How Not To Get Bored In Early Retirement

So do you want to know how not to get bored in early retirement? Well first, I should let you know that I’m not really fully retired. I have a job. In fact, I run my own investment business.
Don’t believe me? Well, you should see all the forms that I receive from Vanguard, Fidelity, etc. to ensure that I’m paying taxes, so the government doesn’t come and arrest me for tax evasion.

That said, many people might still consider me to be early retired, since I left corporate
America in my 40s. Thus, I will be more than happy to share my ideas and strategies that you might want to use to not get bored after retiring early. So without further delay, let’s get straight into some of the ways that I’d recommend to stay happy, healthy, satisfied, and fulfilled in early retirement.

Bored in Early Retirement? Learn to Cook

One of the things I hated about working in corporate America was that I never seemed to have time to really sit down and enjoy a nice meal. In the mornings, I was usually in a hurry to get to work on time. And when I got to the office, well, there was always a load of work waiting to be done, or else. So I’d have to settle for a quick meal. Usually breakfast cereal. Or, if I was really lucky, maybe one of my colleagues would bring some tasty bagels into work (Thank you R.D.).

As for lunch, well, I really couldn’t go overboard there, either. Otherwise, I might end up nodding off with a full stomach in some long insufferable afternoon meeting. And finally, for dinner, I’d usually just stop by the grocery store on the way home. Pick up a whole rotisserie chicken and a side. Then I’d sit down for dinner in front of the television. Which wasn’t a bad meal, by any means. But it wasn’t like I had the time to prepare meals exactly to my liking. But that all changed as soon as I retired early.

Now, not only did I have more time to grocery shop and prepare meals. But I also had less disposable income. So I couldn’t afford to eat out all the time, anyway.

Learning to cook was easy, too. I simply typed in a couple keywords into my favorite search engine, relating to the meal I wanted to cook. For example, I wanted to learn how to cook Fettuccine Alfredo. So I typed the keywords into the search engine: easy fettuccine alfredo recipe. As it turned out, this was an easy meal to prepare. All I needed was fettuccine, cream, butter, and shredded Parmesan cheese.

And so, it went for the rest of the meals that I learned to cook in those first few months when I started my early retirement. I’d simply type the keywords into the search engine for a particular meal. Then I’d browse the results for a while until I found the exact recipe I wanted to cook.

And soon, I went on to learn to cook: grilled salmon, baked chicken breasts, fried rice, black beans and rice, sauteed spinach, broiled and fried trout, seasoned chicken thighs, and so on. Moreover, I was also enjoying my meals MUCH more than before. And, to top it all off,
I was saving a lot of money by not eating out.

In fact, I haven’t ate at a fast food restaurant since I retired early three years ago.

And no, I don’t miss Taco Bell or McDonald’s. Although, I do find myself craving Chick-fil-A, on occasion. Go figure? But, all in all, I’m much happier now with the meals I prepare, which are more satisfying and healthier than anything I ever ate before. So how could you ever get bored in early retirement when there’s three meals a day you might have to cook.

Bored in Early Retirement? Exercise Regularly

Of course, now that you’ve ate your own cooking in early retirement. You’re going to need a way to burn off some of those extra calories. And what better way than exercising. Now before I retired early, I was already in the habit of exercising regularly. I even made it a part of my daily commute by biking to work. In addition, I’d do A LOT of push ups, pull ups, sit ups, stretching, boating, and hiking back in those days.

Not much has changed since I retired early. Except that I have more free time to exercise. And I changed my primary form of exercise from biking to hiking. It’s convenient for me to hike, too, as there’s a great hiking trail up Buffalo Mountain, which is only a 10-minute drive from my townhouse. And, for that matter, Roan Mountain is only a 55-minute drive.

One thing I did want to mention regarding exercising in early retirement, or anytime in your life:

I think it’s best to find a form of exercise that you enjoy. Otherwise, you’re not going to stick with it.

In my case, I enjoy hiking. So while it’s hard to climb Buffalo Mountain once or twice a week, I just love the scenery so much that I hardly ever think about the difficulty of summiting Tip Top peak. In addition, I try to walk daily just to get outside and breathe in some fresh air.

And I’m still routinely doing my pull ups, push ups, sit ups, etc., and stretching. On top of that, I get free exercise when I’m backpacking Grayson Highlands State Park or Whitetop Laurel Creek. Or whenever I fish, as it takes a lot of core strength to maintain your balance in the river and strong legs to constantly access the river on steep river banks and pathways.

