“If you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life.” ~Confucius
A good friend of mine plans to retire in the next couple of months. She’s earned it. After working at a challenging job for over 25 years, she’s more than ready to move on to something new. But underlying that excitement I detected a bit of worry about the uncertainty before her. That mixed message of elation and concern got me thinking about how Thom and I are approaching our future. What I realized was that in our quest to rightsize our lives, Thom and I have gradually slipped into what we are calling semi-retirement in a natural and stress-free way. While so many people our age are asking an all-or-nothing question about retirement, rightsizing right now might be the best solution of all.
Is All-or-Nothing Retirement Outdated?
Let’s face it, the old model of working at a 9 to 5 job for 25 to 40 years and then retiring isn’t an option for most people any more. Unless we work in the public sector (government), we can’t count on a company having our back. Hoping and dreaming for a gold watch and a pension are things of the past. Unfortunately, I’ve talked to many who are still stuck in that old dream of ending work and never working another day in their life.
In addition, the old model of slaving it out at a job we don’t like is also in question. Do we really want to be as Emile Gauvreau says, “ I was part of a strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest, to make money they don’t want, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like”? And with reports from the Bureau of Labor statistics saying that American’s average 11 jobs during a lifetime, why would we stick it out at something we hate if there are other options?
The final issue that can’t be ignored is that many people will simply not be able to financially retire—ever. As massive amounts of baby boomers enter retirement age every single day, the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey says, “Thirty-nine percent of workers age 50 and older report having $100,000 or less saved for retirement, not including pensions or homes; and 24 percent have less than $10,000.“ With so little amount in savings, and nothing but Social Security as guaranteed income, most seniors must continue working as long as they are physically able.
Why Do We Want to Retire Anyway?
Of course maybe the real question is why do we want to retire in the first place. Chances are it’s about control. According to an article in the Canadian journal Financial Post, “The real key is being in control. How else to explain that the average retirement age for the self-employed in Canada is 69…By contrast, workers who are employed by someone else retire at age 62, on average. They wouldn’t leave so early if they were motivated by their jobs, but most of them have little control over what they do or how they do it.” I’ll bet many in the U.S. over age 50 feel the same. It’s not that people don’t want to keep contributing and stay active, but they want to have some level of control over the work and the hours. It’s likely that most people don’t want to retire and do nothing; most of us just want to stop doing work that makes us unhappy.
That’s where right-sizing fits in. A simple definition of rightsizing is designing and living a particular lifestyle that allows you to focus on the things in life that really matter. It’s eliminating the should’s, have-to’s and rules that we’ve allowed society to use to box us in, and to instead reinvent our own world. I’ve written about the idea from several perspectives before (that you can find here) but what I recently realized was how closely rightsizing and semi-retirement look from the outside. Most of us want to believe we are in charge of our lives and rightsizing allows us to create it from the inside out.
What’s the Solution?
So where do we start? If we are like my friend and just a couple of years from a set retirement, we might want to stay the course. Then once we officially retire, we can reanalyze what it is that will bring us the most joy and do that. But for any of us in work that feels unsatisfying, unfulfilling and beyond our control, maybe it’s time to start looking for a new way to live. And before we complain that we can’t because of the money, let’s start being very honest about what we are willing to sell our souls for in return. When asked directly, I doubt there are any of us that will admit that we will do anything for money. So if that’s true, by recognizing that we’ve used the “money excuse” as a reason to hold ourselves back from living a peaceful and satisfying existence, we just might finally give ourselves permission to find something else. If we can’t do something else, maybe we find a way to reinvent how we are doing what we do. Fewer hours? Different department? There are always options.
Of course rightsizing isn’t just about working or not working. Rightsizing is about eliminating the unessential and focusing on what really matters. Author Greg McKeown says it over and over in his book essentialism—the Disciplined Pursuit of Less when he asks, “What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance? What if instead we celebrated how much time we had spent listening, pondering, meditating, and enjoying time with the most important people in our lives? What if the whole world shifted from the undisciplined pursuit of more to the disciplined pursuit of less…only better?”
