F.I.R.E - 6 Uncomfortable Truths we discovered about Early Retirement & how to mitigate them

foreign hey what are the ugly sides to  retiring early um aren't you bored every   day just lying around doing nothing don't  you guys worry about running out of money hey guys welcome back to another beautiful  day here in Paradise Bali many of you have   been asking me so many questions like the  above so today I'm gonna run through six   uncomfortable truths about early retirement  as well as my suggestions for mitigating them   based on our own experiences reaching fire and  being retired here in Bali Indonesia for the   past two years so uncomfortable truth number  one retirement is a journey not a destination   for the record lying around all day doing nothing  in retirement is a myth it's always nice to have   a few days of that here and there but in reality  you do that for long stretches of time and you're   probably going to be hit very very hard with  feelings of boredom lack of self-worth and you're   gonna be missing a sense of fulfillment retirement  isn't a destination like Bali or Boracay it really   is the start of a New Journey in your life it's  that stretch of time where you finally do those   things you wanted to do but always couldn't  because you were so busy making money to   survive it can be anything traveling the world  finally writing that book or studying that say   cross stitch side hustle if you never get past the  myth you'll probably end up getting bored and then   end up going back to work and missing out on this  Amazing Life Adventure so like every other journey   start planning what is this epic adventure you  want to spend your retirement time and money on number two if you got bored during your  retirement stuff maybe you're doing it wrong   so for a lot of people their retirement Jam  is about traveling the world right that's a   super common one and it's amazing fun you never  feel more alive and it's such a great challenge   because actually you need so many different skills  to travel properly right you need Street smarts to   navigate the towns and scams and other issues  on the road you need to be able to plan your   itinerary book the best travel deals know how  to haggle your prices not to mention stuff like   riding a motorbike and scuba diving and at the  start it's always epic it's so incredible but on excitement and sense of achievement starts to  plateau and then you're gonna hit that point   of diminishing returns and it wasn't just  in travel either it was also my painting my   businesses my surviving The Nomad life thingy I  find that when love to remain largely undirected   most Pursuits actually tend to lose their flavor  with time another way of putting this is perhaps   you feel yourself falling into stagnation or  mediocrity thing is if you're early retired on   your own efforts then you're probably more of  the go-getter and achiever type of person and   the aspect of your personality doesn't  change just because you're tired you'll   still be looking around and judging if you're  spending your time meaningfully and productively   to this fix personally I found two solutions  that worked really well for me one either I   start drilling deep down into the details of  what I'm doing or two I make it into a business   take my dad baking is his great love in retirement  but he's not just begging anyhow for the fun of   it the last few years he's in pursuit of baking  a tastier sourdough bread anyone has ever come   across out of 365 days in a year he is probably  baked about I'm guessing maybe 400 sourdough   loaves two loaves each bake he tweaks the recipes  the starter the technique the ingredients he does   some reverse engineering of sourdough bread that's  commercially sold outside it's been maybe three   years and he's still going strong so he set his  own special sourdough bread goal and Target and   standards instead of just serving and yogurting  for fun I became qualified instructors in both   and eventually started both a yoga business and  a surf school and you know I learned so much   more about both in the whole process whatever  Pursuit out there if you start really drilling   down there's always more Improvement to be had  more personal growth to pursue please say you love   Pottery don't just do it aimlessly to pass time  polish up your skills enter competitions become   a professional Potter do commissions as your  retirement side hustle or teach pottery classes   when you keep pushing yourself to those higher  standards because you're either really drilling   down into the craft of it or you're running it  as an Enterprise you'll find new measures of   productivity therein and you will be bored not to  mention if you're actually like us on lean fire   whatever site income you generate will help defray  the cost of your interests and hobbies so you   don't need to tap on your long-term Investments  isn't that a really good deal so two years ago   at the age of 38 I retired with my husband here  in Bali it's pretty early by most standards and   it's been a completely amazing journey we've  learned a lot and I hope the insights we are   sharing with you guys are useful if you're on  your own fire Journey or already neck deep in   retirement smack that like button share with us in  the