Are You Obsessed with Early Retirement?

By Mr. Money Mustache

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:00:48 +0000

I started this early retirement gig almost seven years ago, and for the first six of those, I thought I was the only one out here.

I was definitely alone among my coworkers – When still employed, I discussed the idea occasionally with friends at the office, and the idea was met with universal rejection: “Oh, you’ll never have enough money”.. “I like the idea, but my wife would never go for that kind of lifestyle”, “That may work for some, but I’ve got kids and/or a chronic health condition requiring expensive insurance”.

So when I became Mr. Money Mustache earlier this year, my eyes were opened quite a bit. I was pleased to find this whole community of people, discussing exactly the same things I had wondered about myself. There was even a whole established set of traditions and goals, with concepts like “your number” and acronyms like FI, FIRE, SWR, and YMOYL. In the olden days, if someone wrote “Oh, my friends won’t get to FI as quickly as me”, I’d assume they were talking about some sort of race to Florida.

Along with this education about the customs of the early retirement community, I also learned about some of its problems. The one I found most intriguing was the fact that many financial independence seekers are obsessed with early retirement, almost desperately counting down the days until they reach the wealth level they have determined they need to retire.

So I thought we could compare notes on the matter – those who have already crossed the threshold and those who are on their way. Is there anything we can tell each other? Any advice from us Wise Old Retired people that might make the journey less arduous? Any tips or traps that occur once you cross the threshold?

To do my own part, I’ll give you a list of the things I’ve noticed about the early retirement lifestyle so far. I’ll start with the fun parts, which would probably be labeled as “Financial Independence Porn” by the reader/commenter I like to call Wolf.

Things that were pretty much how I expected them:

Things that were Not as I expected they would be:

To bring it all back to a single strand of Mustache: I believe that the best cure for Early Retirement Obsession is to start acting more like a retired person right now. The further you can push your boundaries out of the current comfort (or discomfort) zone, and into the life you envision for yourself as a retired person, the more you’ll start changing into the futuristic person you want to be. And share your thoughts and questions with all of us as you go along.

 

* This is obviously just the male side of it.. perhaps a female Mustachian can comment on the Lady equivalent of what happens when you get lazy and stop accomplishing anything.