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is Optimal Health Daily. Retiring

0:48

early has nothing to do with

0:51

doing nothing by Chris Reining of

0:53

chrisreining.com. and I'm Dr. Neil

0:55

Malik. Hey there and welcome

0:57

to another Sunday bonus episode where I share

0:59

an article from one of the other podcasts

1:02

in our network. Today's post

1:04

comes from Optimal Finance Daily,

1:06

where articles covering everything from

1:08

saving to budgeting to investing and

1:10

more are read to you every day.

1:13

You can find Optimal Finance Daily wherever

1:15

you're hearing this. So with

1:17

that, here's Diana with the

1:19

post and commentary as we optimize

1:21

your life. Retiring

1:24

early has nothing to

1:26

do with doing nothing by

1:28

Chris Reining of Chris

1:30

reining.com The

1:33

early retirement movement

1:35

continues to gain

1:37

traction. When

1:43

I agree to stories, they go viral.

1:46

I guess retiring before 40 is

1:48

pretty intriguing, but here's a

1:50

little secret. I never liked sharing

1:52

my story because it always felt

1:54

braggy to me. When my

1:57

picture was splashed across the front page of

1:59

the New York Times wealth section for

2:01

becoming a millionaire, coverage

2:03

people would die for. I

2:05

hated it. That was when

2:08

I was still working. People at my office

2:10

saw the article and sent emails. Congrats,

2:13

you must be so proud. I

2:15

never responded. But as

2:17

time goes on, I'm better at embracing all

2:19

this. What changed? Well,

2:22

I see the exposure as opportunity.

2:25

If my story inspires you, then I know

2:27

I have a chance to help you. That's

2:30

what I'm trying to do here. Of

2:32

course, these stories also bring

2:34

naysayers. Here's one recent email,

2:37

quote, doesn't it make you feel

2:39

like a bit of a fraud to claim

2:41

to be financially independent while you're spending a

2:44

lot of time working and earning money from

2:46

your website? All this

2:48

work makes it seem like a

2:50

career, maybe one you enjoy more

2:52

than the one you had before.

2:54

and not retirement." People have this

2:56

idea that if you retire early,

2:58

you're supposed to be on a

3:00

beach, sitting there, rubbing coconut

3:02

oil on your body, turning into some

3:05

old, stupid, wrinkled sack of organs and

3:07

bones. Look, retiring early

3:09

has nothing to do with doing

3:11

nothing. That's not the objective. It's

3:14

about having control over your time. I

3:17

asked my private email list what

3:19

financial independence means to them. and

3:21

not one person mentioned a beach.

3:24

Why? They're intelligent,

3:26

ambitious people. They want

3:28

more time to watch their kids grow

3:30

up to do more meaningful work, the

3:32

means to take a risk. Quote,

3:36

I would do the following. Number

3:38

one, stop going to a job I

3:40

don't love just to keep paying my

3:42

Southern California mortgage. Two, pursue

3:44

a terminal degree, like a PhD, and

3:47

a field I'm passionate about, and then

3:49

take a job at a local community

3:51

college, educating those who are just starting

3:53

out on their educational and life journeys.

3:56

Wow, it feels good to say that. I

3:58

just wish there was a way to make it real. End

4:01

quote. Quote, I would absolutely

4:03

be staying home with my beautiful girls

4:05

instead of working the grind day in

4:07

and day out and seeing them grow

4:09

up in a blink of an eye.

4:11

End quote. Quote, I

4:14

would travel around the world,

4:16

photograph beautiful landscapes and cities,

4:18

and write. Of course,

4:20

that would require an exorbitant amount of

4:22

money. So it's just a fantasy. End

4:25

quote. Quote, I'm starting

4:27

a business this year because I'm tired of

4:29

wasting my life away at work. I'll

4:32

be growing an organic flower farm

4:34

and using the flowers to design

4:36

floral arrangements for weddings, individuals, and

4:38

businesses. End quote. Quote,

4:41

I'd spend three hours running

4:43

and working on being in

4:45

shape every day without guilt."

