How to Live Like You’re Already Retired

Posted by Jacob Schroeder October 16, 2020

The late poet Mary Oliver never worked an interesting job in her life, just as she wanted it. Her fear was that it would take away valuable time and energy from her true passion — writing poetry.

As she explained in an interview:

I was very careful never to take an interesting job. I took lots of jobs. But if you have an interesting job you get interested in it… Believe me, if anybody has a job and starts at 9, there’s no reason why they can’t get up at 4:30 or five and write for a couple of hours, and give their employers their second-best effort of the day – which is what I did.

I am not a full proponent of her idea. If you spend eight or more hours a day at a job, it helps to have at least some interest in what you do.  Still, Oliver makes a good point: There is no reason not to allocate more effort to the things that give us joy and less to the things that don’t.   It may sound trite. But honestly think about how well you do this?  I know I could do much better.

Recently, I struck up a conversation with the grandmother of a boy my sons were playing with at the park. She was a retired accountant who opened a mission for underprivileged children in one of Detroit’s most dangerous neighborhoods. I thought to myself, I want to volunteer at a place like that… some day, when I have the time. Most of us are guilty of waiting to do something until an ideal future arrives, which is never guaranteed to arrive.

In the financial industry, we mostly sell people on the idea of an ideal future that affords them total control over their time to do whatever they want. In other words, retirement. But why focus entirely on the future when we can live to some degree like that now?

There is a lot of research that shows what things unequivocally help retirees live a healthier, happier and more meaningful life (one of which is volunteering). Those same studies and surveys actually tell all of us how to live better lives right now. Because the benefits of those activities encompass all age groups. Essentially, if you want to lead a more fulfilling life, then do the things retirees are told to do to make the most of their remaining years.

As Oliver encourages: give yourself permission to put forth your best effort toward the things that provide happiness and meaning while half-** the less important stuff in life.

 It is something I certainly need to get better at, which is why I have begun to reframe life as if I were retired. That is, putting more intention behind the things I do, with less consideration of what other people and society thinks.

Here are the steps I am taking to try to do that.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://incognitomoneyscribe.com/2020/10/16/how-to-live-like-youre-already-retired/