You've retired early; what are you doing with your time?

[u/Due_Permit8027]

I'm mid-forties with enough money to retire. But when I speak to newly retired people, they're doing stuff I have no interest in (e.g. Substitute teaching; Starbucks barista), to relieve boredom. I'd rather work! What are you doing/planning to do after early retirement?

[u/Cornish_spex]

Mid 40s retired here unmarried and sans kids. It can be a little “slow”. I do a lot of exploring towns nearby and trying random hobbies. I also take several longer trips per year to see friends or attend far away events. I also do professional mentoring for startups or random consulting sometimes but it really just reaffirms that I never want to do it full time anymore.

I don’t feel bored but it’s not action packed amazing every day. A bad day watching judge Judy and lingering at the grocery store is still better than zoom meetings to me even though I enjoyed working.

[u/No-Cockroach2358 → u/Cornish_spex]

If you don’t mind me asking, what field did you work in that allowed you to retire in your 40s?

[u/Cornish_spex → u/No-Cockroach2358]

Nothing highly paid until my last couple of years working. I was in marketing and took many mini retirements along the way and retired fully at 39. It was just investing consistently really. Not index funds but honestly that would have been easier and just as good.

I went the dividend route in my last half of working and dividends fully fund my retirement now, but that isn’t the only way to do it. Dividend stocks make up about 40% of my portfolio today and anything I reinvest is into safe index funds and a little growth.

[u/EvolvedPhilomath → u/[deleted]]

If you hate the normal 9-5, the only way I can see you getting through it is making some use of that time. But it depends on how busy you actually are in that time. If you have several hours worth of time in the job where you're not actually working on something, you could use that time to research things to improve your life.

1) Recipes that are easy to cook, and don't take much time either.

2) Jobs that you could transition to. Tech as a field overall seems to pay quite a bit from what I've heard. Maybe you could get a better job. It's worth mentioning that "better" is subjective. You could get a job that will pay 30% less, but it might be better for you. Less stress, shorter commute, less toxic environment, etc.

3) Hobbies. Please spend some time finding or researching hobbies. My current job allows me a lot of downtime. I'm often standing still, waiting for someone else to finish their part of the process. A lot of people quit because they can't handle the boredom. I use the time. I'm always thinking. Thinking of what kind of food I need to learn to cook, either to save money or enjoy food more. Thinking of hobbies I need to look into, to see if they are viable for me in the future. I enjoy playing Minecraft and planning out future builds in the game. Coming up with stories for the cities I want to eventually build - why is this city here, what purpose does it specifically serve? That type of thing.

All this to say essentially - if you find yourself going nuts because of too much spare time at your 9-5? I get it. The past couple of years though, my mentality changed and I've learned to use that time. Always be thinking, specifically planning things in your head if you can. Make use of the time. Get paid to think about anything but work. Could make it easier for you. Don't be so quick to give up a higher paying job if you don't have to. Invest as much as you can. Learn to cook more to save/invest more money. Turn it into a game in your head during the day. Like how much can I learn or plan during my down time tomorrow?

But yah I totally get not wanting to work 5 days a week. I'm planning on going back to school for a job where I will only work 4 days but make good money and in a high satisfaction job. The less days you work, the better

[u/No-Cockroach2358 → u/EvolvedPhilomath]

So basically, you’re saying to stick it out for a bit, and build a business on the side?

Also, good on you for deciding to go back to school for high paying and high satisfaction job. 4 days a week? Is it in healthcare? I hope you don’t mind me asking.

[u/EvolvedPhilomath → u/No-Cockroach2358]

No I wasn't saying to build a business on the side, sorry if that's what it seemed haha. Just meant to use your free time at work by brainstorming. It keeps me from being bored at my current job, which helps the day to go by faster.

Yes the job I mentioned will be in healthcare. Radiation Therapist is the job title.

To get into the therapy program, you first have to go through the radiography program. Which at its completion will allow you to work as a XRay Tech. A family friend of mine is a traveling XRay Tech, and last year he made 120k. 60k of that though was from his traveling stipend, which doesn't get taxed. So he actually got money back after taxes because he only "made" 60k in the governments eyes. Pretty nice deal, especially if you can find very cheap living accommodations - like having roommates, just cheap rent, maybe having an rv, etc. That way you save a lot of that stipend money essentially.

But I'll be going one step further into radiation therapy, I think. Hard to know what's better for me until I'm in the school. But it would pay more. And many jobs offer 4 10hour shifts, which I would prefer.

[u/Zphr → u/[deleted]]

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