Ready For Retirement
Ready For Retirement
18 Months Into Retirement, This is What Surprised Me Most | Retirement Reality
Christian thought he was ready for retirement. He just didn’t realize how heavy the weight had been until he finally set it down.
After more than 30 years in a high-stress, always-on role at a global chemical company, Christian retired and discovered something he didn’t expect: the stress didn’t disappear all at once. It slowly melted away, like taking off a 30-pound jacket he didn’t even realize he’d been wearing.
In this episode of Retirement Reality, Christian shares what the first 18 months of retirement have really felt like, both different and deeply liberating. He opens up about realizing work had become optional years before he actually left, navigating the mental shift from “always on” to fully unplugged, and why retirement gave him permission to finally live healthier and slower.
But the heart of this conversation isn’t spreadsheets or withdrawal strategies. It’s about priorities. Christian reflects on watching his father delay retirement, losing his mother too soon, and making a conscious decision not to repeat that pattern. For him, retirement became less about maximizing wealth and more about maximizing time with his wife — cooking together, spending unstructured days side by side, and building a life rooted in presence instead of pressure.
If you’re financially prepared but emotionally unsure, Christian’s story offers a steady, honest look at what actually happens after you step away, and why the freedom on the other side often feels lighter than you imagined.
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Christian is not a client of Root Financial Partners, LLC and received no compensation for participating in this video. His statements reflect his own opinions and experience and are not indicative of any specific client’s experience and are not a guarantee of results. No cash or non-cash compensation was provided, and no material conflicts are known.
Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.
The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.
Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements
Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.
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You know, all that you talk about when you retire, like the stress just falls away. And for me, it did. And you don't realize how much stress you're under until actually, you know, you're done. And it's like, and even then too, it's like it's not like the all the stress like automatically lifts off your shoulders. It basically something it's like, it took a few weeks for me to go ahead and finally realize. I'm like, wow, I don't have to get up at 6 a.m. anymore. I don't have to respond to emails at 11:30 at night because my colleague in Asia Pacific is having a problem. It's it was great to go ahead and not be able to have to worry about that anymore.
SPEAKER_00:What if retirement feels less like a number and more like taking off a 30-pound jacket you forgot you were wearing? Today you'll hear from Christian, who spent 30 years on call 24-7 and had no idea how stressed he was until he retired and that stress alleviated. So if you've ever wondered what the first 18 months of retirement actually feel like, liberating, different, maybe even a little bit surprising, this episode's for you. Thank you for joining me today, Christian. How long have you been retired for now?
SPEAKER_01:I've been retired now, about 18 months. I retired in March of 2024.
SPEAKER_00:And what did you do for work prior to retiring?
SPEAKER_01:Uh I worked for a major chemical manufacturing company. I worked in the regulatory department as a system specialist to help uh generate and process documents needed to ship chemicals globally.
SPEAKER_00:All right. So a career there, 18 months of retirement. If you could describe these first 18 months of retirement in one word, what would you use?
SPEAKER_01:Uh different is um something I would go ahead and uh use as a word, obviously. Um retirement for me was I was fully prepared to go into it. I was ready to retire. Uh, but it never, like life, it never works out exactly as you think it's going to go ahead and work out. So I'm gonna say different is one word, but also liberating is also another word I would use. And that was the word I was going to pick until you phrased the question that way. And I'm like, yeah, it's been different for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. I'll want let's double-click into both those. Different and liberating. Starting with different, different than what you expected it to be, different from your working years, different in some other sense.
