However, when I hear about current bloggers retiring early, it is one of the following situations:
- One spouse quits working, while the other spouse keeps working. The spouse that quit has "retired" in their 30s and 40s, Often the spouse who quit working earns supplemental income from blogging.
- An individual or both spouses quit working in the corporate world because the income from gig jobs and blogging is sufficient to cover expenses. In some cases, the income exceeds their previous corporate job.
To me, these options did not seem to be "retirement." I grew up in a single income family, because my mom stayed home to care for the kids. We didn't call that retirement since she didn't receive any retiree benefits from her last place of employment. Similarly, finding a better way to earn income, e.g. blogging, was "getting a better job by being self employed."
Here's What Millennials Are Prioritizing Instead of Retirement provide me some insight as to what is the new retirement. It seems young adults goals are to have the financial freedom and flexibility to have their desired lifestyle. As a colleague once said, "work to live instead of live to work."
So maybe the "new retirement" is achieving work life balance and continuing to work well into their 70s and longer. We'll see how that works 30 to 40 years from now.
For me, I still prefer the "old retirement" model, but maybe that's no longer achievable and therefore not relevant to the current generation.
So maybe the "new retirement" is achieving work life balance and continuing to work well into their 70s and longer. We'll see how that works 30 to 40 years from now.
For me, I still prefer the "old retirement" model, but maybe that's no longer achievable and therefore not relevant to the current generation.
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This is not financial or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.
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2 comments:
There's also the situation of 'retiring' to part-time or intermittent consulting gigs, often from the same employer. I think this is more common than blogging 'retirement', but we never hear from these folks-- presumably because they're not blogging!
Anyway it seems to me this 'new retirement' model is finally starting to tap into the vast underutilized resource of our generation -- namely the productive capacity of those who can't or don't want to continue their traditional occupations. With their years of experience and education, these people could be providing much-needed services even after factoring in their constraints from health and personal interests.
Plus it's an opportunity for someone to take the innovation mantle from the youth-obsessed silicon valley. So much has been invested into enticing young adults into overspending nobody seems to notice the need for enabling technology from the older crowd. Demographics to the rescue?
BTW if you're making your own investment portfolio decisions some would say you're not really retired either!
I agree that many retirees are working after a traditional retirement from a company... often not because they need to, but because they want.
Several of my colleagues are doing exactly what you described - going back to work in the field from which they retired. Other retired colleagues are working in new fields: teaching, tax preparation, non-profits (both paid and volunteer).
A few retired colleagues have started their own companies with a focus on innovation as you described. Although "retired," they have started second careers.
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