Once we start rightsizing our lives, we let go of comparing ourselves to the lives of others and needing or even wanting a bunch of stuff to define us. When we don’t spend all that money buying things we don’t really need, we often find we don’t require nearly as much money as we thought we did. That’s when we can stop working so much, or give up work that sucks the joy out of us. As we start being picky about where we spend our time, and eliminate wasteful spending, we easily slide into a rightsized semi-retirement.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to slow down and enjoy our lives as we age. But I think it is possible to start doing that sooner rather than later by rightsizing our lives right now. Besides, there will never be a time when we don’t have something valuable to contribute to the world in terms of our experience and wisdom, it is just having the awareness to choose when, where and how we will share it in ways that will be most rewarding. Thom and I don’t ever plan to retire, but thanks to rightsizing, we are living and enjoying the many benefits of semi-retirement right now. So no matter where each of us is on the journey of life, rightsizing your life just might be a SMART solution to where you go from here.
Semi retirement is a definitely a cool option, and gaining popularity. It’s definitely a good idea to try and keep busy even if you’re retired. I have a friend that decided to set up a small indoor grow when he retired, needless to say he is significantly more popular now 🙂
Hi Jonathan! Hahaha! Yes I’m sure that setting up your “home business” is one way to not only supplement your income, but also have more fun! There are LOTS of ways to semi-retire for sure. ~Kathy
Hi
We are 54 yrs of age and are thinking of right sizing.
Question:
Ballpark – what do we need in the bank for relatively low risk investing to bring in apx 6000.00 a month income? We are in Canada. Any suggestions from you are appreciated. Is Vanguard the best place to put our investments?
Thank you!
Hi Joanne! Please know I am not a financial advisor. I really can’t tell you what to invest in that is anything more than a personal opinion. I suggest you talk to other people in your community that have their savings in a variety of investments to see how it is working best for them. As for me, Thom and I have a background in real estate (especially commercial) so we have most of our investments in real estate. But again, that’s our background so we have an advantage. Keep looking. You are asking good questions. ~Kathy
Hi Kathy, so sorry for my late participation … we’ve been in the midst of a major step in our right-sizing, and I’m just starting to catch up with items in my inbox.What you describe is precisely our goal.
“Retirement” is a very recent socio-cultural concept. Financial planning gurus like to talk about it like it’s always been this way and there’s no other way to go, but nothing could be further from the truth!
My husband and I both want to continue doing work we love for as long as we can do it, so we’re starting now, in our 50’s. Why slave away at jobs we hate for an ever-shrinking promise of a pension, only to come out 10 – 15 years from now miserable and physically weaker. (As we all know, our bodies bear the impact of our emotions.)
As a first step, he’s been taking courses for his career change and I’ve been starting to find my way with writing.
Our second step started last week. Our house is almost sold and, with the profits, we will buy our dream property up north, with a lake view to die for … debt free!!!
“Retirement” suggests endings. “Right-sizing” or “reinvention” suggests beginnings. Cheers to reinvention!! 🙂
Hi T.O.! Yay! It sounds like you are taking some huge steps to rightsize your life. As you say, it isn’t a passive thing at all and requires us to dig deep inside to find out what it is we really want to be doing, where we want to live and so much more. I’m looking forward to reading your blog and discovering where you go! And YES! Cheers to reinvention!!! ~Kathy
I agree 100% Kathy. I plan on taking it easier and doing more of what truly fulfills me rather than retiring. Oh and by the way, I really love being a psychotherapist!