SPEAKER_01:Uh just different and just in how I felt after I was done working. It's like for over 30 years um working in the industry that I work in and doing the work that I did, I was on call pretty much 24-7. Uh I worked for a global company, and it was like there's very few hours a day where essentially there's any downtime. And if there was an issue or a problem, um, you know, it needed to be addressed right away, or else we couldn't, you know, ship our products. And so it needed to be taken care of right away. And then after I retired, it was like, you know, all that you talk about when you retire, like the stress just falls away. And for me, it did. And you don't realize how much stress you're under until actually, you know, you're done. And it's like, and even then too, it's like it's not like the all the stress like automatically lifts off your shoulders. It's basically something it's like, it took a few weeks for me to go ahead and finally realize. I'm like, wow, I don't have to get up at 6 a.m. anymore. I don't have to respond to emails at 11:30 at night because my colleague in Asia Pacific is having a problem. It's it was great to go ahead and not be able to have to worry about that.
SPEAKER_00:I hear that quite a bit, and I want to hear it in your words of people saying, I had no idea how stressed I actually was until I retired and that stress started to dissipate. What what was the moment where you realized, oh my goodness, I didn't even realize how much stress I was under? Was there was there something that hit you? Like, what did that feel like for you to realize? I have that epiphany that the stress is starting to fade away.
SPEAKER_01:Just the way I felt physically, honestly. It was like I always felt when you're working, it's like, you know, there's stuff you have to do, you need to do to get done. You're always, you know, I need to always be on. And so once I got off, it was kind of like I didn't feel the need to go ahead and have to do things. Even the stuff I wanted to do for a hobby, like my hobbies. It's like, you know, when you're working, you try to go ahead and fit in your hobbies in the time when you you're working and around family stuff and whatever else you got going on. Now even with the hobbies, it's kind of like, well no, I don't have to do this particular thing now because you know, I'm not gonna be required to really be anywhere tomorrow or the next day or in the next week. And it just basically physically you just feel different. And then like a lot of time when you're dealing with stress, you do things that you know honestly aren't the best for you. It's like, you know, you may eat too much, you may drink too much, and then honestly, after you know, I retired and all the stress was gone, it was like, you know, I don't feel like doing those things that were helping me cope with the stress because the stress is gone, and I can actually focus now on trying to you know live a little bit healthier and live a little bit cleaner and just be you know at peace with myself, which was something when you're working, especially in a high stress environment, and everyone's depending upon you, it's you know really hard to go ahead and you know just you know, it's hard to turn it off. And you know, once you retired, it's like you just didn't turn it off, you just pulled the plug entirely, so it's like it's completely gone. And so it's like and then you just realize that's like man, I didn't have any idea that how much stress I was under. And now it's gone. You're just free.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah, a related question, and I agree fully with what you just said of the we're people, we naturally cope. Is it eating too much, is it drinking too much? Like, what do we do to try to find that elusive peat that maybe we can't find there's heavy stress, heavy deadlines, heavy responsibilities on us? To what extent did that play a role in your decision to retire? Did you feel yourself saying, I just can't get there, I'm doing things I don't want to do, or was that totally separate from your decision to retire?
SPEAKER_01:That was completely separate because I had a clear indication actually back in 2017 that I wanted to retire. So I took a long time getting ready to actually go ahead and retire. And I think I kind of mentioned previously, you don't realize how much stress you're under until actually after the stress is gone. It's kind of like walking around with like a 30-pound jacket on. It's like you walk around with a jacket on for a long time. It's like after a while you fail to notice it's there. You're just carrying it. And once you realize I'm like, oh, I can just take this thing off, you know, you're like, well, I feel a lot better now. It's like, you know, granted that stress probably strengthened me to some things, but honestly, it's like it was still weighing you down. But honestly, it's like my decision to retire was completely separate from that. It's like I had a, even though my job was a lot of stress, it was a great job. I was very blessed and very fortunate to work for the company I've worked for. Um, I had a great team, a great team of people who I've worked with. And when I told them I was gonna go ahead and retire, everyone was excited, everyone was very happy for me. It's not like what you hear about some people saying, like, oh, don't tell them you're gonna retire because they'll just, you know, they'll leave you off and they'll not let you have your benefits and whatnot. My place was not like that at all. They really just, you know, they appreciated me, and I appreciated them, they appreciated everything I did, and it allowed me to go ahead and have a very long transition from worker to retiree. And it was about and it made me at peace where essentially once I left, I knew everything would be fine. It's like, you know, I everyone was trained, everyone out of the new take care of stuff that I was doing previously, and I had no concerns about it at all.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Let's go through that transition a bit. I'm gonna start with the financial side and then kind of the emotional side. At what point did you actually start? Yeah, everyone knows at some point they're probably gonna retire. But a lot of people, there's this, I want to retire, I know I want to do something, but for whatever reason, they don't bring themselves to do that first piece, which is create a plan. Just create a can I do this? Do I have the the assets, the income, the whatever? When did you start the financial planning piece, even if it's just back of the napkin numbers?
