My ‘money’ amount to stop working and retire
(Transcribed from the Freelance Fairytales Podcast)
So one of the major goals with financial freedom is retiring early. Everyone wants to retire young - I get it, why wouldn’t you? In this episode, I want to explore the concept of retirement and how my idea of retirement is very different from the version of retirement that we have come to know in the last 80-years. I am also going to explain why I never plan to actually retire while I am living and breathing, because I do believe that full out retirement is bad mentally and spiritually for people. This brings me to one of my fav annoying quotes to say to people - idle hands make for the devil’s workshop. Ok I’ll stop.
So when I set out to freelance 8-years ago, I had one goal in mind: make enough money to live and not have to work in an office building again. For me, that was like 50k per year. That was it. Along the way, I blew past that figure ironically as someone who did not want tons and tons of money. I realized money is just an energy form, which I have shared with you guys in other episodes. Fast forward to today, and after setting up a freelancing agency and side hustles that branch off of my online brand, I can technically step away from proactively working and retire in the next few years. I am 29-years-old presently. I know tons of people who have similar trajectories as me who are comfortably retired by 32 or 33. That obviously sounds like the dream - who doesn’t want to live a life not worrying about money?
Why I Never Plan to Retire
The title of this podcast is a trick question because there is no amount of money in which I will stop working and fully retire. I don’t have that amount set in my head for two reasons: I want to always be able to do what I want, whether that’s buy a sanctuary in 20 years or rent a boat tomorrow. Living off of one fixed amount forever limits your options. The other reason is I don’t believe it is good for people to be done working, forever. No matter their age. I fully believe for us to thrive as humans we need some kind of output - now I am not tying this to your worth or being insanely productive. Working for you could be volunteering or doing something for no money. That’s fine. I believe we do need a purpose, though. A reason to wake up in the morning. Just floating through space on this rock with no connection to helping others or creating value does not make happy people - I see it all around me, especially being in southwest Florida. All of the people who are fully retired at 60 here are not happy people! They have no fire lit in their soul, no reason to Carry on in the same way. I think this structure of work work work for 35 years in an office building and lose all sense of individuality and creativity, only to work 0 when you’re 70 makes 0 sense to me. It sets someone up to feel unfilled basically their entire lives. And when they are old enough to be totally free, they’re 70 and can’t exactly go clubbing in Ibiza anymore (I mean, I guess you can still do that, I just imagine it doesn’t feel as physically good).
Retirement is a trap, a mental illusion. It’s marketed as the light at the end of the tunnel to trick people into sacrificing their lives for 35-years. It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be, and I don’t believe it should be anyone’s prime goal. I think we need to restructure the conversation to one that is more balanced. Maybe that’s working one month, taking the next off, and so forth until you die. Maybe its working 4 days per week and taking 3 days off until you die. Maybe its 2 years on, one year off. Whatever it is, I believe that kind of balance is how you foster true spiritual and mental happiness when it comes to the idea of retirement. From a biological standpoint, retirement is a very new concept int he 21st century. For thousands of years, humans have been working in essence until they die, working the farm, raising kids, finding food, hunting, you name it. Wouldn’t it make sense that those primal genes are responsible for our unhappiness when we just sit back and do nothing for decades? Of course it does!
I don’t ever plan to retire. I plan to be 20 different things on this earth. I plan to write books, start businesses, help people, maybe have a family, save animals, open sanctuaries, maybe have a nonprofit, maybe be a DJ, start my own farm, travel, and do so many more things. Why would I want to retire from all of that? The powers that be want you obsessed with retirement so you can stomach the BS they put on your plate at 25. It’s a tactic. They don’t want you to think ir realize you are a multi passionate human being. That’s much more alarming to them since then they can’t count on a steady flow of employees ready to come in and sit at their desks like good little boys and girls. Retirement isn’t the answer to your unhappiness at your job - allowing yourself to do and be dozens of things is the answer.
There is a Difference Between Financial Freedom and Retirement
Of course, I never intend to confuse retirement with financial freedom. I have achieved financial freedom at 29, which means I do not need to worry about paying my foreseeable bills, for years ahead of myself. I have also invested in 3 properties to build my wealth overtime. I absolutely recommend getting yourself to a place where you can enjoy your life every day and not worry about putting food on the table. But I don’t recommend taking it past that with the intention of retiring at 33. It will be a very long life with no meaning or purpose. Instead, shift yourself to focus on creating maybe non monetary value, like gardens and volunteering. Your time is valuable, even if you’re not always making money at what you do. Financial freedom grants you the freedom to essentially step out of the rat race and be productive with your time in how you see fit. It doesn’t matter what you choose to do - so long as you are doing something.
Don’t fixate on retiring at a certain age with a certain amount of money. Life happens, things change. I suppose for me, when I hit a point of having 5 investment properties that both pay for themselves, as well as generate 5-8k per month, I will consider myself fully, fully retired financially. But regardless of if or when that happens, you will catch me working away over here. And again, I am not promoting hustle culture or overworking yourself - when I say work, I just mean existing with a purpose. I think we hear the word productive and go “omggg that’s a capitalistic side effect its so bad, you are more than your productivity” and I think we get all emotional about it when really, productivity could just mean existing and doing whatever it is you want to do. Walking, taking care of your kids, whatever it is. You can be productive at resting! You can be productive at sleeping. I think we get so worked up when we hear that word. Dn’t let it make you emotional. It’s all noise designed to distract you from finding your divine purpose. I am telling you!