Living as though you have retired

[susansaucepan]

Just before New Year, I sat down and had think about what I would do if I was retired or if I had enough money and didn't need to work.

I came up with the follow :

• Spend more time with my kids and ensure they have a happy, healthy childhood and make memories.

-Have less stress and live a healthier lifestyle e.g. Spending more time in nature, eating good food, exercising, developing hobbies etc

• Spend more time working on my spiritual well-being and generally become more learned and wise through study, practise , discourse, travel etc

It also made me realise that for a lot of this, money is not really a huge factor and as a result I am trialing working less this year to see whether I can achieve a better work/life balance.

What are your thoughts?

It's not that long to retirement in my case.

I think that despite all the negatives of 2020, possibly the good thing to come out of it was that many people looked again at their priorities. Hope OP that the changes you are making bring all that you are looking for.

I am retired. I provide childcare two days a week for my grandsons. I visit friends and family, go to an art class and potter about the house and garden. I'm learning a language. I could do more but it would mean money. Travel means money. Cultural pursuits mean money. So I do what I can

I’m retired. We’re looking to downsize. It looks as though it won’t be possible to get what we want, where we want, partly because moving alone is so expensive.

Before Covid, we were ok and I was doing lots of things. Covid put a stop to him working, so money is short and we do much less than we did, or would like.

In Lockdown I wrote a "Twenty things that make me happy list" and, like you, discovered that most of them don't need money. So I now make an effort to include as many of them as possible in my normal daily life. I think it's good not to wait until retirement, thinking you will do everything you want to do then - instead make the adjustments that make you happy now.

Good Luck with finding the right work/life balance for you.