SPEAKER_01:Uh well, I've always been very diligent about tracking my finances. I've no, I've tracked my finances for over 30 years, probably much ever since probably right right around the time I got married. And you know, my wife was great, we're always on the same page financially, we always coordinated well. And honestly, it was I mentioned before 2017. In 2016, uh my dad unfortunately passed away. And so, and it took about a year or so of going through everything for the assets of the state to go ahead and be um you know settled. And then, you know, at that time after everything was all said and done, and I had all the everything kind of settled, and even before that, I was taking a look at the numbers at the time, and this was in 2017, so it's like I'd been through the 2008 crash and everything, and went through all that. But looking at the numbers, I was looking at the numbers, I'm like, wow, it's like I actually have enough now to where it's like work is optional. And that was back in 2017, and I was like, well, now I can go ahead and actually start planning ahead for it to go ahead and you know make sure that when I do get to the age I want to retire, you know, I'm really fully ready and ready to go. And then I kind of shift it to where it's like, okay, I got enough, so let me go ahead and structure it to where essentially when I'm ready to retire, all the other pieces are in place to go ahead and make sure I have to actually, you know, pay myself uh regular income.
SPEAKER_00:So so you have been tracking the financial piece to some extent from the early years of work, and that wasn't anything new. But 2017 is when you you realize I'm at a point where work is optional. 2024 is when you actually retired, so full seven years later. Was that seven years because you said you did enjoy a large part of what you did for work, or was that because even though you're financially ready, there was the what do I do in retirement, the psychological side of it?
SPEAKER_01:Uh well, I wasn't really too worried about what I was gonna do in retirement. Um, one thing nice about the company that I've worked for is if you retired at or a little bit after 55 but before 65, they gave you additional benefits to go ahead. And really the main thing was it helped cover health care, where essentially they provide a service, they'll fund you healthcare, and actually my company actually does give me a subsidy to help pay for healthcare, which is you know, when you're retired, is one of your major expenses that you're gonna have to go ahead and deal with. And so I very much decided at that time I was like, well, I'm gonna go ahead and wait till 55 because not only do I get this benefit, but then also then too, you know, I my 401k at my work, and I knew then I could use the rule of 55 to pull into those, pull off all those ads as assets to go ahead and you know provide income. And so that's why I kind of decided to go ahead and wait until I was 55. But when actually when I realized it, it was like, even though I was ready in 2017, it was like, you know, it was like I kind of mentioned this to my wife, it's like, you know, because we had that number, you know, everyone has their number in their head that they talked about, and they said, like, well, if you get to this point, it's like we don't have to work anymore. And then I told my wife, well, we're actually at our number. She's like, Really? And she's like, Yeah. And I'm like, well, we might have to rethink the number. I'm like, well, if you know, hey, we talked about this, and so you know, we're there and actually now we're actually at that number and we're you know way past that initial number and we're doing pretty well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I I'm interested in that piece right there. So you hit your number, you and your wife had the conversation where they are, and then part of that conversation was, well, do we move the number? What was that simply because it felt safer to have a larger number? Was it because, okay, now we have to budget in for some buffer or merge, and if things don't go well, was it what led to the pushing back of that?
