{"id":115557,"date":"2019-09-11T14:30:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T20:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=115557"},"modified":"2021-03-16T14:55:52","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T20:55:52","slug":"retirement-overrated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/retirement-overrated","title":{"rendered":"Looking Back, Racing Toward Retirement Was a BIG Mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"

I never dreamed I\u2019d retire before I hit 34. But I did.<\/p>\n

My Backstory<\/h2>\n

After graduating with an engineering degree and then an MBA, I worked at Ford Motor Company in Detroit for five years. Then I had the good fortune to team up with Barry, the top student in my Ohio State MBA class, to launch our own company. Barry had also gone to Ford, but out of boredom with the corporate world, he only lasted 13 months.<\/p>\n

My First Business Venture<\/h3>\n

Barry and I launched a staffing firm that provided outsourced HR services for lots of small companies in metro Detroit. Also known as a PEO (professional employer organization), our clients loved us since we took many of the burdens of payroll, taxes, benefits, and insurance off their shoulders.<\/p>\n

One of our clients nominated me for Ernst & Young\u2019s Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year, and I was a finalist for that award in 1996 and 1997.<\/p>\n

Wall Street was enamored with the PEO business in 1996 through 1998, and many companies went public. We caught the attention of one that was awash in cash, and suddenly, in Fall 1997, I had a few million dollars in my bank account and the freedom to go anywhere I wanted\u2014and to do whatever my wife and I chose.<\/p>\n

We had two young children, and we lived 2.4 miles from the Detroit border (on 8-Mile Road. Did you see the movie?). Detroit was imploding, and we were tired of seeing our kids\u2019 toys get stolen from the yard and having our car stereos removed at night. We wanted something different for our two (eventually four) children.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

My Next Business Venture<\/h3>\n

In a perhaps knee-jerk reaction, we acquired 120 mountaintop acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. We built a new home and invited quite a few friends to do the same. Many eventually built nearby.<\/p>\n

I was gonna be living the dream. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I was always troubled by the long hours I worked, and I knew I could be a much better husband, father, and friend if I could find a way to slow down. But I had been living by an entrepreneurial mantra:<\/p>\n

Entrepreneurs are free! We have the freedom to work any 80 hours per week we choose. <\/strong><\/p>\n

While I don\u2019t recommend this to anyone, that was my reality up to that time, and when we moved to Virginia, I truly was free from that daily grind.<\/p>\n

We started a non-profit organization to reach out to international students studying in the U.S., but that was low pressure and low time commitment.\u00a0Now I was free to become the best version of myself.<\/p>\n

The best husband. The best father. The best friend.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not how it worked out. I became the worst version of myself.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The worst husband. The worst father. The worst friend.<\/p>\n

Oh, and I told people, \u201cI\u2019m an investor now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, right.<\/p>\n

My First Stab at Being an Investor<\/h3>\n

I didn\u2019t know the first thing about investing. I was a speculator, and my bank account paid a dear price for my folly.<\/p>\n

What’s the difference between investing and speculating?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Investing<\/strong>: When your principal is generally safe, and you have the chance to make a return.<\/p>\n

Speculating<\/strong>: When your principal is not at all safe, and you have the chance to make a return.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But that\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n

Anyway, what went wrong? Why did my ambition to be the best version of myself turn out so poorly? And what did I learn in the process?<\/p>\n

Related:<\/em><\/strong> How to Become a Billionaire by Being \u201cApproximately Right\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Why I Think Retirement Is Overrated<\/h2>\n

OK, so I didn\u2019t necessarily retire in the traditional sense. But I did get a taste of what it could be like. And trust me, it was miserable. For me at least.<\/p>\n

Yes, I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. Freedom of time. Freedom to travel. Freedom to sleep in. Freedom to invest (or speculate). Freedom to move to a mountaintop.<\/p>\n

(By the way, as I\u2019ve often shared, I wasn\u2019t a bit happier the day after selling the company than the day before. Money really doesn\u2019t bring happiness. For this reason, I recommend that everyone have a big “why” that they are living for. But that’s another story for another day.)<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Anyway, I wasn\u2019t created for all of that freedom. Yes, I was designed to be free. But I got really bored. Really quick.<\/p>\n

I knew I wasn\u2019t supposed to<\/em> be bored (who told me that anyway?), so I had to act happy. I had to act like I was enjoying my freedom.<\/p>\n

But I was a high energy entrepreneur. And to go from 100 miles per hour to just above zero was no fun at all.<\/p>\n

Like I said, for me at least, and for others I\u2019ve spoken to, retirement is overrated.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, I know that many of our loyal BiggerPockets readers have a goal to create a passive income stream so you can retire early<\/a>. So I hope this doesn\u2019t offend you. But this is my experience, and from what I\u2019ve heard, the experience of many others.<\/p>\n

Do Early Retirees Really Live Longer?<\/h2>\n

When I was at Ford, my boss told me that the company statisticians calculated these figures:<\/p>\n