comments below what your retirement looks like   so far how you're keeping busy and whether you  agree or disagree with the points we made here   now on to the third uncomfortable truth it's  hard that you must defend your time you probably   retired so you can spend your time doing however  you please whenever you please most of us will   have spent the vast majority of Our Lives  thus far making a living which means usually   someone else is directing your time either your  boss or your clients and we get really used to   that so then in retirement self-directing your  time becomes something new and kind of foreign   and if you look at retired folks in Singapore  after working jobs that entire lives most of   them graduate on in retirement working as free  child care services for their grandchildren   if that's their ultimate dream and for some  traditional older folks it definitely is then   it's wonderful I'm really happy for them but  for some it may not really be that but they   find themselves doing it anyway kind of like by  default because they're just so used to allowing   someone else to direct their time for them there's  always going to be people around who will try to   take advantage of your free time asking you to  run errands for them perhaps or like for us here   in Bali we get so many requests from both people  we know personally and complete strangers of the   internet asking us to do stuff like plan their  holidays show them around Bali Etc of course we   love hosting close friends and family and we  enjoy helping people generally but sensibly   speaking our own private lives would just vanish  if we were to entertain all the requests we get   you'll need to learn how to say no to people and  how to strike balance retirement is as much about   sharing your time with the people who matter  to you as it is about having time for your own   personal growth and development just be aware  uncomfortable truth number four it's probably   gonna be just you and your significant other from  now on out so upon retirement your social scene is   going to change drastically everyone else is at  work or busy with their own stuff you're either   gonna have to learn to enjoy your own company  a lot or if you're lucky enough to have retired   with your significant other that's who you'll  probably be spending majority of your retirement   with so best learn to get along companionably good  communication is key as it's just generally being   a considerate and respectful human being through  the pandemic and on the road this past decade   I've seen so many people who seem really surprised  by the person the other half truly is when they   start retirement and start traveling together  24 7 a day but building that Comfort to do   stuff by yourself and building that wonderful  relationship with your other half can also   possibly be the most rewarding part of your  retirement journey and your personal growth   before I share with you the fifth uncomfortable  truth just the quick word from our sponsor of   today's video MooMoo Singapore the stock  market is historically one of the most   popular ways to be invested I myself hold  a select number of U.S Blue Chip stocks and   ETFs and for over 10 months now I've been using  the MooMoo Singapore platform the mobile app is   intuitive fast easy to use I get free real-time  data and even level 2 quotes plus the super   competitive commission costs including trading U.S  stocks with zero commission saves me so much money   for a limited time now new users of MooMoo  Singapore get a Kickstart with the investor   starting kit worth up to 2086 dollars when you  sign up and deposit a hundred Sing dollars into   the moon Universal account will neutrals in two  Sing dollars cash buy every day for the first 10   days that's a gift of 20 Sing dollars absolutely  free on a deposit of a hundred dollars or more   deposit two thousand Sing dollars and perform  to buy trades you'll receive one free Coca-Cola   share with about 80 Sing dollars if you deposit  ten thousand Sing dollars and perform seven buy   trades they'll give you a 108 Sing dollar Cash  coupon no questions asked I strongly believe that   in today's day and age to be financially capable  necessarily means one must be putting the money   to work for them in one way or another so why not  take advantage of these offers right now for more   info click on the link in the description below  uncomfortable truth number five your money plans   are never as foolproof as you think all retirement  whether it's the regular kind or fire really all   boils down to the financial planning behind it  right and the most uncomfortable truth of all   may be that your retirement funds are never  as foolproof as you plan for especially if   your plans are supposed to spend 30 40 even 50  years in the case of early retirement expert   predictions and assumptions go wrong you made a  mistake in your portfolio planning because of all   the buyers that we all carry Bear markets happen  blacks on events gray Rhino events so many things   no matter the plan no matter how much stress  testing you did before you dove into it the   unexpected often happens and the sooner you come  to terms with this uncomfortable truth the sooner   you can move on to hatching against the risks  