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's like if anything else, when essentially when you get to a big point in your life, you're kind of thinking it's like, oh gosh, we worked so hard to get here when we're finally here. And it kind of relates into the one more year syndrome. It's like everyone thinks like, oh, I'm there, but if I do a little bit more, you know, I can do more stuff later on in life. And you know, I've always been the guys who's run ran the numbers and I looked at all the stuff, and so I always knew we were going to be in a good shape no matter what. And so, but you know, a lot of times, you know, you have you know, your partner who are essentially it's like, you know, they may not be into as much of numbers as you are, and you know, it's just something to where, you know, once we talked about it, and then once I finally said we started going over it, and we actually do work with a uh another financial you know um service, and we actually work with produciary for a while. Um basically ran the numbers, and it's like, yeah, everything's good. And once they go ahead and they see it's like, no, it's just not you explaining numbers, but you actually have a third party explain how the numbers look, it's like every it's it look it's like more comforting.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. There is that extra layer of comfort there to know you're not just at your number, but you're a bit beyond your number and have some outside validation for that. Um, so that happened in 2017. Fast forward 2024. You enjoyed those years, you enjoyed your work, but also it's taking a heavy toll on you to use your words. There's a 30-pound jacket you were wearing that you just didn't even fully appreciate the fact that it was weighing on you that heavily. Liberation was the second word that you used to describe retirement. Walk us through that, what that was like. What what was day one of retirement like for you?
SPEAKER_01:Uh well, unfortunately, when you retire, it's like even though you're no longer working, you still have stuff to do. It's because when I retired, it's like, well, number one, when you retire, it's like, well, you don't have healthcare anymore, so you have to get health care. So I had to go ahead and we had to work on that. Um, I actually my job actually had a pension, and so I had to decide what to go ahead and do with that, and I had to go ahead and do all that administrative stuff, and then actually had to go ahead and it's like, well, you know, I retired in March. It's like, and I'm no longer pulling the no, I was gonna get one more paycheck. I have to go ahead and decide, like, okay, how much money do I want to pull out of my retirement funds or out of my brokerage account to go ahead and pay for you know the remainder of the year. And so there's still the goal to go ahead and do. So all that stuff is all that stuff is going on. It's like, you know, I felt like I was like, I kind of changed it. I think you and Ari mentioned before where essentially it's like if you're not working with a financial advisor, you get to become a financial advisor yourself because you're managing all your money on your own. And so I was just started doing that stuff, and then once that took about three, it took about a month before you finally got everything kind of like done that needed to get done. And then after that, basically it's like, okay, I can actually just, you know, let me sit on the couch for a while and then relax. And so it was probably like a month after I retired, and it's like, okay, it's like it started like selling in that I no longer have to be, you know, on the bicycle every single day, you know, you know, riding around.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm. And what was that feeling like? So was it just simply the the weightlessness of the jackets gone and you feel free, or did uh do you remember feeling any other emotions or feelings around that?
SPEAKER_01:I just I just really really felt essentially it's like like I said when I was working, it's like you always get you feel the need to do something. It's like you know, you're trying to get to the next goal, you know, trying to get to even whether it be you know personally, you know, financially, or spiritually, or something else you have to go do. And then I got to the point where it's like you know, I don't have to do anything. It's like if I just want to have a day where it's like I just want to get up and read or watch TV or you know, go for a walk, go to the gym, do something. It's like I had complete freedom. It's like my day was like you know, completely open. And it wasn't something that happens like it's not like a switch that goes off, it's a gradual transition. And honestly, it's like I've only been retired about 18 months. Honestly, I think I'm still transitioning. They always talk about the vacation phase, and it's like, okay, it's like I'm still kind of going through the tail end of the vacation phase, and I'm thinking I'm getting to the next point of it. But I just felt that essentially after about a month or so, it's like it was something, it's like it's kind of like letting the air out of the balloons slowly. It's like it's not a big pop, it's just like something you feel slowly over time, and you start to feel really just kind of like lighter overall, not just physically, but also spiritually, because it's like you don't have this, you know, like I said, you don't have that 30-pound jacket weighing you down.
