Beyond the Job: What Early Retirement Feels Like

This summer, we went back to Orange County and reconnected with friends we’ve known for nearly thirty years. Back then, we were just a few years out of college, juggling demanding careers and raising young children. We were a tight-knit group, helping each other through both work challenges and personal struggles. We were best friends. Looking back, I feel deeply grateful. Through hard work and persistence, things turned out well. Most of us have now reached financial independence.

Over homemade lobster tails, as we reminisced about the past and filled in the gaps of what happened while we were apart, one topic kept surfacing: early retirement. Since I’ve been “retired” for more than four years now, the conversation naturally gravitated toward me. When I asked my friends why they wanted to retire early, the most common answer was simple: “To travel more.”

That made me pause. Early retirement is not simply an extension of your old life with added free time. It’s a major lifestyle shift. Retiring early means leaving regular work while you’re still relatively young, healthy, and energetic—not stepping away only because you’re no longer able to work.

You lose the routines and structure that work once provided. You also lose the built-in social network that came with your career. Some colleagues you may never see again. Others you’ll only catch up with once or twice a year—if at all. But this isn’t necessarily a loss. In fact, it opens the door to new friendships, fresh activities, and passions long buried under the weight of work and responsibility.

Early retirement isn’t “life as usual plus travel.” It’s the beginning of an entirely new chapter. I’ve seen this transformation in many people I know. A friend of mine, once a director at a large tech company, returned to his passion for archaeology. Today, he publishes papers and presents at conferences. Another friend rediscovered singing, something she loved in school but abandoned for a finance career. A former colleague, a longtime project manager, bought over ten acres of land and reinvented himself as a farmer.

As for me, I threw myself into everything I’d ever been curious about—psychology, economics, religion, cooking, music, and modern physics. I took an online course in quantum mechanics. Music was perhaps the biggest surprise: I had no ear for it, couldn’t carry a tune, and could hardly recognize one. Yet I took up two instruments and was invited to perform at gatherings.

I also took up tennis, which was another turning point. (Not bad for someone who once failed P.E. in middle school entrance exam!) And while sorting out our family’s finances after retiring, I stumbled into investing—and, to my surprise, began consistently earning solid returns.

But beyond the activities, the mental shift has been the most valuable. With deadlines and workplace stress behind me, my mind feels freer. Ideas surface unexpectedly. I notice details I once overlooked—the patterns of trees, the perspectives of people, the dynamics of groups. I’m calmer in interactions, less reactive, and more observant. I’m clearer about what I like and what I don’t, yet more forgiving toward the things I don’t. I no longer waste energy fighting what I can simply let go.

In short, I’m busy—busy having fun.

So here’s my takeaway: early retirement isn’t just about leisure or travel, though those are wonderful. More importantly, it’s a second chance at life. It’s an opportunity to reinvent yourself, to pursue passions old or new, and to live with curiosity and intention—something that’s hard to maintain in the relentless grind of a career.