You can predict most retirees they're working   their financial planning and less Aid around  the four percent drawdown rule right so the   U.S stock market has had a phenomenal Run for the  last 10 12 years or so now of course things are   looking a little different for the foreseeable  future so those who have been conservative and   who have refrained from tapping their long-term  investments will have more breeding space now   to ride out this bear Market however long it may  last friends who have been following our journey   for a while now know that a dominant portion of  our retirement here in Bali consists of rental   income from a number of real estate Investments  and unfortunately in the last two years since   we started retirement Europe is a game at War  soaring Energy prices have driven up the cost   of living across the world and everywhere massive  inflation is now a huge issue thankfully we have   so far managed to resolve whatever disruptions  we've experienced but basically yet another   uncomfortable truth in retirement is that managing  your money to make it last till the end takes up   more time than you think don't just go to sleep on  it continually look to diversify the eggs in your   basket and be open to adjusting your money plans  like rebalancing your portfolio or changing how   you invest your retirement Arsenal as different  opportunities present themselves for time you may   not need to work for money any longer but doing  stuff that fuels your personal growth and that   generates some extra side income as a bonus is  never a Bad Thing uncomfortable truth number six   no point sweating the small stuff y'all know I'm  a big fan of simple frugal living and no pretenses   whereas happy dining in a fancy restaurant  as we are eating at the local War rooms here   sometimes more happy actually but many of us  can also easily get carried away diving into   with the itsy bitsy details of frugal living you  know spending two hours here looking up deals and   coupons that end up saving you 10 bucks three  hours there figuring out how to maximize your   air miles should you lock in that 3.5 fixed  deposit rate now or wait till next week where   maybe it might be 3.7 I mean it can be fun  and then it can also be a lousy use of your   time you can do it if you enjoy the challenge  just know that so long as you get the big stuff   right your retirement is probably going to work  out just fine so don't sweat the small stuff   big things include stuff like keeping on top  of your overall General expenses you know doing   your taxes right maintaining a balance then  Diversified portfolio so as long as you keep   on top of all of that I think that's about 95 of  the big picture really conversely what I'm also   saying is that if you blow up your retirement  finances by for example trying to go big or go   home on crypto no amount of coupon cutting is  gonna save you from having to go back to a job   so yeah that's my take on not sweating the small  stuff we're all retire at some point of Our Lives   whether early or late voluntarily or unwillingly  it all boils down to choice and advanced planning   just what I've personally observed is that if  you cut out all the noise and distraction in   life what do you think are the real currencies we  truly traded the way I see it is four things it's   money time Youth and health just think about it  everything we do throughout our entire lives is   really us trading one of these for the other an  early retirement is that one anomaly where you are   in a position to spend all four currencies at once  simultaneously and that maximizes your experience   of life a really clear illustration of this is  traveling you can travel in your 60s and 70s sure   that's what most people will end up doing and it's  great you know you see these folks really enjoying   seeing new things being very happy but it's often  in the form of like lots of cruise trips around   the world and that's cool too but they'll never  experience what it's like to try learning to surf   or sail and getting all salty and burned and  muscle achy but happily exhausted oh they'll   never try anything more vigorous and adventurous  like say backpacking your way through Europe you   know crushing in new hostels meeting crazy people  from Iceland or wherever and doing silly things   together we all have two lives the life that we  currently live and the life we could possibly live   so then which life would you choose tell me in  the comments below and don't tell me you wouldn't   retire early because you just wouldn't really know  what to do that's just a cop-out answer because   yeah well you're too lazy to do the legwork  and try new stuff and understand yourself   thanks for watching as always speak  again next Saturday bye foreign

Channel: Jean Voronkova

Views: 50,092

Keywords: uncomfortable truths retiring early, early retirement, retirement, retirement planning, financial freedom, financial planning, early retirement planning, investing, personal finance, stocks, stock market, financial independence, budgeting, dividend investing, make money, uncomfortable truths, retiring early, retirement regrets, early retirement mistakes

Id: UzInBzzZ1Og

Length: 16min 48sec (1008 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 18 2023