2828: [Part 1] Five Big Reasons to Retire Often by Jillian Johnsrud on How to Take A Mini-Retirement

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Finance Daily 5 Big Reasons to Retire Often, Part 1 by Jillian Johnsrud of Jillianjohnsru.com

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And on your host and personal finance enthusiasts, Dianomarium, I have a bit of a longer post today

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to split the article up, reading the first part today, and finishing the rest tomorrow

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So with that, let's get right into part 1 as we optimize your life

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_00]: 5 Big Reasons to Retire Often, Part 1 by Jillian Johnsrud of Jillianjohnsru.com

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: My family and I are a month into an 8 month long road trip

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: While logging a lot of steps, a lot of drive time, and watching my kids play in the ocean

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been thinking all about the amazing benefits of taking a mini-retirement

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Here are 5 of the big reasons I've taken 10 plus mini-retirement, and the most common reasons my clients take time away from the 9 to 5

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: 1. Get Caught Up

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So many of us feel that we're behind, especially on everything that is an urgent but is important

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Between work, family, and commitments, something sit on the to-do list indefinitely

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: All these things act like open tabs on your phone or computer

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Each one left open isn't a big deal in itself

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But when there are 100 open tabs, it creates a mental burden that we carry through our days

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: When Adam and I decided to take a year off seven years ago, we had a list of 100 things to get caught up on

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The years before we're busy, we had adopted three kids, bought and renovated three homes and worked full time

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: It was an intense season of our life

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: There were decluttering projects, a kitchen renovation, and one of our rentals, finishing our master bath and visiting family

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've missed holidays and birthdays, maybe you missed vacations

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe there are 20 plus books you've bought over the last few years, and just haven't had time to read

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you didn't make it to your friends wedding, and now they have a three year old you still haven't even met

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you just want to finally clear the pile of mail off the counter and drop off the donation bags in the trunk of your car

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But there simply isn't enough PTO vacation time or weekends to fit it all in

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Taking a month or six months off allows you to get caught up on all those things that are important

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: But never seem to make it to the top of the to-do list

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: You can call your aunts and chat for an hour, you can see your niece's sports game

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: You can say yes to your friend's birthday trip

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: And slowly but surely you will close the tabs and feel like you have a whole lot more bandwidth to think clearly

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Number 2. Do something new

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: When life is full and it's always full there is rarely room for something new and big

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Those things will take a lot of mental and emotional energy to get going

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Plus the time commitment

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Taking a break from your 9 to 5 can give you that time energy and mental space to try something new

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: When we took a year off seven years ago

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: We were also ready to take a big adventure as a family

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: We bought a pop-up camper and set off with our five kids on a six week adventure

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: This served two functions

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: We were able to visit both sides of our family and do something new with our recently expanded family

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: That trip served as the first test run of taking long trips with our kids

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: After that we took a 10 week road trip to 10 national parks

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we upgraded our pop-up camper to a 26 foot hard-sided camper

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Last year we did three months traveling over the winter

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: People ask if we're nervous about traveling with our kids for eight months in a camper and home schooling

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Kind of there are always unknowns and every trip has unique challenges

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But we've tested and scaled this trip many times to get here

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: A few years before that Adam took six months off of work

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: During that time we started buying and renovating homes

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: We had no experience with renovations

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: We had never even owned a home before

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I won't say it would have been impossible

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: But we probably wouldn't have bought two homes the first year if we were both working full-time

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: His taking that time off made it possible for us to start this whole new element of our lives

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Now our rentals make up about a third of our income

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: If you give yourself a month or a year you could take on a whole new adventure, hobby or project

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Things that are just too hard to fit into life after work between dinner and bedtime

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Number three family and friends

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: The year before Adam left his nine to five was one of the hardest for me as a parent

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: We were about to adopt the three half siblings that have been placed with us

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And they had so many appointments with so many people

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Every week there were ten plus appointments put on my calendar by the professionals in their lives

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Plus the uncertainty of it all

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Not knowing if they would be placed with a family or be adopted by us

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And I found out I was pregnant

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: In a two year span we would go from one kid at home to five kids under seven years old

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I was tired and stressed and generally felt like I was about to drown

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: This wasn't the mom I wanted to give my kids

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted them to see me at my best

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Rested, joyful and fun

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead I felt like they mostly saw me at my worst

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Running on cortisol and caffeine but barely awake

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Every time my friends invited me to do something I said no

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: To everyone

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I promised that if they kept asking one day I could say yes

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Just not today

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We were in survival mood

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: When we found out we were pregnant I called the timeout

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: There was no way I could add an infant to this equation

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: We were on the financial independence plan

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: But originally planned for Adam to work a few more years

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Now it was time for a new plan

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: The new plan was a year off

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we can't give people our best

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we just can't give them enough

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you wait until the typical retirement age

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: You might miss your chance entirely

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Your kids might be grown, your parents and poor health

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Or this season just passed you by

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Enter mini retirement

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Taking some time away from the nine to five

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: It gives you a chance to focus on the people in your life

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That matter most to you

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listen to part one of the post titled

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Five Big Reasons to Retire Often

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: By Jillian John's Root of JillianJohn's Root.com

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary

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[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Right now high interest rates have crushed the real estate market

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[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a paid advertisement

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I like to think that life offers a buffet of potential experiences

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And at different times in our lives

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Or invited to eat from different areas of the buffet

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The experience of putting down work as we know it

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: For longer than a weekend or typical vacation can be life-changing

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_00]: If you can set yourself up financially to take a sabbatical

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Or an extended period away from W-2 work, I highly recommend it

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I experienced this when I walked the Camino

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Which is a 500-mile track across northern Spain

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I took two months off of work

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And not only that, I made myself completely inaccessible during this time

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Walking the Camino was my first real experience of truly not working

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And it was extremely eye-opening

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Stepping away from work helped me see how much my self-worth

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Was tied to professional achievements

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Putting down traditional work created space

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Space to decompress, space to reflect and space to learn

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Our culture tends to put work up on a pedestal

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And insinuates that if you're not hustling to achieve something professionally

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You must be lazy

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: But giving yourself some space from work to experience something else

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Just might lead to more fulfillment from work when you get back to it

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_00]: But that's just the first half of this post

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So be sure to come back tomorrow where we'll finish up this post

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And where your optimal life awaits