SPEAKER_00:So, what does life look like now? You don't have that 30-pound jacket weighing you down, you you you know, you took some time to get the actual mechanics in order of where am I pulling money from, getting health insurance set up, getting the pension, that stuff. You know, and you're you you played financial advisor for that month to get everything done. And now you're at the point where there's still things that you have to do. There's still financial decisions to be made, but they're more or less uh maybe somewhat on autopilot at this point, with the time that is freed up. What does life look like?
SPEAKER_01:Uh honestly, it just gives me time to spend. Actually, it gives me a lot more time to spend with my wife, which I really love. Is like because my wife left the workforce a few years ago to start a new career as a writer. And so she works from home, which is great. And you know, we're always you know around each other. We like being around each other, and we just get to hang out. And I think that's really like my favorite thing to do. It's just, you know, you know, you talk about redating your spouse, and it's like, you know, me and my wife have always been very close. We've been we were together all the time. We love being around each other. And you know, a lot of times we have some days where essentially it's like, you know, what do you want to do today? And she'll be like, Well, I don't know what you want to do. It's like, well, I don't know what you want to do. And she's like, Well, I got these few things I gotta go ahead and do. I'm like, okay, that's fine. And then, you know, we'll be at home, and like she'll be off doing her thing, and I'll be you know, somewhere else in the house doing my thing. But then we come together, like we cook dinner together almost every single night. And it's you know, that's one thing I really love about being retired, is just you know, being around her uh more often than not. Because that was something that was kind of lacking when I was working, because I'd be even though like during the pandemic, it was like I got two weeks off because the country was shut down. But since my industry was declared essential, I had I got called back to work two weeks after the pandemic hit, and I needed to go ahead, and even though I work remotely, I still need to go back in the office a couple of days a week, and then that was just, you know, again, another thing of stress, especially during the pandemic. But now it gets just we just get to hang out, you know, all the time. And I think that's really my by far my favorite thing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh let's let's talk about that. How has your relationship with your wife changed? Given you said, Yeah, we've Always loved hanging out with each other, but we just don't have that freedom and that time. And now being retired, you do. What does your relationship with your wife look like today that maybe you didn't have the ability to have it look like while you were working?
SPEAKER_01:Um well it was always good. And uh, but you know, she just no, she loves I love being around her, she loves being around me, and just that just being in that presence. And I was gonna go ahead and relate that to a different story that I had, because um my dad, um I was first introduced to the concept of retirement when I was 18, because my parents had me when they were in their late 30s. And so by the time I'm ready to go to high ready to go to college, um, you know, my dad's in his mid-50s along with my mom. And so basically he kept on telling me, like, you know, once you go to college, I'm gonna retire. I'm like, okay, dad, that sounds great. And you know, he could do whatever the heck he wanted. And then after I went to college, he's basically said, like, well, I'm gonna wait until your younger sister goes to college, who's three years behind me. And I'm like, okay, dad, that's fine, whatever, do what you're gonna go there. And then he kept on pushing it off, pushing it off, and pushing it off. And I never really found out, you know, why. And it was and and unfortunately, you know, at this time, you know, my mother was also very ill. She suffered from moratorium arthritis, and um, she was you know very sick. By the time I was in high school, she had trouble walking around. By the time I got married, um, she was in a wheelchair pretty much 24-7. She couldn't get around on her own. And then she passed away like a year after got married. And I just thought about that, and then one of the reasons I wanted to retire early and spend time with my wife is because I saw my dad, who basically, even though my mother was ill, hit all this time in between the time when you know I went, he said he could when he said he could retire and before she passed. And it's it seems to me like that would seem like an enormous time to waste not being with the one person that you love more than anything on this planet. So I really kind of learned from that, and I didn't want to repeat that, especially when I realized I got to the point where it's like, you know, work is optional, work is great, but it's not the most