Never bored! (Thoughts on preparing for early retirement.)

UPDATED (19 DEC 16)

She is one scary lady!

It would be nice to be strong!

Recently, when I met a few friends for dim sum, one of them asked me if I was bored in (early) retirement? 

It is a question I get asked a few times before, online and offline. So, it was no longer a surprise.






I have a list of stuff I want to do. Some people call it a "bucket list" (i.e. a list of things to do before we die or kick the bucket). 

In retirement, my bucket list doesn't get shorter. It gets longer! 

I am discovering more things that I want to do in retirement.





Let me share a bit about my childhood. 

I always liked the arcade as a boy but didn't have the luxury of visiting regularly. 

I always envied friends for having game consoles as a boy but didn't have the luxury of having one. 

Something happened many, many years later:

I bought a Nintendo Game Cube for myself more than 10 years ago as a birthday present but as I still had a busy working life, I didn't have much time to play. 

Now, I have plenty of time and I am living one of my boyhood dreams. Bored? Impossible!




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Reader says:

We have seen many old retirees becoming aimless in their life and it’s becoming a waiting game.


I can understand for many, they have little money after retired and for some, they are rich enough but their life evolve around having dinner with a few friends and family members, travelling around as long as they are healthy enough.






Nothing meaningful and to fill their time, some even continue working….it’s sometime reminded us what is soon becoming to us but maybe we can do it differently.

I would ready like to know if you can share with us your personal experience when one retired early ?

How do you prepare yourself ?

How do you manage retirement mentality and physically when you retired early ?

What do you do daily ?

Do you plan ahead for 10 years and more ? If you start all over again, what would you have done differently ?

Any advice is much appreciated ?

Thanks !

AK says:


I don't know about doing it differently but here are my thoughts.


I am a worrier and I plan almost everything in my life. 

Of course, I am aware that I cannot always get it exactly right but being approximately right is enough to make me happy.





I think it is important not to be married to our jobs and I have seen many people who do not have a life outside their working life. 

The danger for these people is having a feeling of emptiness if they no longer have their jobs.


I can understand that sometimes we really have to work very hard to make more money. I have been in that situation before. 

So, I know the feeling. 





For a few years, I was monetising all my free time to make more money because I wanted to retire early.


However, at some point, if we have free time, we should find something else to do. 

Hobbies we enjoy. Spending time with people we love. There must be quite a few things to do that is not work related.

I won't tell you what I do in my free time because each of us will have different likes and dislikes. 

To put it crudely, have a "bucket list". :)






Retirement is not about being unemployed and having nothing to do. 

It is about having the time to do things we enjoy and not having to work for money.




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(Added 1 Jan 17 from FB wall.)

Confused and wondering what to do with $500K yearly.

Reader:

I read your blog and have a few queries on houses and all. Might be a long post.

Im would like your help to see whether u can talk to yourself? Hhahaah

My wife and i are grateful we have a few businesses giving us very decent cashflow.

We rent small and manageable house(follow rule of 15) and have abt 200k in stocks and a good allocation for gold and silver.

Where im stuck at is every year we will have 500k in cashflow that needs to be utilized. I would like to ask. If you have 500k every year net net. How would you allocate ah.

Thats for stocks. For house. Im also stuck. I would like to buy a small hdb and let my parent stay and be happy and all. But i feel if i do that. I was told by an agent then lose 2 opportunity to buy a property. Zzzzz

I would like to ask if you are free. Can talk talk to urself? Or if u prefer. Can i buy u large lunch?

Regarding cash my main concern is im hoarding cash and is that a good thing?

So many qn so confused. Whole new ball game outside of the biz world im familiar in haha.

Paiseh. Thanks ah

AK:

What people should always ask is what do they want? For me, I am concerned about having a comfortable level of cash flow since I am retired. So, most of what I do will have that in mind.

In your case, cash flow is not an issue. So, what are you looking for? When you know what are you looking for, you will know what to do with the money. Don't ask me how I will allocate the money because we have different circumstances and different aims in life. For example, I would probably allocate a huge chunk of the money to charities if I had an annual cash flow of $500K. ;)

If you know you want to invest the money to grow your wealth, there is nothing wrong with having an overflowing war chest while you wait for opportunities. :)

As for buying a flat for your parents, I think I understand your concern. Well, you could buy a small flat for them in their names. You won't lose the opportunity to buy a HDB flat or EC for yourself in future then. Consider it a gift. Or you could buy a shoebox condo for them to stay in but in your name. Of course, you won't be allowed to buy a HDB flat or EC for yourself then. With your level of cash flow, either option will be easy financially.

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