4:47

So, financial independence, early retirement,

4:49

whatever you want to call

4:51

it, isn't this black and

4:53

white working or not working

4:55

thing? In fact, it's

4:57

not even a new thing. In

5:00

1748, Benjamin Franklin retired at

5:02

42. 1748!

5:05

He became financially independent from his print shop,

5:07

but didn't want to spend more of his

5:10

time making more money. It wasn't worth it.

5:12

Did he sit around doing nothing? No,

5:15

he spent the rest of his time

5:17

in science, politics, and diplomacy. For

5:20

him, like it is for me, it's

5:22

about having the ability to follow your

5:24

interests, because following your interests is what

5:26

makes you happy. Studies prove

5:29

that. And if we fast

5:31

forward to the last century, Joe

5:33

Dominguez retired in 1969 at the

5:35

age of 31. He

5:37

and Vicki Robbins started their financial

5:40

literacy work in the 70s, publishing

5:42

Your Money or Your Life in

5:44

1992, one of my favorite books.

5:47

Paul and Vicki Terhorst retired

5:49

in 1984 at 35. They

5:52

wrote Caching In on the American Dream,

5:54

How to Retire at 35, which

5:57

a young Mark Cuban says he

5:59

read obsessively. This isn't a

6:01

new thing, it's just more people are being

6:03

introduced to it. Having done it,

6:05

here's what I can tell you. When you're

6:08

working a nine to five job, all you

6:10

have to do is wake up, eat breakfast,

6:12

commute to work, sit in a little cubicle

6:14

and commute home. Lather, rinse,

6:16

repeat. Floating through the

6:18

day this way, being pushed along by

6:20

the necessity of a paycheck is pretty

6:22

easy. Retire early and

6:24

you have to make decisions about

6:26

how you're actually going to live.

6:29

That's hard. But if

6:31

it sounds more appealing, it's a

6:33

good sign it's for you. You

6:39

just listened to the post

6:41

titled, Retiring Early has nothing

6:43

to do with doing nothing

6:45

by Chris Reining of chrisreining.com.

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Oicos presents 15 seconds of strength. Here

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we go, Steve's got a trunk full

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of groceries and no one to help

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him. Oh, that's tough, Jim. Looks like

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a five trip load at least. He

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grabs the first bag, the second, huh,

7:02

Bob. It looks like he's trying to

7:05

do it all one trip. He shimmies

7:07

the door open, steps over the dog,

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oh, and he stumbles, and steps over

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article hit the nail on

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the head about some major

8:27

misconceptions about financial independence and

8:29

early retirement, often referred to

8:31

as fire. To me,

8:33

firing is much more about

8:35

separating your finances from your

8:38

work, not abandoning work altogether.

8:41

Satisfying work is one of the

8:43

great joys of life, and whether

8:45

you retire at 30 or 65,

8:47

Why would you deprive yourself of

8:50

that? The big difference

8:52

between working during your accumulation years

8:54

and working during your fire years

8:57

is based on financial need. Before

9:00

reaching five, you're working to pay

9:02

the bills, save, and otherwise fund

9:04

your lifestyle. After fire,

9:06

you're working if, when, and where

9:08

you want with no concern for

9:10

the money. Oftentimes, hobbies

9:13

or businesses you create can produce an

9:15

income. and you'll want them to so

9:17

that you can at least cover your

9:19

costs for the work you're doing. However,

9:22

the work you get to do when

9:24

you no longer need an income to

9:26

cover your living expenses can bring a

9:29

satisfaction you may never have experienced when

9:31

you were required to work for money.

9:34

Many studies have linked retirement with

9:36

a decline in health because many

9:39

people spend their retirement not doing

9:41

anything that looks like work and

9:44

wasting away with nothing to do.

9:46

Yes, there will be and

9:49

should be periods of extended

9:51

rest and recuperation in retirement.

9:54

But if you don't find a useful

9:56

way to spend your time, you will

9:58

most likely end up lonely and depressed.

10:01

That being said, regardless of your

10:03

age, if you anticipate your

10:05

retirement to look like sitting around

10:07

and doing nothing all day, I'd

10:10

encourage you to not retire at

10:12

all. And that's a wrap

10:14

for another Monday show, Have a great start

10:16

to your week and I'll be back tomorrow

10:18

where your optimal life awaits.