important thing. The relationship you have with the people you love in your life is by far the most important thing that you'll ever have. It's like that's the thing that keeps you whole. And so I wanted to make sure that you know I maintain that. And I always like, you know, people always say like, you know, you struggle with your identity after you retire. It's like, I work my job was something I did, but it's not who I am. You know, no, no, my goal was like, number one, I want to be the best husband in the world. That's like my primary goal. And being with my wife and just being around her and making sure she does everything she wants to go ahead and do and that she's happy and fulfilled. That's my main goal in why I so that's why uh number one, why I wanted to retire early and spend time with her, but also why what happened with my dad. It's like I want to make sure I didn't repeat. Um, I don't think it was a mistake, but I don't think it was the best choice.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that, Christian. It reminds me, you know, it's um I sent out an email to clients maybe a year ago. I forget exactly when, but something along the lines of, hey, what's what's one thing that you've always wanted to spend money on, but could, you know, you've never done it. And the responses were great. It was like, hey, I want to go see a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium, or I want to go um, you know, whitewater rafting with my grandchildren, or I want to, it was typically things that weren't super expensive, just things that have been on the to-do list forever. And then one client in particular, she sent me an email. She said, Hey, I've always had this dream. My husband and I always had this dream of you know taking a train to Alaska and doing these epic things along the way. Unfortunately, he passed before we were actually able to do some of this. And I remember that hit me of like, hey, we always financial plan means so much about the things we want to do, the trips we want to take, and it's so easy to keep pushing it off, pushing it off, pushing it off. Kind of these things are important to us, but they never feel urgent. And sometimes we don't get the chance to do the important because we never took the step to retire or to make them happen or to, you know, you fill in the blank. So I appreciate you sharing that because it's that same sentiment of I didn't want to push off the things that are most important to my life because I could always justify working one more year. I can always justify maxing out my 401k another year, I could always justify paying the Social Security one more year, I could always justify one more bonus, but at what cost? And what you didn't want to fall prey to was, well, the cost not having my wife in this case, or the cost not having my health with my wife, or whatever the case might be. So um I think that's a really important thing for people to realize as we get so locked into our financial goals and what we want to do in the future that we fail to appreciate not everything we have today is going to be there tomorrow. Our health, our spouse, our family, finance, whatever the case might be. So thank you for sharing that. Um going back so a year and a half or so of retirement now. Do you, and I think you already started to address that, you know, people talk about the honeymoon phase and it feels like a vacation at first, and you start to feel I'm like, okay, I'm drifting, I don't know what I am, who I am, what I want to do. I think you already said, okay, it might not work. It's so much more than that. But do you ever feel a sense of what next? What do I want to do? Kind of bored, or is that not something that ever crosses your mind?
SPEAKER_01:Um, not yet, anyway. Actually, I'm waiting for the day where it comes across where it's like I'm sitting around and I'm like, I'm really bored. And I just haven't hit that yet. And so I'm waiting for that day, and it's like, and actually before I retired, my wife discussed, like, well, when you retire, you can, you know, do A, B, and C. And I'm like, okay, and I'm still I'm working on A, a little bit on B, some a little bit on C. And so I have options uh, you know, to keep me busy. And so I haven't gotten to the point yet to where it's like, you know, I got to the point where essentially it's like, you know, I get up and it's like, you know, I don't have anything to do today, which is like, which is not me at all. I'm always gonna find something to go ahead and do, even if it's something that's like, well, you know, no, the bathroom is even to be twenty, so okay, I'll go claim the bathroom. It's like I'm gonna go ahead and find something that gave me uh busy or at least inner, you know, occupied for a while. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, very cool. Um, being a year and a half in now, if you could talk to Christian two years ago, you know, the version of Christian that was thinking about retirement, having an idea what he was gonna do, what would you tell him is the same as what he expected versus what would you tell him is gonna be different than what he expected?
