Required Reading: Letter 19: On Worldliness and Retirement
“If you retreat to privacy; everything will be on a smaller scale, but you will be satisfied abundantly.”
I write this in my mid-forty’s; yet, I am convinced that the teacher was preparing me reservedly for old age and retirement; that time which could arrive and without me paying attention spend all of my years in the busyness of life! For desires and accomplishments are insatiable.
There is no end to the hopes and dreams which fill one’s soul; there’s always “when I become……(fill in the blank) then I will be hapy”; but that thing never comes; and if and when it does, it is not what we expected or wished to have afterall.
So, I must put an end to my worldliness; the chase and retire at my own bidding. I will not wait for the job to be completed; when I become that CEO; that high performing manager or executive; I will stop now! I make a solemn oath to myself that I will not wait til age 65 or 75 when our society says it is when one should retire; I will retire now!
Now, what does it take to retire now? Well, I need to have assets to take care of my financial obligations right? Well, what are my financial obligations? The home I sleep, the food, clothing and household utilities it demands; these are why one has to work isn’t it? There’s no problem with that; but here is the goal: he or she must set himself up to work as long as it takes in short order to store up assets which pays dividends, profits, and cashflow to retire from the world!
You mean “curb my desire of being great!?” Great? In whose eyes? Men or the gods? Pick! It’s your choice and then organize your life in said order. One requires an unending pursuit; the other, simplicity. I choose the latter; what about you? Farewell.
Word of the day:
Pelf (noun): money; wealth (The Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus 2nd Edition).
Quotations:
“…one’s retirement should neither be paraded or concealed.”
“People used to hunt friends, but now they hunt pelf…”
“Prosperity is not only greedy, but it also lies exposed to the greed of others. And as long as nothing satisfies you, you yourself cannot satisfy others.”
“Great things cannot be bought for small sums; so reckon up whether it is preferable to leave your own true self, or merely some of your belongings.”
“Why wait until there is nothing left for you to crave? That time will never come.”
“There’s thunder even on the loftiest peaks.” -Maecenas.
“The higher the position of authority, the more troublesome.”-Linius Africanus.
“You must reflect carefully beforehand with whom you are to eat and drink, rather than what you are to eat and drink. For a dinner of meats without the company of a friend is like the life of a lion or a wolf.” -Epicurus
“It is, however, a mistake to select your friend in the reception-hall or to test him at the dinner-table.”
“…in the case of certain men, the more they owe, the more they hate.”
“A trifling debt makes a man your debtor; a large one makes him an enemy.”
“…consider that it is more important who receives a thing, than what it is he receives.”
Questions:
1) When do you plan on retiring? At the government mandated age of 66/67? Or within the next five to ten years? Do you think of retirement at all?
2) Do you have assets to cover your retirement lifestyle?
3) Would you feel bad if you retire early? That is, feel as though you weren’t being productive; giving back to the world, your company, boss your energy and time?
4) What will you be doing if you were this moment retired?
Activities:
1) Write out a plan to retire in ten years.
2) Learn a passive income strategy. (This website is set up to teach you just that; join my affiliation with PWA).
3) List ten things you will be doing when you retire.
