Retiring early is an extremely attractive, but eventually overrated life goal
Stopping to work seems amazing. Thinking of having a significant amount of money is seductive. Not requiring to work for anyone is brilliant. Getting here should be life’s singular goal. It doesn’t seem overrated.
But you begin to realize it’s only a beautiful sounding idea once you have money
The biggest irony is that most who aggressively advocate for early retirement have not retired. Engagement hacking is telling things people like to hear, but eventually only benefits the hacker. The best way to assess if advice is honest is to see if the advice-giver implements it.
You’d rarely find Buffett or Bezos advocating early retirement because they don’t make money through engagement
Most people confuse financial independence with early retirement. Retirement is an option for a financially independent individual, but not the necessary outcome. In fact, financial independence gives you freedom to do whatever you would want
Wasting that independence doing nothing is tragic
Frustrations with constraints imposed by work is usually why this idea appeals to so many. Human beings fundamentally don’t like to be told to do things. Most work appears to be meaningless to the doer. The instinctive reaction is to escape, not fight. But the right strategy is to fight them
Human beings crave challenges, constraints enable them
The concept of disliking “adulting” is a rejection of constraints put on you as an adult. But constraints are actually responsibilities which few people want to take. Responsibilities of being a colleague, a manager, a leader, a daughter, a husband.
Responsibility aversion usually masquerades as a wish to retire
But funnily enough, human beings search for meaning much more than money. The ones who embrace responsibility see wealth as a byproduct. They rarely think about retirement, they’d rather want to be responsible for as long as possible.
Being relevant is the biggest human desire, which only comes when you have responsibilities
Strive for financial independence to set your thinking free. But live this life to the fullest, moving the world in a small way and leaving a mark. Hope to have vigour for as long. Retirement makes you a taker, not a giver.
We after all have just one life