Retirement is the perfect career choice for people who are too busy to work!

I started retiring when I was around thirty years old. I couldn't see the point of wasting the best part of every weekday in a job I didn't love to bits. It was okay, but if I'd had a choice between going and not going, I wouldn't have gone. The being paid part was good.

I started retiring by working part time instead of full time. Adjusting the budget took a little working out, but the old Parkinson theory is correct: the bills expand to take the money available. With less money, the bills (some of them at least) contract. With less money, fewer consumer items seem 'essential', and keeping up what others are buying starts to seem ridiculous. I discovered things like bartering, growing food, even making a few clothes. Being time rich and financially 'poor' actually felt like I was richer than before. It was a simpler life, much less stressed, and never boring (except the days when I did work).

I filled my time with things I'd always wanted to do, like amateur theatre, learning music, joining a choir, doing volunteer work, socialising, reading, etc. etc. etc. It wasn't long before I'd filled my free days with so many things, there was no way I could return to full-time work: I just didn't have time for it!

Recently I went the whole way and gave up the latest part time job. They wanted me to work full time, and the choice was easy. I now do some freelance writing, the occasional job as a film extra, and I'm studying again, doing something I've always wanted to do. I haven't looked for another part time job, and don't want one. Being full-time retired keeps me so busy I don't know where I found the time for working. As for the money, it's no big deal. When you start being frugal and living a simpler life, you find you don't need anywhere near as much money as you thought you did. (Just get way ahead of the mortgage and refinance to get a low payment, buy a smaller house, or pay off the mortgage altogether before you retire.)

Retirement is the perfect career choice for me!

Learn more about this author, Lin Edwards.
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