The Metaphysics of Retirement

Here's a collection of ideas about retirement, and what happens after.

As for me, I plan on working my whole life, ideally. But, importantly, working in a way that provides asynchronous value (where time input is a disjoint set from reward output).

The concept of retirement didn’t exist until the late 19th century. Before then, most people worked until the day they died. No golden years. No new hobbies. No long walks on the beach. But in 1889 the Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, changed that by designing the world’s first government-sponsored retirement program. At the time, those over age 70 became eligible to receive government income. When asked why he created such a program Bismarck replied, “those who are disabled from work by age and invalidity have a well-grounded claim to care from the state.” Though the retirement age in Germany was initially set at 70, it was lowered to 65 in 1916.

Just Keep Buying, Nick Maggiulli

If at the time aristocrats were people who had a lot of free time, now "meritocrats" are people who work long hours and intensely. An elite lawyer in NY can bill 2,400 hours per year, which means working from 8 am to 8 pm six days a week, not including vacation days or possible sick leave.

Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working? | Journal

Though 26 is a remarkably young age at which to retire in traditional sports, in esports it’s the norm. In Activision’s Call of Duty League, the average competitor is around 22 years old, according to league data. In Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch League, the average player is about 20 years old. In both leagues, players retire extremely young compared to traditional sports. While only six players have retired from the Call of Duty League since it was launched in 2020, the median age is 26. In the Overwatch League, the average retirement age is 23. This stands in stark contrast to traditional sports. The NBA’s average player age is 26, according to a 2021 survey and even in the super-demanding NFL, the average player retires between age 26 and 27, per the NFL Players Association

Esports players retire extremely young. It's not why you think. - The Washington Post

My point, to be clear, isn’t that it’s a bad idea to make plans, or save money for retirement, or remember to vote, so as to increase the chances that the future will turn out the way you’d like. Our efforts to influence the future aren’t the problem. The problem—the source of all the anxiety—is the need that we feel, from our vantage point here in the present moment, to be able to know that those efforts will prove successful.

Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman

How do your decisions change if retirement isn’t an option? What if you could use a mini-retirement to sample your deferred-life plan reward before working 40 years for it? Is it really necessary to work like a slave to live like a millionaire?

The 4-Hour Workweek, Timothy Ferriss

What's amazing to me though is how I NEVER realized this until she broke up with me. I had focused so hard on my retirement goal that I almost based my life success on how well I was doing on getting to that. I was seeing my investments and bank account grow and I got so focused on the potential future that I stopped living in the present. Not only is this not attractive/fair to my partner, but it didn't grow me as a human being either. I never realized (until the break up) that if I'm miserable during the accumulation phase, I'm still going to be miserable afterwards. Because having 100K, 200K 500K, 1M means nothing if you aren't happy and not doing stuff you love/being with people you love.FI is super exciting to learn about and pursue but after you get everything setup all you do is wait and then continue waiting. That waiting is your life and during that time is when you need to find out who you are and what you enjoy. During that time you need to figure out life that you want and then adjust your savings/goals to meet it. Live your life like you're FI but just in smaller ways (weekends, holidays, after work) and see what parts you enjoy and what you can live without.

Build the life you want, then save for it : financialindependence

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