Retirement: A Full-Time Job

Picturing Retirement: Bring it on Santa!

Photo Friday:  For some reason, for the last two years of my retirement, I haven't managed to get my Christmas tree until a day or two before Christmas.  Seems funny that I couldn't find the time until the last minute, but it did mean a significant discount on trees those years (although not much of a selection to choose from.)  But last night I got the tree decorated, poured myself a glass of eggnog, and enjoyed the scene TWO WHOLE WEEKS before Christmas!

(To submit your picture of retirement, email me a photo with how you would like it credited.)

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Retirement from Retirement

There’s a buzz around the early retirement-sphere this week as Jacob, at Early Retirement Extreme has announced his unretirement.   I’m a little late to the discussion, but as a gal that has added part-time work to my own retirement recipe, I of course have some opinions on the subject.  (To follow some of the other discussions on the late-breaking news:  Unretirement, at Canadian Dream, Thoughts on Early Retirement, at Brip Blap, and Mr. Money Moustache Gets Passed the Early Retirement Torch.)

Jacob’s situation is a little different than my own as he is giving up full-time retirement entirely in favor of full-time work.  And it’s not just a little keep-you-busy job, it’s a serious career.  He will be a quant trader/researcher and will be moving from California to Chicago.  I don’t exactly know what a quant trader/researcher does, but I imagine it involves a huge commitment of both time and brain power.  This wouldn’t be one of those jobs that I would describe as a “fun job in retirement.”  

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.  Retirement really just means that you get to think about what you want to be thinking about all day.  If you can get paid for thinking about what you want to be thinking about all day, well good for you!

And I’ve also said this before, you can’t just keep doing the same thing year in and year out for the rest of your life or you will become bored and unfulfilled.  That’s true when you’re working and it doesn’t stop being true when you retire. 

It’s totally understandable that Jacob got tired of thinking and writing about the early retirement lifestyle.  My guess is that at some point he will grow weary of thinking about whatever quant trader/researchers think about all day long too, and then he’ll do something else.  Just like all of us should be doing when we get tired of thinking about what we’re thinking about all day long.

 

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Related Posts:

            Work vs. Retirement

            In Praise of Work (Sort Of)

            Why Not Get a Fun Job in Retirement?