SPEAKER_01:Um that's kind of an interesting question because really it's like when I was preparing to retire it, I was really keep trying to keep myself educated um on what to expect. And so basically I would go ahead and tell him it's like no, when you basically if I I went to myself and it was two years ago, I would basically I would be in the midst of probably setting up all the training programs I needed to go ahead and do to get everyone trained because we had to hire like three people to do my job. I would just basically tell them, like, listen, once you get once you get there, you're gonna feel so much better. It's you know, you're gonna feel healthier, you're gonna feel you know not as tired as you were previously, and just stick with it. It's like, you know, it's gonna be great. Just you know, keep on going. And it's like, and I'd be like, okay, thanks. And I'll give myself an odd look and then you and then you walk away.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, it's stick with it. It's gonna be great. I think that sticking with it and a theme I hear in talking to people is you don't always know exactly what it's gonna look like. But if you keep trying new things and if you keep whether it's cleaning the bathroom or it's going on a date with your wife, or it's taking a new, just keep doing things, and you're gonna find that thing that brings you uh a lot of adventure or joy or contentment or whatever it might be. Um, you I know even I I think you mentioned like you read a lot or you watch a lot, like you you prepared for this, it sounds like, where it wasn't just something you randomly stepped into without thought to what are the finances gonna look like, what's life gonna look like? What guidance would you give to that person who maybe on the financial side, this I've watched a hundred YouTube videos, I've listened to a hundred podcasts, I know how much I need to have in my portfolio, I know what tax strategies to do, I know where to pull money from first. That's not my problem. My problem is I don't know what's on the other side. I just want to hear someone who's there, tell me what I should be thinking about or what I should start doing to prepare for the maybe the psychological shift or the emotional shift. Any words of wisdom based on your experiences or those of others you've you've talked to that you might share?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's kind of uh weird you mentioned that because it was funny because right when I was getting to retire, I had another co-worker who I work with, she's on my team, and she was about my age, maybe a little bit younger, and she wanted to talk about retirement because she was ready to retire. Her husband wasn't. Her husband was basically, he didn't want to retire, he didn't want to talk about it. And I would go ahead and say, like, once you got the financial thing kind of pinned down, it's like really then you have to go ahead and explore what you want to do. It's like, and that's where it's like, you know, once you educate yourself on the financial part of it, then you need to really kind of like explore the life part of it, you know, what you want to go ahead and and do. It's like, and everyone's you know, choice is going to be different. It's like for me, it's like I want to make sure I spend more time with my wife. And there are a lot of people out there where, you know, they have, you know, they're married, but they have children and they have grandkids. They want to spend a lot of time with the grandkids. And it's they always say you go ahead and should have like like like three or four things, you know, outside of you know family stuff to go ahead and do to help keep yourself, you know, occupied. And so really just like, you know, think about something you love doing. It's like often I also I often think about my former director because he's was my age and he said he's gonna retire 50. And he's a fisherman, so I'm like, I know exactly what this guy's gonna be doing once he retires. He's gonna be spending a lot of time fishing and will probably be going on some pretty badass fishing trips uh pretty everywhere from like Alaska to the Florida coast to go ahead and catch whatever he can catch. And so I know I'm so I'm not worried about him, you know, at all. But you know, ideally it's like if you're so tied up with your work identity that you can't really get away from it, then it's like, well, maybe you don't you know quit working, maybe you go part-time or you get like a different job which is less stressed. It's like because some people, it's like I know some people will go ahead and they worked up until you know their 70s. Like a lot of people in my company, it's like once you got in, you like you really didn't leave. You kind of like stood there, stay there in the entire time. And so I would go ahead and say to people are like, if you're thinking about retiring and the financial thing's kind of like pinned down, you have to go ahead and realize the amount of freedom that gives you. And then if you have freedom to go ahead and do pretty much whatever you want, you know, if it's something to where it's like, well, I always wanted to learn how to play piano, like, okay, well, now