Hi Gary! I know that you love what you do too but that doesn’t mean we can learn to relax and enjoy our time as well. You and I are both fortunate that we can continue doing our work in a way that satisfies us for years and years to come. ~Kathy
Kathy, I love the picture and your post. As I approach the 10th anniversary of my retirement on May 1 the thing that resonated most in your post was that to successful at retirement of any kind you really need to know yourself. You need to retire “to” something not “from” something. I retired at 55 from a very demanding job. My main concern at that time was being sure that I was secure enough in who I was to not need to define myself by what I did. It was hard because I truly am of the era that promoted women entering the work force and “having it all”. What I did was very important to me. When I retired I allowed myself as much time as I wanted to redefine “what” I did. Now I know everyone doesn’t have that luxury. But it worked for me to gently evolve into finding plenty in the community to do to keep my mind and body engaged. Retirement, or semi-retirement, is different for everyone. The good news is that I see so many people with a little age on them enjoying their own brand of retirement, and most are so active they wonder how they kept up and worked too!
I really liked this post my friend.
Hi Kathleen! Wow! I didn’t know you had been retired for 10 years now. Of course you are one of the busiest people I know so I know that you didn’t do it to “do nothing.” And I LOVE your statement, “You need to retire “to” something not “from” something.” And yes I agree that retirement and/or semi-retirement is different for us all–that’s why I like the idea of right-sizing so much. It lets us decide what is ultimately most important and how we want to spend our time, energy and life to the best of our abilities. Thanks so much for sharing your personal story and for letting me know you really liked this one. ~Kathy
After 42 years at one employer doing different jobs in same organization, our department was ‘reorganized’, options were to reapply for new job descriptions, transfer to another department or accept a severance. Reluctantly I took the severance package. Took me a while to realize I had made a wise decision, get paid for a year. I had an opportunity suddenly in a totally different field, based on my music hobby. Thanks for giving me a new title to describe myself “semi-retired”. I am very happy now but 2 years ago, I was terrified at the thought of what might happen in ‘retirement’.
Hi Lou! Good for you that you managed 42 years with the same company in this day and age. I think you are the “exception” in the years to come. But that you were able to take a severance and make that work for you while figuring out where to go next makes a lot of sense. And best of all, it sounds like you were able to reinvent yourself to new work that embraced your love of music. How great is that? Thank you so much for sharing your personal story. ~Kathy
Kathy, great post. I turn 58 this week and am starting to think about retirement. I’m trying to build my freelance business so it that it will be something I semi-retire to. I don’t see anytime in the near further of being able to not work.
Hi Connie! Isn’t it wonderful that as writers we can work FOREVER no matter what? We have so many more options than many people who haven’t figured out how to use the internet and/or don’t believe themselves to be creative. I think it’s just important for all of us to keep reminding ourselves that we do have more options than we know–we just haven’t discovered them yet. Thanks for checking in! ~Kathy
Our plan is different we are in the process of buying land to start our own kayaking/canoeing/camp ground so when my husband retires full time we can switch over to this new business which is something that we’ve always wanted to do. We are just lucky enough to live in an area where this is a big draw. Fingers crossed anyway.
Hi Rena! It sounds to me that your “plan” is perfect for you and that is the perfect definition of a right-sized life. Using what you enjoy doing and figuring out how to evolve it (and yourselves) into something wonderful. And yes, all of it is an experiment anyway so I’m sure it will turn out wonderfully. Remember, the ONLY mistake is when we don’t learn from our experiences and make lemonade from whatever turns up! ~Kathy
I’m such a firm believer in forging your own path to success in life! Fifteen years ago my husband and I had a restaurant. That ended badly after 9/11 and bankrupted us. Today, I co-facilitate local writing workshops, write, coach, provide media consulting and I’m heading up the team that’s bringing Listen to Your Mother to my community, giving voice to other local writers. My husband? After being downsized twice in the past ten years, he’s launching a food truck this week! We live in an old house that, once our youngest is launched out into the world, and the hubby is tired of slinging tacos, is perfect for a bed & breakfast. In the meantime, we will host vetted writers and provide a retreat from time-to-time. It’s been a rocky several years, but the universe is finally telling us that we’re on the right path. Anything truly is POSSIBLE! 😉
Hi Kim! Congratulations! It sounds to me like you’ve managed to right-size your life. Sometimes we are sort of nudged (strongly!) in that direction but even then if we stay awake and aware we can always manage to turn it around to our benefit. It sounds like you both you and your husband found ways to really create opportunities for yourself that suit your new life. And I so agree, “anything is truly POSSIBLE!” Thanks for sharing your personal story with all of us and reminding us that we can do it too! ~Kathy
You make great point Kathy. Retirement is not for everyone and just because you are a certain age doesn’t mean you have to do it. Like you said there can be options. Our mailman retired and realized after a mere 6 months that he was not a good person with too much free time on his hands and was lucky enough to go back to his job. Health care costs continue to be a big obstacle for many to retire younger than 65.
