So, has anyone else retired early or is considering retiring early and figured out how to explain this to your family and friends? I like this softening/modern idea of 'voluntary uncoupling' for divorce, and maybe a similar idea of divorce/voluntary uncoupling should be applied to a career you don't need to be 'stuck' with?
I'm not quite on the cusp of retiring yet, but I've given this subject a lot of thought, and even talked to some of my close family and friends about my goals. Their responses have been universally supportive.
If it helps, it might be worth thinking about what you are retiring to, and framing your intentions around those future goals that you are excited about. Here are some of my descriptions.
"We've been working hard to save money since our early twenties. Our plan is to work hard another X years and then take a few years off to travel the world..."
"DH has been working long hours at Megacorp for so long... I'm really looking forward to the day when he can leave and we can work part time and do more travel...."
"Early retirement has been a big goal of ours for a long time. My hope is that we'll be done working regular jobs around age forty, but who knows what will happen after that? We want to travel, relax more, perhaps volunteer. We'll see how it goes I suppose."
None of these statements have resulted in anything other than a "that sounds great!" response. And if someone got testy about it, I wouldn't feel guilty, their reactions are not my problem.
My hunch is that your core worry isn't about other people though, right? It's about the fact that we identify with our jobs and "contributions" and opting out can feel like a loss of self. Perhaps you need to discover what your "non-work" contributions are going to be. I plan to love my husband, volunteer here and there, and write books.
SIS