you can. It's like maybe I always want to learn how to speak Spanish. I'm like, okay, go ahead and do that. Just find something to you know keep yourself occupied. And I would just go ahead and say, you know, you know, find something that you, you know, love doing, or something that you find interesting. And if you try one thing and it's like, well, I did this for a while, it's not really working out, it's okay to quit. You know, go ahead and do something else. It's like that's something that's um something my mother taught me like when I was like seven. It's like I remember she was, you know, my parents were very insistent that everyone in the family learn to play a musical instrument. And so I tried like three or four different ones. I remember one day I'm like, you know, I was learning to play the drums. And I just you know wasn't getting it, I wasn't having a good time, and it was just really just a drain. And then basically I was like, I was getting upset about myself because I was like, I wasn't doing as well as I could, and you know, and then my mom said, like, you know what, that's okay, just quit. We'll find something else. And then eventually, years later, I found a musical instrument that I did like, and I actually wound up playing that for a long time, which was good. And so I would just say, you know, get you know, no, find something that you're interested in and give it a try. If you know, you know, like like a lot of people play pickleball, it's like the big thing for retirees. It's like if you want to play pickleball, great, play pickleball. If you don't want to play pickleball, you don't have to. There's other things you can go ahead and play. You can play golf, you can play tennis, you can do something else. I would just get I would just say, you know, find something that you know interests you and you know just give it a try.
SPEAKER_00:Try new things, don't be afraid to quit. Lesson from Christian. I'm gonna add two things just based upon what I'm hearing you say. One is I what I'm hearing you say, and what I hear a lot of people, people who have an easier time transitioning to retirement, it's typically because they haven't placed their whole identity in what they did for work. You said very clearly, my identity was not what I did for work. So I think that transition was was easier because you had other things that were your identity not that. So you didn't feel like you were losing a giant portion of yourself. The last thing is you, because of your experience with your mom and dad, you saw very clearly there is something that I value more than anything else, and that is my wife, and I'm not gonna let this anything get in the way of my potential ability to spend the best years of my life with her, uninhibited from the demands of work, the responsibilities of work. So try new things, I'm hearing you say, as much as you can. Don't place your identity in work, place it in other things. And then three, understand what's important. And don't let something that's important shift to the wayside because there's other things in front of you, like making more money or promoting that or doing other things that aren't actually uh the true things that you value. So lots of important lessons, I think, here in your experience. Christian, any final words um that that you would want to leave listeners with who are wanting to retire, maybe even retire early? Any any final words of wisdom that you might want to share with them?
SPEAKER_01:Uh final words of wisdom. Obviously, if you're planning on retiring, whether it be early or what's called them called on time, uh, do your homework. Like there's so much resources out there. YouTube is a great resource. I'm a big YouTube live. I'm a visual learner, and so I learn a lot by watching. But if you're not, like there's books and other forms of education out there. You know, there are no places local colleges will have seminars every once in a while. Do your homework, get yourself educated, not only about retirement, but have a good financial education as a base before you lead into retirement. And that will go ahead and give you your base on the financial side of it. As far as the other side of it, is you know, make sure you have something that you love, whether it be a person or a thing or your dog, and just think about all the time, all the great things you can go ahead and do. That's gonna be great with them. And I want to go ahead and say, who anyone else is watching this, if you're thinking about retirement and you're gonna be retiring soon, or if you are retired, I wish you the best on your retirement journey. I think it is by far for me the best stage of life because you get the go ahead and do everything that you want to do, and you're completely free to go ahead and explore anything you want to explore at this point. So a seven-year-old kid inside of me basically is out now in this 56-year-old guy. And so I would just say I hope everyone on their retirement journey has a blast.
SPEAKER_00:Love it. Well, thank you, Christian. Thank you for sharing your experiences and wisdom and stories of your retirement journey. Thank you for sharing with all of us. Appreciate you coming on the show to do so.
