I just can’t just walk away. A couple of months ago I said goodbye and left early retirement blogging behind. I’ve since come to terms with my change of status from aging out of early retirement to just regular retirement and realized I’m simply in the middle of a Leisure Freak pivot. My wife said she never believed I could completely walk away. When it comes to retirement, I just never seem to do things like most people do.

During my break it was easier in my quiet period to realize I’m still fully who I’ve always been. A Leisure Freak who beat the employment to old age system and wants to continue awakening others to the possibilities. Possibilities of something more than the standard conditioning that drives a lifelong narrative of success measured through employment grind productivity and consumption. 

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The Leisure Freak Pivot, It’s a 2.0 Thing: An Evolved View

It Didn’t Take Long To Realize I Left Sharing On Leisure Freak In Haste

I called posting quits because after 13 years passing since my early retirement, the new world changes people need to take to reach FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) were outside of my own personal experience. Sharing real life success actions was what Leisure Freak was always about. 

I had pulled it off, ditching the rat race at the age of 51. But after over a decade of early retirement freedom I had aged into retirement with the mandatory and welcome application for Medicare. It admittingly messed with my brain a bit. Let’s say it’s another of life’s turning points. Needless to say, I didn’t take it as the positive and winning life event it really is.

 

I had to get used to considering that no matter how young I feel inside, that on paper by age or looking at my side-by-side then and now photos I’ve stepped into elderly status. Yikes! It still mentally stings to come out saying it. Early elderly maybe? Ya, that takes away some of the sting.

 

I decided to step away from blogging based on the feeling that although my FIRE story could still be inspirational, there are younger people right now in the FIRE zone pulling it off within today’s unique challenges.

Some of the things I did to be successful in my career and to retire early doesn’t even exist anymore.

For perspective, I was in my upper 30s when the internet became widely used and had hit the milestone of over 100,000 websites. For many, the mid to late 1990s seems like ancient times. My personal finance and early retirement research was done through reading books. The term “FIRE” for personal finance wasn’t used yet. I’m constantly reminded how things have gone through accelerated change since I decided to retire early and began my FIRE in 10 years plan in 1998 at the age of 40. 

A lot of the cutting edge tech I worked on to develop as an engineer is now common must-haves with today’s young adults who can’t remember a time in their lives without it. I certainly recognize that life today and the mechanics of reaching financial independence have evolved. So I decided to pass the torch and bow out. 

Something Happened Since My Saying Goodbye

In my time away from blog life I realized I’m too much of a FIRE aficionado and fan to just walk away. FIRE burns strong inside me. It’s such a positive force in my life and I truly believe it is worthy of everyone to work towards. Living in financial desperation as the same old consumerist and career dominated path dictates is no way to live. Living a full and enjoyable life while reaching employment liberation is still attainable.

During my transition period the past couple of months I would read great early retirement and personal finance articles and feel the power of the FIRE movement. Something I’m proudly a member of. I now see that it’s for life, not something that we simply age out of. 

It’s a belief system. One that comes with knowledge and a realization that there are systematic challenges that must be overcome. Along with a little contempt toward that system while leveraging a heavy dose of audacity. We can hate the game but need to play it smart to win. Even with all that has changed in the world over the past 25 years, the required tenets of reaching financial independence remain solidly the same as when I completed the early retirement journey. Thus here I am again, making this Leisure Freak pivot. 

In order for us to be content in retirement, it’s important to stay fully engaged in our world. In my case my world includes a large dose of FIRE. 

What Gets Us To FIRE Is Still Required In The Retirement Zone, It’s Just A Little Different

Age is a number that’s factored in like everything else in personal finance. Numbers that are relevant to our having a solid retirement plan. This age related number and retirement status change just happened to mess with my brain. 

What it takes to reach and then stay in the FIRE zone follows the same principles of budgeting, purposeful spending, investing, and mindset. Some of what I am personally seeing is changing for the better, while other changes add retirement challenges or just disappear.

Planning for your own aging out of early retirement status will happen to all of the FIRE successful. It’s another non-financial aspect when suddenly we get to see our created world of freedom from the otherside of youth. We all participate in the reality that time horizons continually condense. How we want to live through it all is up to us to shape.

It didn’t sneak up on me, I saw this age-related bugaboo coming and I think I kind of welcomed its messing with my brain. Sometimes I just need to force myself to feel things to fully understand them.

So what does Leisure Freak post-pivot look like?

More of the same, but I’ll try to share something useful from the other side of early retirement. My early retirement experience was never exactly in lockstep with a lot of FIRE websites anyway. What I hope is that I can share some different, useful, maybe even interesting perspectives. I actually feel more personally free about where and what Leisure Freak’s place is in all of this. 

 

I’m not really that surprised by my Leisure Freak pivot. I want to thank my bride for just keeping to herself what she already knew, that I was fooling myself and I was still fully in this. Thus allowing me the time to figure it out on my own. 

I’m looking forward to experiencing and sharing what comes next and a perspective from the other side of a successful early retirement. It’s all about trying to enjoy the journey and making the destination as great as our expectations.