Weekend Reflections 9/2/2018: Labor Day Edition

Weekend Reflections: 9/2/2018

I hope everybody is having a fun and wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Summer is almost over and it is starting to get a bit chillier here in California.

I am currently out of town and away from my usual computer. Since I generally avoid logging in to public computers, I’m trying something new. Recently, I discovered the WordPress app. (I know, I’m kinda late in the game here.)

So here I am, typing away with my thumbs, seeing what it’s like to post a blog entry using the app on my phone. I’m actually finding it relatively easy to use.

Previous posts on my Weekend Reflections series have been organized chronologically by dates. But I found it a challenge to come up with something interesting to write every single day.

For this post, I’ll talk about several themes and interesting thoughts that came up in the past two weeks.

And since it’s Labor Day, let’s start off by talking about something many people in the FIRE community are trying to escape… work.

Work

Let me start off by stating that I have no intention of retiring super early. My plan is to wait until after I am 55 years old (which is still pretty early for a physician).

I can write an entire blog post about about the various reasons why, but the gist is that I like my work and I can see myself doing it for awhile. It brings purposeful meaning to my life and it makes no financial sense to leave a high paying job that I actually enjoy doing.

Others feel the same

Lisa of The Give and Get shares a similar sentiment in her post 5 Reasons Why I’m Not Retiring Early.

One of her reasons is that she doesn’t have wanderlust.

I like to travel and explore different places. Many would say that I have wanderlust. I probably do. But like Lisa, I also enjoy the comfort of home. I can also see the value in setting roots for my child(ren) too.

Luckily, my work offers a good amount of paid vacation time off (which is another reason why I’m not retiring early). I’m looking forward to one day slow traveling with the family on our kids’ summer breaks. That way, my children can appreciate both home and travel. I don’t have to retire early to get the best of both worlds!

Maybe early retirement is for suckas…

Gasem wrote another guest post, this time on Half Life Theory titled Early Retirement is for Suckas!

He questions the validity of the 4% SWR in the setting of sequence of returns risk, inflation, and uncertain market conditions in the future.

Why waste your human capital and income potential by lounging around on the beach when you can add extra cushion to your nest egg?

It’s okay to live your life now. Just don’t go too deep into the YOLO mentality where you sacrifice tomorrow by risking the nest egg for your future.

The choice to retire early is not always clear cut

Doc G of Diverse FI certainly seems to think so.

In fact, several of his posts detail his struggle with “One More Year” syndrome. He can easily retire now, but he has a deep satisfaction for hard work.

But lately, he seems to be leaning towards cutting back as he explores The Medicine Fear Factor.

He also wonders… Should All Financially Independent Doctors Retire?

For others, the choice is unapologetically clear

This is the case for Carl of 1500 Days.

Carl doesn’t care about the “One More Year” syndrome. Or even the “One More IF” syndrome.

He acknowledges that retiring early is a risk. But it’s a calculated risk that he is willing to take. He discusses this in his recent post I’d Rather Live Big.

Then there are those who never want to retire

A few weeks ago, I was talking to one of the senior partners in my medical group.

At 65 years old, he will be forced to retire according to the bylaws of the medical group. He has dozens of rental properties that provide an income far exceeding his physician salary. With a generous defined benefit pension awaiting him in retirement and millions saved in his retirement accounts, he is financially independent many times over for several lifetimes. Oh yeah, and he has four grown adult kids who have successful careers.

Yet, he doesn’t want to retire…

After his forced retirement in a few months, he plans to come back as a per diem physician making much less money per hour compared to his current compensation rate.

In my head I was thinking: “But why tho?”

There are actually several other physicians who are in a similar position and plan to come back to work.

So why do physicians who are clearly FI continue to work?

I asked this question to the folks on Twitter. The most common responses were “they continue to love their work”, “it’s a different generation”, and “work is tied to identity and they don’t know what else to do”

Hatton1 of Doctor of Finance MD said that “working provides structure”. This is coming from somebody with experience. She continues to work despite being clearly financially independent herself.

One day, I personally asked my senior partner why he doesn’t want to retire. He said that he enjoys the camaraderie of being around younger physicians. It keeps him young. He also said that he wants to continue learning and he wants to feel useful.

I totally respect that.

But we also shouldn’t judge physicians who retire early

The Physician Philosopher discusses this topic in a recent post titled It’s Wrong For Physicians To Retire Early.

Whether it’s a different generation of physicians or it’s just a sign of the times. The truth is: more and more physicians are exploring earlier retirement these days.

This could be due to higher rates of burnout, job dissatisfaction, lack of autonomy, a desire to spend more free time with family, or whatever the case may be.

The fact of the matter is that people who are financially independent have the right and privilege to work (or not work) as they please.

Personal finance is, well, personal. And so is the decision to retire.

We should not hate on or judge others based on their personal decisions.

There’s always a middle ground

People tend to think on the extreme ends of the spectrum these days. And I’m not just talking about politics.

Don’t forget that there’s a middle ground to the “continue slaving away in the 9-5 versus retiring early and YOLO” debate.

This middle ground can be in the form of:

• Cutting back on hours
• Decreasing responsibilities
• Transferring to a different department
• Pivoting to another job
• Taking a sabbatical or a mini-retirement

That’s what my buddy Moose over at MSO Life did. He took a mini-retirement after leaving a job he no longer enjoyed.

But did he spend his mini-retirement sipping Don Julio 1942 margaritas all day long while lounging around and flexing his guns in Muscle Beach, California??? Of course not.

He spent a lot of his time learning code and developing skills that add a ton of value to potential employers.

With his valuable skills and experience, he was able to land a new lucrative job while negotiating a higher starting salary. He shares his tips in his recent post How To Negotiate And Win!

Negotiating skills can be vital. The importance of this skill was recently highlighted in an interview with Ann Miura-Ko in The Tim Ferriss Show. In the interview, she discusses the book Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Agreement (not an affiliate link) as a key to her success. I might have to check out this book!

Final Thoughts

Everybody’s path to financial independence is different.

The path may include earning a high salary as a W2 employee, growing your income through various side hustles, starting a business, or making a career change to earn more money.

No matter what the path looks like, financial independence is achievable for most people. And once it’s reached, you’ll have the privilege of making the decision to continue working, retire early, or simply take a break via a mini-retirement.

Your Turn

Do you enjoy work? Are you planning to escape and retire as soon as you can? If you retired early, how has it been so far?

Happy Labor Day 🙂