Retiring at 40

Most people hope to retire before the age of 40. I just reached my 40th birthday 2 months ago, but no, I did not retire before that day. The idea of retiring before 40 does not sit well with me. Even when I am on vacation leave, I would try to fill up the day with some activities so that I would not feel the day is wasted. Hence, the thought of having to think about what to do everyday for the next 40 years really shudders me. In fact, I am actually thinking of working beyond the retirement age of 65 to keep myself occupied!

If you have been following the Tree of Prosperity blog written by Christopher Ng, you would know that he succeeded in retiring before 40. He is actually my senior in secondary school, junior college, university and post-graduate studies. Compared to him, I knew that I was not ready to retire before 40. He has been growing his dividend income steadily, and has written not 1, but 3 books on that topic! As for me, I am new to dividend investing, preferring to fish for multi-baggers and occasionally ending up with salted fishes. He has settled down with a family while I do not yet know the financial demands of a family with kids. So, really, retirement before 40 is out for me even if I had wanted it.  

By right, the story should have ended here, if not for the fact that it is the 40th birthday. The 40th birthday is a funny milestone. It represents the mid-point of your life. You could also divide 40 by 2 and look back at the time when you were 20, when you were just stepping out into the world, to see if you had made the right decisions then. You could also look forward to see if you wish to continue your life the way it is now. 

As I think deeper on the topic, I realised that retirement is not about leaving the workforce and enjoying life. True, you might relish the luxury of waking up later in the day and spending time doing things that you really want to do but could not find the time to do while you were still working. You might even go on a round-the-world tour with your family. But how many times could you tour the world? Even the best things in life could get boring if they are repeated too many times. So, what do you do after you finish touring the world 5 times over? 

You get back to an "occupation", something that will soak up your time. But there is a difference between the work that you do before 40 and the occupation that you have after 40. Before 40, work is a "chore". Something that you need to do to put meals on the dining table. The work that we do sometimes might not be what we really want to do. It could be because we did not know what we wanted to do when we were 20, or it could be the circumstances that forced us to take the jobs available to us then. After 40, if you have attained financial freedom, occupation is a "choice". Something that you do, not because you need to bring the bacon home, but to fulfil the purpose in your life. It could be something that you are deeply passionate about, such as a hobby or a charitable cause. It is the sort of things that will form your legacy. For example, your legacy could not possibly be "I worked at XXX company, helping to grow sales by 20 times over 20 years!". Instead, your legacy could be "I wrote a blog that helps to promote financial literacy" or something bigger. So, when I heard that Christopher is studying for a law degree, I did not think that he is coming out of retirement because he has "no choice". On the contrary, I think he is pursuing his retirement fully. 

It is interesting to note that Christopher and I could not have been more different in actions. At one end, he has retired before 40 while at the other end, I am thinking of working beyond 65. Yet, both of us reached essentially the same conclusion on what retiring at 40 means.

P.S. Special thanks to Christopher for allowing me to discuss our views on this topic.

See related blog posts:

• Concluding Post on Early Retirement
• Thoughts on Early Retirement – A Year On
• Early Retirement Maybe A Luxury That I Cannot Afford