Here's a perspective by Richard Simonson that I found interesting. It was hidden in an old newsletter I had, and just about tossed in the waste paper basket. Anyway, thought I'd type it up and share it!Enjoy, Joe
How To Retire at 35
"It's easy. It is almost happened to me when I was just 30. So, I am going to repeat here what someone has said better than I could.
Thousands of people do it every year. In all walks of life. And it sets our economy, our country, and the world back thousands of years in terms of wasted energy, human resources, and potential. But worst of all is the personal and professional tragedy that almost always results from early retirement.
It usually beings with a tinge of boredom. Gradually a person's work begins to seem endlessly repetitious. The rat race hardly seems worth it any more.
It's at this point that many a 35 year old someone retires. There are no testimonial dinners or gold watches. They still go to work everyday, put in their 40 plus hours, and even draw a paycheck. They retired, but nobody knows it. Not at first, anyhow.
The lucky ones get fired in time to make a fresh start. Those less fortunate hang on for awhile - even decades - waiting and wondering. Waiting for a raise or promotion that never comes, wondering why.
There are ways to fight back, though, and most people do. They counteract the urge to coast by running as they've never run before. They run until they get the second wind that is now known as "self-renewal."
Self-renewal is nothing more or less than doing for yourself what your parents, teachers, coaches, and bosses did for you when you seemed young enough to need it. It's the highest form of self-discipline. And, it can be one of the most satisfying experiences a person can enjoy.
Self-renewal is the adult's ability to motivate themselves; to reaffirm their self-pride in the face of adversity and spiritual fatigue. Self-renewal is the device by which a someone becomes a man or woman, leader, creator, thinker.
Self-renewal is probably the greatest test one must face. It is worth the effort. With life expectancy approaching the century mark, 65 years is a long time to spend in a rocking chair."
Richard D. Simonson