Hi Haralee! Thanks for sharing your story about your postman. I think women might have it a bit easier than guys because we don’t identify with our jobs and works as much as men so retirement might look/sound/feel better to us. But the news is full of stories of men who retired and then after a few months of playing golf just sort of keeled over and were gone. We ALL need to find purpose and meaning and continuing work on our own terms is a great way to do that no matter what our age. PLUS, as you say, the added benefit of covering costs is always helpful. We just have to be creative. ~Kathy
I love that picture of you writing while enjoying the fresh air!
The big company I left offered a semi-retirement (3-day-a-week) option to those who had enough tenure and available sick/vacation time built up. I hadn’t been there long enough to take advantage of it but would have loved to have been able to ease into full retirement like that. I imagine they, as well as other companies who have a diverse work force, will slowly add more work options – not only for older employees, but for everyone. I think the in-office, 40-hour work week will be a thing of the past soon. People want more flexibility and a smart company will understand that it can work better for them too.
Now that I am retired, I – at least currently – have no desire to re-enter the work world. I have thought about doing “something” that will light my fire a bit more than what I’ve been doing. I’ve almost reached my one-year retireversary so it’s time for some reflection.
Hi Janis! Glad you liked my photo! This was taken up at Joshua Tree a year or so ago. Isn’t it nice that us writers/bloggers can work anywhere?
And thanks for adding your experiences with your company and retirement. I do believe that things are gradually changing. People don’t HAVE to go to an office the same as in the past because you can all be connected by computer now and that offers a lot more flexibility. Plus with such a wealth of experience, education and dedication in an entire generation of people nearing retirement (us baby boomers) there are lots of predictions saying our talents will be needed (and desired) in the years to come. With that being true we should be able to request more flexibility in working hours and locations to a greater degree than now. Like you say, a smart company will be motivated to work that out. It can’t come soon enough IMHO. And congratulations on your one year retireversary! ~Kathy
I love the idea of ‘right-sizing’ – I’m hanging on to a job that I don’t love because I’m too scared to let go. I think in the next year or so I will reach my “moment” and take a leap of faith and leave. I like the idea of continuing to do something useful and meaningful & not just sitting around being retired.
Hi Leanne! Sorry to hear you’re stuck in a job that you don’t love–and are scared to let go of. While it’s possible that they are paying you masses and masses of amounts of money so you just can’t walk away, it’s probably just enough to keep you trapped. Honestly, there is a good chance that if you just looked really, really carefully at your finances you might be able to cut some of your expenses so that you could take other work (that maybe doesn’t pay quite as much) but that would make you so much happier. Of course every situation is different but much of the time we just resist change that we close ourselves down and don’t consider ALL our options. Don’t give up. Your time and energy –and LIFE is worth so much more! ~Kathy
I agree with you it is not necessarily an all or nothing proposition when it comes to work and retirement. Even if you do not need to work for the paycheck you may want to for a variety of reasons such as keeping your brain engaged dealing with challenges, maybe even having some place to go each day. My parent like the idea of working part time in retirement.They are happier and their health is better. Thanks for posting.
