Who me, retire?

Will I retire when I’m 65? Can I afford to retire earlier, like 50 or 45? Do I really want to retire? I’m 35 years old, and I’m what my wife likes to call a “happy workaholic.” You know, I like work. Well at least work I like. I like work I like.

So I just don’t see myself doing practically nothing when I’m 65 or 50 or 45 whatever, just playing golf (I don’t even know how to play it in the first place) or traveling around the world (which I do want, but my life couldn’t be doing just that). I like work I like. It gives me a lot of satisfaction. It brings out my creative juices. It (sometimes) allows me to feel like I’m doing something that matters.

But I also hate work I hate (here I go again). I hate doing things I would rather not do, like writing business letters, going to unnecessary meetings, and editing copy that’s trash. So it’s not so much retiring from work that I’m after but retiring from tasks that I hate or don’t matter.

And it’s not just that. It’s retiring from the need/pressure/stress to make money. If I can afford not to do work I hate and just do work I like/love, wouldn’t that be great? Better yet, if I can afford not to work at all and still afford to do/have the things I want, and yet choose to do work I like/love, then I’d attain something better than retirement: freedom.

So it’s not retirement I want; it’s financial freedom.