2831: Tossing Early Retirement and Trading Money for Time by A Purple Life on Financial Independence

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Finance Daily. Tossing Early Retirement and Trading Money for Time by A Purple Life of A PurpleLife.com

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diania Merriam.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's get right to it and continue optimizing your life. Tossing Early Retirement and Trading Money for Time by A Purple Life of A PurpleLife.com

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I received a bit of a shock last week. My mom is applying to jobs. She's been retired for two years and left corporate America at 55 after working 30 years in jobs she hated.

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I was more shocked to discover she'd been keeping this from me for a while. That was the saddest part. She thought I would yell at her. I didn't.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: My mom has always loved lavish vacations. We recently talked about what our ideal day would be.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Hers revolved around being served and just doing nothing and relaxing on a beach. I asked if that's something she would get sick of eventually and she said no.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: My ideal day involved waking up, becoming inspired and being able to go wherever my heart takes me. On a spontaneous road trip to see all of the national parks in America.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: To the coast to frolic in the ocean on a flight across the country to see my friend just because I feel like it. I want that freedom.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: My mom wants luxury and understandably that luxury isn't cheap. She originally worked an extra year to save for a few lavish vacations that we've just finished including Thailand with family.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't agree with that either but it's her life. What she seems to look forward to the most is luxury vacations and she had a few planned for the next couple of years.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_00]: But now she wants to add more and financially that's a slight problem. I'm all for doing what you want to do but going back to work to pay for one to four week long vacations seems a little crazy to me.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me explain why. She could completely go on all these vacations and then some if she waits two years. That's when they start to receive social security and on top of what they have saved, they'll be good to go.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: She could also still go to these additional places right now but cheaper by flying more slowly or staying at less luxury hotels.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: When I chatted with her she didn't want to explore those options and gave the reason of time. Since time is not guaranteed in this world, she doesn't want to wait two years only to not make it and never have gone and regret it.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I had the counterpoint. What if you die while you're working? What if you die at the end of that working year and you've just inadvertently spent the last year of your life working and doing things you hate like commuting and office politics etc.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: She said she hadn't thought of that.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Our most important resource is time. It's finite unlike money.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's why trading your most important resource for more money sounds crazy to me. Especially when you can wait a little while, still enjoy your life and then get to do whatever you want anyway.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_00]: There's no time limit and this is a big beautiful world we live in. There are lots of things to see in the meantime.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Another critique I have of this plan is that mom seems to be planning vacations like she's working anyway.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Fly from home to a place far away in business class, stay at an expensive resort for a week and then fly home.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: That's acting like you have a set amount of time off when you don't.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead there are cheaper ways to get to and explore these places.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: If it was me, there's no way in h*** I would go back to work for a year. To pay for something I would get anyway if I apply a little patience and enjoy my retirement in the meantime.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I know I have a cushy life with working from home and my pajamas all day and the kind of work we're talking about is far worse.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Commuting two hours a day through Atlanta traffic which is bumper to bumper no matter the time and is ranked as some of the worst traffic in the world.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Actually working in an office and showing up in stuffy professional clothes.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Office politics, performance reviews and no time for you. This might be me but when I'm working I'm always thinking about it.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I literally can't shut it off. Evenings, weekends, you name it. Time is literally never my own.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I hate it but maybe I'm unique in this.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing on this earth that would make me go back to that once I was free if I had a choice like my mom does.

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: That cliche phrase, I could do anything for a year seems like someone trying to convince themselves of that fact.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I could not do anything for a year. I know that.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't even live in Europe for six months without friends and family before realizing that I prefer to have people on the same continent with me.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't work at my first job for a whole year because it was so toxic. I can't do anything for a year.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It seems like everything is a trade off between money and time and I personally choose time.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Update. Shortly after our discussion my mom stopped looking for jobs.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Reflecting on this time with her a year later she says, yeah I don't know what I was thinking.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Since the previously mentioned discussion I also convinced her to move to Vanguard and save $10,000 a year in useless advisor fees.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Now she has all the money she needs for her fancy vacations even before Social Security.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listen to the post titled tossing early retirement and trading money for time by a purple life of a purplelife.com

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[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: This article reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from the Mr. Money Mustache blog.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: He states that luxury is a weakness.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd take that one step further and say that it's not enough to not buy all those fancy luxuries.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: You need to train your brain to not desire those things.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a difficult task.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: We're conditioned from an early age to want fancy things and experiences.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So it does take a deep mindset shift to rebel against that.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Reading articles like this and reminding myself that the happiness luxury promises is an illusion helps me keep my consumerist brainwashing in check.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Research has shown that after enough income to meet basic human needs and some luxuries, there are diminishing returns to having more.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I've found in my own life, happiness comes from relationships and surrounding myself with people that inspire me.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It comes from creative expression, resourcefulness and flexibility around how I use my time.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: It comes from prioritizing self-care and personal development.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I now see my satisfaction with having and needing less in terms of luxuries as a superpower.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll point out that it's so much easier to pair back luxuries when it's a choice versus if you lose your source of income and it becomes a necessity.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a sense of freedom and confidence that comes from a minimalist lifestyle.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel ready for whatever life throws at me.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: That should do it for today. Have a happy rest of your day and I'll see you on the Friday show where your optimal life awaits.