Hi Lawrence! Welcome to SMART Living and thanks for your thoughts on this. It sounds like you are too young to be thinking about retirement yet but I sure how you are thinking about “rightsizing”. There is no need to wait until we are older to start recognizing what is really important in your life and letting go of the rest. Then if you find something you enjoy doing, and want to continue doing that as long as you are able, how could that not be a good thing? Working doesn’t have to be drudgery….when we find things we love to do then it never seems like work. ~Kathy
I’m fully retired now, but for years worked part-time instead of full-time and gradually decreased the hours I was working until one day I realised the hours I spent waiting for the bus and traveling to and from work were slightly more than the hours spent at the workplace. Adding in my increasing physical discomfort and far too much painkilling medication, I decided I’d had enough and handed in my resignation.
Financially a poor decision, as I am now living on very little, but physically and mentally, I’m much better off.
I do agree that these days, working your butt off for 40 years and then suddenly stopping completely is a bad idea. In days gone by when people didn’t live as long, sitting in the sun doing nothing much was okay, but now people live much longer and need to remain active physically as well as mentally, so moving to a part-time work schedule is a much better idea.
The only reason not to, would be physical incapability, or perhaps mental stress of some kind, (I hated my job).
I should add that if my factory job had still been available I would still be working the full time hours I was doing back in 1999.
Hi River! Sorry to hear that you were sort of physically forced to retire. On the other hand, going in day after day to a job that was making you miserable wasn’t good for your health either! The challenge is to keep your expenses low enough so that you don’t feel forced to accept any old job just to pay bills. When we don’t feel that pressure then we can switch jobs until we at least find something that makes us feel like we are both contributing to something AND bringing in money to live on. That’s why I admire anyone who takes on a simple job like cross-walk attendant at schools (if it is something they enjoy doing) just because it serves us all and helps them too. I also admire people who have managed to create some sort of living on the internet through esty or others because that does the same thing. I really encourage myself and others to repeatedly remember we do have more options that we often realize (especially as bloggers!). Thank you so much for sharing your personal perspective on this river. I think we all have more to share that we realize. ~Kathy
Yes Kathy! I only recently realized I am only semi-retired and plan to stay that way! We need to get into our new home and then I will have the time to hatch my new plan of action…
Hi Laura Lee! Yes, isn’t the idea of being semi-retired so freeing feeling. All of us writers have the freedom and flexibility of semi-retirement fairly early. But I do think there are ways for others to create all sorts of alternative incomes and free themselves of any sort of on going grind that may have made them feel stuck in the past. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of your home being completed and what you do after that! ~Kathy
Great points as usual Kathy. I agree it is not necessarily an all or nothing proposition when it comes to work and retirement. Even if you do not need to work for the paycheck you may want to for a variety of reasons – staying involved with co-workers, keeping your brain engaged dealing with challenges, maybe even having some place to go each day. My wife and I like the idea of working part time in retirement. A little more money in the coffers as well as engagement in something that occupies your time but does not monopolize it. And if you don’t like the environment, hasta la vista baby! What a feeling of empowerment and freedom that can be. We shall see! 🙂
Hi Dave! Yes, from what I read while researching this post is that a majority of people really don’t want to ever quit working. And even when some do quit for a while they often go back to doing something for the reasons you list, staying out and about with other people, keeping your brain active, feeling like you contribute and having somewhere to go every day. We all need purpose and all kinds of work can provide that. The best part is as you also say, we can leave and move on if we don’t like the environment. That is indeed empowering and freeing. Thanks for adding to the conversation. ~Kathy
Another great post on right sizing, Kathy. One of these days I’ll move in this direction, too.
Hi Nancy! Glad you liked it but I do think for the most part you work hard because you enjoy your work–that’s a HUGE part of rightsizing. I think a big key is remembering that we do get to “create” our work in many ways and sometimes just asking those we work with for more flexibility is a possible solution. In so many ways it boils down to if we are only doing it for the money, but are miserable in the process, there has to be a SMARTer way! ~Kathy