Its been more than a month since work from home policy was put in place by my employer. Its also almost month to the date since schools in our neighborhood have been closed. Enough of a time has now passed for me to assess the pros and cons of how I and AVI family are adjusting to this new life style.
The punch line, pros far exceed the cons, which has forced me to draw a line in sand in terms of the lifestyle I want to pursue, sooner than later. As such, I have added a new page to this website to track my countdown to the day when I would officially announce my retirement. How do I mean? Let me explain!
Traditional definition of retirement would imply, reaching a certain age (65, for example); no longer working for income; having sufficient accumulated wealth to last through death and beyond; and if health permits, ability to use the wealth in pursuit of idealized goals i.e., travel the world.
While there is nothing wrong with this definition, for me retirement essentially means, having the freedom of choice. The choice of time and money to pursue activities that offer highest fulfillment. What would offer highest fulfillment? Living through the Covid-19 pandemic, I have come to realize that fulfillment comes through having the time to spend quality time with close ones, engaging in activities that offer me most joy including quality time spend with friends who share similar tastes as myself and are kind enough to take the time to share with me.
I came across blog post on Intentional Retirement, by Joe Hearn, which aptly describes how I would describe retirement: “A system for living that optimizes for freedom and fulfillment.” .
A thought experiment is worth discussing here… lets say you win a lottery of 10 million dollars and have no longer the need to work for money. What would be the most pressing question on your mind then? The answer for me for sure is not how would I spend my fortune, rather it would be how would I spend my time? This is where the concept of system of living comes into play. The Covid-19 pandemic induced WFH situation has offered me some clues as to how to go about designing a system for living.
I love what I do for living. However, I am finding out that work for living becomes more fun when one can control the time of the day when one spends time working for living! The rigid schedule of 9 to 5, while having the benefit of imposing some discipline, and creating separation between work hours and non-work hours, does not necessary offer the freedom of choice to work when one feels most productive.
On the other hand, working from home at times of my choosing (except for times when I have to attend meetings), I can take a break to enjoy doing things that I most enjoy on daily basis, such as, reading up on investment literature, spending time in our backyard gardening, going on trail walks, and spending quality time with kids, partaking activities of their choosing. I am able to optimize the times of the day when I am most productive and maximize my work throughput, thereby minimize the time that I have to spend “officially working”.
My timeline for retirement, therefore, is a self-imposed deadline, by which time, I should have perfected my system for living, that is optimized for me to have the freedom to organize my day in manners of my own choosing to pursue activities that make me most productive, and at the same time allow for me to enjoy the company of close ones, family and friends.
Video/Book/Article/Audio for the Week
- Chart: Corona virus infections have peaked in much of the rich world! Glimpse of light at the end of tunnel, maybe
- Article: A nice refresher on option-hedging strategy to in the midst of bear markets!
- Article: Dispersion helps create opportunities!
- Article: Andrew Kuhn from focuscompounding.com on How to find a Company with a Moat?
- Article: Jim Grant of Grant’s rate observer, penned an interesting article on the high cost of low interest rates!
- Article: One of many ways folks are trying to answer the question, Is the Bear Market Over?