Author Topic: book recs for what to do after early retirement?  (Read 3265 times)

juggleandhope

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book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« on: October 25, 2021, 05:07:35 PM »
hi - does anyone know of any books on how to approach life after early retirement?  in the forums i've noticed several posts like "depression post FIRE" and "finding meaning post FIRE". 

i imagine that for some of us, money acts as a sort of "score" of life-improvement. even if we reject conventional ideas of consumerism or self-aggrandizing wealth accumulation, we still get to keep score on a variant of that with "preparing for FIRE".  as we track how close we get to FIRE we're sort of doing a "more enlightened" version of the same basic cultural reflex of equating our life direction with our money habits. 

but has anyone written any books about our various options for post FIRE life, or shared personal narratives of working through her own paths?  i like reading the post fire stuff on here, but i'm also hoping there's a deeper considered book version.  i hope a book might be a better format for the question, "how might a person best live in our time and places without leaning so heavily on the game of money as a way of keeping score?"

LaineyAZ

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Re: book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2021, 09:54:33 AM »
Many people like Ernie Zelinski's books.  Have you read "How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free" ?

juggleandhope

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Re: book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2021, 03:20:07 PM »
thanks, my library has a version and i will try that.

Dee18

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Re: book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2021, 05:09:24 PM »
My favorite is "Designing Your Life" although it is not specific to retirement.

Chris Pascale

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Re: book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2021, 11:26:35 PM »
i've noticed several posts like "depression post FIRE" and "finding meaning post FIRE". 



This was the subject of my uncle's research that led to the book The Retirement Maze, which I found interesting, but I also knew 2 of the subjects in the case studies.

At 51 he retired. After a brief honeymoon period he was fairly lost, nearly got divorced, and (per a story he told me) ordered a martini with a lot of olives, and after the bartender said, "that bad, huh?" he told her that no one has it better than him, which kind of woke him up to the fact that he was (A) very unhappy, and (B) had no reason to be so unhappy - healthy kids, more than enough money, a partner who he liked and trusted.

So he funded what became the largest independent study on retirees, used his skills as a research psychologist to interpret the data, and with the help of his old thesis advisor and a business partner, wrote the book, which led to 2 other books.

17 years later I would like to think he did a great job in his 2nd act, and as he nears 70 is successfully entering a 3rd.

cool7hand

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Re: book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2021, 07:23:12 AM »
Check out the Tony Robbins TED talk on the six human needs. A need for money usually relates to certainty and significance. If those are needs that you think you might have an unhealthy relationship with, you need to find a modality to change your relationship with those neuroses so that you can ultimately choose a new behavior. If any of this resonates with you, please DM me if you'd like additional resources.

Chris Pascale

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Re: book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2021, 09:47:01 AM »
Check out the Tony Robbins TED talk on the six human needs. A need for money usually relates to certainty and significance. If those are needs that you think you might have an unhealthy relationship with, you need to find a modality to change your relationship with those neuroses so that you can ultimately choose a new behavior. If any of this resonates with you, please DM me if you'd like additional resources.

I can second this talk. It was good.

joe189man

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Re: book recs for what to do after early retirement?
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2021, 12:21:33 PM »
at the end of the 4 hour work week book by Tim Ferriss he has a section on "filling the void" or what to do after you have a business that meets your financial needs or FIRE, may help