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@HappyCheerE I'm still a few years out from RE but I've read so many stories of people struggling post RE that it motivated me to do a little thought experiment.
@HovEratoTo hopefully this general "choose your own adventure" outline is helpful to you! I've been operating with this schedule for about 2 years now, making subtle tweaks every few months. The main benefits of this "choose your own adventure" approach is that it still gives me a structure I can follow, but its not super robotic or rigid. If I have a rigid structure I don't do well, and like the OP with no structure I really struggle and start to quickly float or tip into a small depression even. Anyway hopefully you like the idea below and can alter it to fit your life!
Structuring your ideal FIRE day before you RE - A thought experimentThis is a thought experiment and general question I’ve been pondering for a while and would like to get others opinions on. It seems that most people in the community who have retired end up having two major realizations:
1.) They run into the “FI no excuse wall”. Essentially they look up and realize that for whatever reason or another they have not followed some of their passions in life and without the distraction of a full time job, it's easy to tip into a depression after they retire. I think a great recent article on this subject can be found here:
https://www.madfientist.com/best-and-worst-about-fi/2.) They realize they didn’t really need as much money as they thought to “Retire”. Mainly because they are not looking for a standard retirement. They still want to do some meaningful work, and almost by accident end up generating income from this work which turns their “stach” into more of a rainy day fund that keeps growing and compounding on its own due to lack of tapping into it. This is summed up very nicely on this very forum by Mrs. MMM’s post here:
“If I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I’d downsize my house, pay it off, save about 200k and then find some enjoyable work that pays my monthly bills”.
Source: (
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/how-much-do-you-need-to-retire-early/msg27938/#msg27938).
With these two big realizations in mind I’ve been contemplating if it would be beneficial to simply sit down and plan what my ideal “retired” day would be. With a day mapped out I then wondered how much of these activities could be achieved without actually “retiring”. In my case being self employed it turns out that I’m able to achieve about 90% of my ideal day…. Which then begs the question…. Do I actually really want to retire if most of what I’m day dreaming about can be achieved without actually retiring…?
For reference the “ideal” day I currently have on my white board is below. I’ve omitted things like “spending time with family and friends” because for me if this time is scheduled it feels forced. I’m lucky enough to live within walking distance of many people that I love, which generates tons of spontaneous meet ups which I’ve realized are way more fun and meaningful for me:
**Choose At Least 1 From Each Category Below**
Morning Drink:· Water w/ACV
· Electrolyte Water
· Patio Amazing greens power drink (Greens/MCT/Strawberry Protein/Everly)
Unthaw:· Neighboorhood Walk or Jog // hang pulls on bar
· Mcconaughey chest bump // Jcurl stretch
· N/A
Exercise:· Workout Video
· Evening Jog/Bike/Stroll
· N/A
Breakfast:· Full Breakfast – 3 scrambled eggs w/ground teriyaki chicken
· Protein Coffee – MCT, Butter, Protein, Cinnamon
· Fast
Manual Labor:· Sisters house remodel project
· Regularly scheduled maintenance
· N/A
Hygiene:· Shower w/Full teeth detail
· Hot bath + book
Nap:· 26 minute nap
· unlimited
· N/A
Altec:· Focused solo Altec work
· Relaxed work w/name-redacted
· N/A rec day
Freethink:· 1 hour solo free thinking
· 1 hour free thinking w/name-redacted
· 25 Minutes of Spanish Practice
· N/A
Unwind:· Meditation on Pillows // Water Plants // Stoic page // Journal
· Sleepy Time Tea // Hot bath + book
· N/A