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THE FIRST ROCK concert I attended was The Byrds at Bowdoin College in Maine. We stayed nearby at a cabin in the woods. It was there that I had my first experience with marijuana. It was not a good experience—thank goodness. My drug days were short-lived.
One of the songs made famous by The Byrds is Turn! Turn! Turn! The song was written by Pete Seeger, who derived it from verses in the Bible.
One of the verses is, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” There’s a proper time to do something. You can do it another time, but it probably won’t work out as well. A farmer must plant his seeds in the spring, and he must wait for the growing season to finish before harvesting. Trying to rush any step will lead to a bad crop.
There’s much talk today about the financial independence-retire early (FIRE) movement. I believe in financial independence. It’s the “retire early” piece that’s always baffled me. Why retire unless we’re done with working?
Many in the FIRE movement apparently have skills that command high wages at a young age. The trouble is, it seems they also hate these high-paying jobs. Saving prodigiously allows them to quit work early and lead the life they’ve dreamt about.
But instead of suffering through a job they hate so they can retire early, why don’t these folks find work they love? As the saying goes, if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life. If these FIRE enthusiasts are so talented, they should have plenty of employment options. They could move to wherever their ideal job is located and be happily employed. When they feel like they’ve had the career they wanted, they can then enjoy the fulfilling retirement they’ve imagined. There is a season.
Now that I’m older, I look back and see the seasons I’ve experienced. I got my college education right after high school. I’ve seen what happened to friends who delayed. In many cases, they struggled to find the time and discipline to complete their education. Many never graduated. There is a season.
I didn’t have a girlfriend until I was a senior in college. I’m grateful I experienced the magic of romantic love while I was still young enough to appreciate it. There is a season.
During my last bout of unemployment, I set my sights on retiring at age 70. To achieve my goal, I needed a job that would last six years. I found a suitable position and I almost went the distance. Thanks to the severance package I negotiated, I was able to hold off claiming Social Security until 70. Mission accomplished.
When I began my career, the talk of my generation was to retire early, ideally at 55. I never had retirement as a goal, however. I only wanted to work and save money, so I could live the life of my choosing.
My employers showed me by their actions that steady work was not in my future. I had career breaks that I treated as mini-retirements. I needed to save as much as I could to handle unemployment whenever it happened. I’m happy that I did.
One of the books I read during my many bouts of unemployment was What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles. It advises choosing a career direction based on our skills, talents and interests. Bolles subsequently co-wrote What Color is Your Parachute? For Retirement, which advocates the same approach when designing our life after work.
I’ve decided that my retirement will be intentional, meaning it won’t just happen. Whatever I decide to do will be because I want it to happen. My wife is the opposite. She does very little planning. She wings it. She fills her schedule with things to do, but never too far in the future. Opposites attract.
I’ve read that retirement has three stages: the go-go years, slow-go years and no-go years. People in early retirement play golf, travel and act like teenagers. Once the novelty wears off, they settle down to quieter lives. Eventually, they can’t get around easily. There is a season.
I believe the time I have is a gift from God. I don’t view retirement as an end of something, but a new beginning. I’m aiming to make something of my retirement. I don’t want to be on my deathbed thinking “if only” I’d done this or that. It is indeed a season—and I want it to be a full one.
David Gartland was born and raised on Long Island, New York, and has lived in central New Jersey since 1987. He earned a bachelor’s degree in math from the State University of New York at Cortland and holds various professional insurance designations. Dave’s property and casualty insurance career with different companies lasted 42 years. He’s been married 36 years, and has a son with special needs. Dave has identified three areas of interest that he focuses on to enjoy retirement: exploring, learning and accomplishing. Pursuing any one of these leads to contentment. Check out Dave’s earlier articles.
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Well written. Thank you, David.
Better There is a Season than There was a Season. Nice perspective David.
Dave,
Had to chuckle about the Marijuana reference. I tried it one time, while I was in the service, in Viet Nam. I had been drinking that evening and although I smoked cigarettes back then, I had never smoked weed. They explained to “inhale and hold it in your lungs…” and when I did, I vomited all over my boots. I assume it was actually the alcohol that cause it, but it was enough for me to never want to try it again.
I found my initial career, banking & finance, by chance. Never really loved it, but I did well in the field. 38 years later, after a downsizing that effected me, I took a shot at being self employed, establishing an Insurance & Financial Services Agency with one of the Big Four. A decade later I sold it and went into academics for 15 years. All of my jobs had as their primary purpose to support my wife & children. Being happy at my job was an afterthought. My foray into academics was the career in which I found my greatest satisfaction, but it was shortened when I decided I had put up with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion long enough. Had it not been for that, I doubt I would have ever retired.
I am in the “season of retirement” now and I have to say, in its earliest stages, I am enjoying it.
Great article. Thanks.
Your LinkedIn account shows 11 different employers. I would be stressed out by that. How did you cope? Seems like keeping focused on saving for retirement would be very difficult, but you obviously accomplished your goal.
Been a while since I heard about “What Color is Your Parachute”! Great book.
Believing that “to everything there is a season” is one (of several) reasons I retired from full time work at 53 and part time work a few years later. I wanted plenty of time for the “go-go” years. Some fortunate people have jobs they love. I loved mine for most of my career. Many more work because they need the money. It’s something of cliche that Europeans work to live, while Americans live to work. You only have one life. Enjoy it.
Another brilliant article David!
Thank you for writing down your thoughts.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, King James Version
One of the most beautiful poetic and profoundly wise passages in the Bible and all of literature. Thank you David for a great article putting it into a modern personal finance context.
For the most part FIRE is a farce. There is no retirement in the traditional sense. They make money selling their frugal expertise, selling consulting services, run blogs and YouTube channels. I follow one guy who retired at 33 with three children. He manipulates credit card rewards and delights in the support he gets from various government subsidies for healthcare, college, even cable services, by keeping his income low.
I know exactly who you are referring to and he does take great pleasure in hacking the system. He may call himself retired but he is very much engaged in work.
I personally think that our nations youth could benefit greatly by adopting some of the ideas presented by the FIRE community. Most have preached to reduce lifestyle creep early in your career and front load your retirement accounts to give compounding the most time to work its magic. Also, to give some conscious thought to where your money is going, and make a plan, as opposed to mindless consumption. To resist the urge to finance a luxury house/car before you can reasonably afford one. To invest in low-cost index funds etc.
At very least, these principles would give a person some financial security at any age, and some options later in life to at least to reduce work prior to full retirement age.
I agree that most people aren’t going be able to pull this off by 30 or 40 years of age, but I think there is still some value in the message.
I don’t disagree in principle. Most people could do better handling their money.
In the past I’ve read some of the websites about FIRE, but have no interest to follow anyone showing how they are doing it. I’m retired and have nothing to learn or gain from them. Is there anyone you follow who said FIRE didn’t work for them and why?
No, not directly, but several refuse to answer questions that inquire about some of what they claim and others suddenly change direction and seek to make money. Others stop updating their blog about what they are doing. I wonder if any have been tested over 20 or more years.
Your findings are most likely true. One thing about social media is that they can fool readers/followers much of the time until they can’t.
Does 59 count as FIRE? I don’t have a YouTube channel to sell anything.
Agreed that people claiming to be retired before their 50’s are most likely working at selling the dream of FIRE.
Sorry, no, not FIRE. They are rarely beyond 40 or so.