💡 Don't Save Your Bucket List for Your 70s (Issue 179)
How do you want to spend the precious second half of your life?
If our average life expectancy is 79 (U.S. data), then we need to stop thinking about the second half of life the way we do.
You are past the midpoint at 40 (and have already peaked physically in your 30s). The wild ride has hit its apex, and you’re coasting down to the end of the line.
Yet, we act as if the ride will last forever and waste so much of our precious remaining second half on things we would rather not do, if given a choice.
The full retirement age is pegged at 67 right now, and benefits don’t hit the max until 70. So, the traditional model gives us a whopping 9 to 12 years of unemployed enjoyment in the last phase of our life.
Wow, thanks. 🙄
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t like that idea much when I was approaching 50. I didn’t want to wait until the very end to squeeze in all the things I still wanted to do. All the travel and adventures I wanted to have while I was still healthy and capable.
I had already witnessed a sad number of friends and colleagues passing away in their 40s and 50s. I had my own health scare, too.
Who knows how many years we really have left?
I had a big decision ahead of me at that time, since I was shutting down my startup. There were three options.
Try again with another startup (and that massive commitment 😣)
Go back to a full-time corporate job (and having a boss again 😕)
Give self-employment a chance and ease into semi-retirement 🤔
Well, long story short, I went with the third option to 3x my retirement years (i.e., self-employment), and it’s been the most enjoyable, freedom-filled 10 years of my life!
I know self-employment and early semi-retirement aren’t the right answer for everyone. But I sure as heck know that it is possible for some of you because you are in a similar situation to what I was facing.
I’m just saying there is another option if you also see the sand slipping away in the hourglass of your life. And, if you also realize that the best years of your life are right now.
The good news is, trying this out is not a permanent decision. Heck, several years ago, one of my friends flowed back and forth between self-employment and jobs all the time. I’ve done it before, too. I had a tiny design agency way back in 1998 (for a few years between my corporate job at a startup and my next job at eBay). So, it’s not a one-way door, especially in this modern working world.
Worst case, you go back to a job.
However, best case, you live a more fulfilling life and have more time for the adventures you thought you would have to put off until your 70s! I’ll be talking more about this over the coming weeks and months…
Schedule a complimentary call with me if you want to chat about living a better second half of life (or talk about anything at all).
I’m Larry Cornett, Ph.D., a psychologist and Empowerment Coach who loves to research what inspires and motivates people to live their best lives. I work with fiercely independent folks who want to redefine success, find happiness, deepen their relationships, reclaim their health, and create more freedom to live life on their own terms!
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