Never Retire, Retire Early
There are so many euphemisms for retirement that why not offer up another: Never Retire, Retire Early. In a way, it is like coast FIRE, and in a way, it is going to the grave with the scalpel still in your hand; hey, if you love what you do, why would you ever stop?
Those options are both great! Never retire because you experience flow from your J.O.B. Or retire early and do what you love because you can afford to.
But right in the middle is coast FIRE, where your nest egg needs time to double two or three more times which will be more than enough when you are 65. So, why not drop your hours or do what you love now and merely pay the bills? After all, if you can earn 60-100k a year (what doctor can’t?), you might already be coast FIRE. That is, you can never retire and retire early.
Advantages of Never Retire
Most physicians who love their procedures don’t retire. But, for many baby boomers, it seems like this means hanging on to something in the medical field since the job defined that generation. And, of course, Gen Z is lazy, asking for reasonable hours in residency and the opportunity not to fall asleep driving your car post-call.
But the truth is, many parts of medicine can be much fun. And rewarding. If you enjoy doing it, why would you ever retire? The joke is that those docs who retire die a year later, but it is true if you still love what you do. If you love what you do, you want to retire a year before your colleagues say it is time for you to retire. Otherwise, the advantages of never retire are numerous because what you do helps people and they need it, you are good at it, and, most importantly, you enjoy doing it. Win. Win. Win. Keep working and never retire when you have the triple win.
Advantages of Retire Early
When you retire early, you may start doing what you love. Why else would you give up being a doctor? Sure, a lot of it sucks, and, man, administration.
But someone has to work those crappy jobs. Both administrators and those affected by them. The advantage of retire early is that you only have yourself to blame if you don’t enjoy your job, which is to be retired. The biggest misconception of retire early is that people assume we are running away: no, man, we are running towards it!
When you retire early, you start doing what you love. But, seriously, what is the alternative? If you don’t have a good time in retirement, well, you only have yourself to blame. The key is to know when you have enough.
“I think abundance and scarcity are two sides of the same coin” ~Brene Brown
The Solution: Never Retire/Retire Early or Coast FIRE
Once your “nest egg” is large enough that it will double and you can retire, or it will double squared or cubed, and when you are 65 you have enough, it is time to consider coast FIRE. That is, you already have enough, so you drop down to part-time or do what you love and just pay the bills.
With coast FIRE, you can retire early, but since you still have to pay the bills, you never retire. The best of both worlds! Remember that all you need is money and time. If you put some money away, then all you need is time. And meanwhile, all you need to do is earn enough to pay your bills and let the money grow in the background (Coast FIRE). So pay the bills and never retire. But make sure you do something you enjoy because if you enjoy it, even if retired, you will never work another day in your life.
Never Retire, Retire Early
Never Retire, Retire Early (NRRE). I hate blogs that coin new FIREisms like NRRE. So, please don’t call it that. But let’s bridge the gap between the never reitre and retire early crowds.
Because coast FIRE is both.
Or you can keep being a doc forever because it is what you want to do. Or you can Retire Early, and damn it; you’d better do what you love and value. It is not being frugal. Know what is enough.
Never retire and retire early. It is a compromise you can retire to.
