with like-minded individuals but I don't think we have the density. I don't know if anything is going on behind the scenes. If that's the case, I've never heard about any couples who met on ERE.
I should probably try to start a meetup.com or facebook group or something in my local area for ERE types. Just not sure I could get the critical mass needed.

There are a lot of great things of course with retiring early. But it also can be isolating. I'm still trying to find my niche and social circle, I know I will some day but it really takes quite an effort. As I mentioned, most people my age are caught up in their careers, daily commutes, families, etc... And being ERE and single no kids compounds the situation. You are on a totally different wave length then the "masses", its like you are on a different planet. You just just don't have a tremendous amount in common with mainstream working high spending stiffs.

Mainstream internet dating sites don't work well for ERE types IMO. The vast majority of potential partners are all caught up in the rat race where their job is their life & consumes 5-6 days a week of their time, they spend a lot of money, and live very "herd-like" mainstream lives. So you can spend tons of time on dates from dating sites spinning your wheels where people are just not right for you.

I think getting out and doing things you like with groups can help (hiking, etc...), that's what a lot of people suggest. I've done some of that and it is still a crap shoot and can take a lot of time and effort with little yield.

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Jean
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Jean »

Permaculturiat, dumpster divers, squatters, etc... They all have much in common with erers.

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Re: What to do when FI

Post by jacob »

@Allagash - I don't know if this is primarily idiosyncratic/autobiographic, but other than the rare open-minded unicorn, the groups who've been the easiest to communicate ERE to are:

1) Traders ... because they're used to the idea of making money via other means than salary or contract work.

2) Permaculturists ... because they're capable of thinking in systems and that is not something that is naturally ingrained in practically any other group of humans.

3) Academics if and only if they have minimalist or adventurous proclivities. I never advertised ERE to my colleagues in academia ... but of the few who later "figured me out" the one's who took to it in a positive manner have all been of the emigrant, climber, backpacker, mission-driven, ... kind ... whereas those who recoiled were the one's who aspire and insist for the title of professor some day.

All other groups are kind of a hit and miss wrt ERE in my experience.

Stahlmann
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Stahlmann »

jacob wrote:
Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:57 am
...last post...
You stopped mentioning preppers (survivalist) and simple living advocates recently :)

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Re: What to do when FI

Post by jacob »

That'd be the second string.

7Wannabe5
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Some self-employed individuals only vary from the conventional mindset at the level of which tax form to file, but there is a subset with whom you might likely find compatibility. Trading is a verb that applies to a great many things beyond the stock market. Even though I read YMOYL way back when it was first published, I still view FIRE as a capital intensive instance of like-minded subset of self-employed individuals.

Allagash
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Allagash »

Jean wrote:
Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:48 am
Permaculturiat, dumpster divers, squatters, etc... They all have much in common with erers.
Permaculture possibly yes. Dumpster divers and squatters probably not as much :lol: I'm more "ERE lite". I got to ERE more by cranking up the income & investing faucets for a few years vs. plugging every drain with radical levels of frugality (but I admire greatly those who got there via attrition). I'm probably more frugal then 90% of the people in my net worth range, but I'm a spendthrift compared to the more radical ERE's.

Allagash
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Re: What to do when FI

Post by Allagash »

jacob wrote:
Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:57 am
@Allagash - I don't know if this is primarily idiosyncratic/autobiographic, but other than the rare open-minded unicorn, the groups who've been the easiest to communicate ERE to are:

1) Traders ... because they're used to the idea of making money via other means than salary or contract work.

2) Permaculturists ... because they're capable of thinking in systems and that is not something that is naturally ingrained in practically any other group of humans.

3) Academics if and only if they have minimalist or adventurous proclivities. I never advertised ERE to my colleagues in academia ... but of the few who later "figured me out" the one's who took to it in a positive manner have all been of the emigrant, climber, backpacker, mission-driven, ... kind ... whereas those who recoiled were the one's who aspire and insist for the title of professor some day.

All other groups are kind of a hit and miss wrt ERE in my experience.
These are good ideas. I'm more like a investor/trader ERE mindset type. I would probably find things in common with investors/traders and ex-entrepreneurs/start up types who are now just really cheap and want to live low overhead "semi" alternative lifestyles to the masses.

Jim Merkel author of the book "Radical Simplicity" is a hero. I almost want to move to Maine so I could I could hang out with him and hear him speak regularly. I don't think I have the chops to ever live as radically simple as him, but If only 25% of the way he lives rubbed off on me it would be a success. I wonder if he does "simplicity life coaching"?...lol

By the way Jacob, you created such a terrific book, web site, forum and community out of this very niche lifestyle. Well done.

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