David @iRetiredYoung | Aug 28, 2023
Aging IQ Blog is a news aggregate designed to create a location for all of your mental, physical and financial news. From life style tips, to cutting edge research. The below article was originally posted on their website by the author above.
On our campervan trip in May this year, we stopped outside Barcelona. The campground had a bus service to the city, so we didn’t have to deal with city traffic or battle to find parking – it was a popular choice, the bus was full of people with the same idea.
Aside from the convenience, what stood out was that nearly everyone on the bus had grey hair. I wondered, why am I on a bus filled with old people? Then it dawned on me, most of them weren’t that much older than me – I’m, unfortunately, not as young as I think or wish! The only positive is that I don’t have grey hair…yet.
I’m not being fatalist, I think I’ve a good chance to live to ninety or maybe even one hundred, but the reality is that my truly active years will stop long before that. This realisation is giving me anticipatory FOMO. I’m worried that, when I’m older, I might regret that I’ve missed out, that I won’t have made the most of my more active years. Once those active years are gone, they’re gone forever.
To make the best use of our truly active years is a reason why we should retire as soon as we can.
In truth, I don’t really think everyone should retire as soon as they can. If you love your job and have a passion for it, continuing your career is a valid choice. But I do think it makes sense to give ourselves the option of whether we retire or keep working. Financial independence is the part of FIRE that gives us the choice.
I retired seven years ago when I was forty-seven. I don’t think I’m old now that I’m fifty-four, but more and more, I’m realising how valuable time is. It’s a limited resource, and my truly active years are dwindling and fast becoming a scarce commodity. On the plus side, financial independence means that I had the choice of whether or not I spend these years sat behind a work desk.
In addition to realising that I wasn’t particularly out of place on the grey hair bus, some other things have recently reinforced my view that we should prioritise our limited more active years.
Injuring my ankle, although not serious, has put a halt to my sport activities for 6 weeks. It might not seem long, but it does mean my summer trail running plans aren’t happening. Given that running is an activity susceptible to age, this missed summer could represent a meaningful part of my remaining truly active running years. A case in point, a friend was recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis, so his running came to a halt almost overnight.
Another example: last year, I met up with friends to run Berlin marathon, and this year some of us got together to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc. The reunions and the activities were great fun and we agreed that we should keep doing similar things. Because we live in different countries, every two years was suggested. Great idea, except that by only the sixth iteration I’ll be sixty-six years old. That’s quite the reality check that the clock is ticking fast on my truly active years, and that I shouldn’t waste them. Maybe we should aim to meet up for a reunion activity every year instead of every two.
This concept of active years strikes a chord with me. I’m much closer to the end of my truly active years than I am to the beginning, which is a little scary. But, on the other hand, I’m grateful that financial independence has given me the choice of how I spend these active years – to sit behind a work desk or not.
I was, however, recently told of a problem with my point that we should target financial independence so we can choose how we spend our time. Someone in their twenties challenged me, saying that for them, simply making ends meet is difficult enough, and when things like saving for a house deposit seem impossible, financial independence is frankly an unrealistic pipedream. In which case, why even try?
I explained that being young, they were at the best age to start saving and investing even small amounts to get the rewards of compounding, and I described the benefits that can come from tracking spending and perhaps setting a budget. I’ve no doubt they understood those things, but I don’t think it overturned their belief that financial independence feels unachievable. I didn’t change their “what’s the point of trying for something impossible” sentiment. Even assuming my message was right, it’s irrelevant if it’s not received. Maybe this is an area to work on, so that the next generations, my kids included, can have the same opportunities as I have.