So while I can’t tell you what types of exercise that you should be doing now and in early retirement. I can tell you that you should find some type of exercise that you’ll enjoy and do it regularly. That will keep your body in shape and mind sharp, so you can keep enjoying early retirement well into your golden years.

Exercise is also known to help boost your immune system.

Something surely everyone is interested in doing these days. In sum, exercising daily is definitely one of the things that you’ll want to do in early retirement to stay happy, healthy, and fulfilled.

And remember, exercising is a fun privilege, not a chore.

So you’ll never get bored when you’re having fun exercising in early retirement.

Bored in Early Retirement? Focus on Saving Money

Another way to keep yourself from getting bored to death in early retirement is to focus on saving money. There are lots of ways to do this. But I like to start with household fixed costs. To cut these costs, it really helps if you maintain a monthly budget. That way, you’ll be able to see your monthly expenses for each category of spending, like rent or mortgage, car insurance, home insurance, electricity, water, internet service, health insurance, etc. Then, you target the expenses, where you might be able to achieve some savings.

For example, I recently lowered my costs for both my high speed internet service and my smartphone prepaid plan. For my internet service, I ended up saving $20 per month, or $240 annually, by going with a new faster provider. And I saved $10 per month, $110 annually, for my smartphone plan. This was just by changing plans with my existing provider.

Also, the biggest cost you may be able to cut in early retirement is your housing cost.

Now I accomplished this major savings by moving from a high cost of living area, Arlington, VA, to a lower cost of living area, the Tri-Cities area in Northeast Tennessee. This monthly savings added up to roughly $1350 a month, about $16000 per year.

So anytime you’re trying to cut costs you should always focus on the biggest expenses of your budget, first. And for most households, your biggest expenses are typically going to be: housing, transportation, taxes, food, debt payments, and healthcare, in that order.

Lucky for you, though, you can usually cut your costs in some of those categories. For example, if you prepare your own meals, as I’ve mentioned above, you can save a huge amount of money instead of eating out all of the time. I’m personally preparing all my meals at home at a cost of $3.25 to $3.60 a meal, versus an average of $7 a meal or more for fast food. That’s a savings of over $3700 a year by home cooking your meals. And you can bet that you’ll be eating healthier, too. Also, another area you might be able to save some money is by doing some of your own vehicle maintenance and repairs, which is sort of a requirement for living in the Tri-Cities area. Especially, if you own a truck.

And finally, I’d like to mention that if you’re fairly meticulous and relentless in your cost cutting efforts. Eventually, you’ll get to the point where there’s not much left of your household budget that you can trim. Now your life, at least from a budgetary perspective, will function like a well-oiled machine, much like the vehicle you own. Which is a nice place to be.

Bored in Early Retirement? Make Some Money

Of course, many of you won’t be satisfied with just saving money in early retirement. Particularly, if you’re on a shoestring budget, like me. In that case, I’d recommend also focusing some of your time on making some extra income.

There’s lots of ways to do this. I’ve met many early retirees who enjoy working part-time. Not because they need the money. But because they enjoy the work. For example, a friend of mine, who retired from the company I used to work for, started working part-time at a guitar shop. Why? Well, he was a musician and enjoyed helping people with their guitar purchases. Whereas, another early retiree I met got a job with the state doing grounds maintenance. He actually loved the work, which consisted mostly of operating a tractor to cut the grass of large lawns and parks.

As for me, well, I haven’t worked part-time at all since I retired early a few years ago.

But I do enjoy portfolio management and tax planning, as I’ve mentioned above. So my part-time job is managing my own assets. I’ve helped others, too. My guess is that I spend roughly 1/5th of my time in early retirement on investment activities. So stock/sector analysis, tax planning, trading stocks, bonds, etc.

Am I any good at this? Not sure. All I can say is that I’ve been managing my own assets since I graduated college. And it got me to the point where I could retire early in my 40s.

Incidentally, paying someone else to manage your portfolio usually costs, anywhere from 1% to 2% of assets under management, if you go with a commission-based financial advisor. It could even be more than that, according to research I reviewed from 2017.

So I figure that I get paid in two ways by managing my own assets. One, in the income I receive from capital gains, dividends, and interest. And two, in the annual savings I get from not paying fees to a financial advisor, who may or may not have a conflict of interest. So, if you manage a $500,000.00 portfolio on your own. Well, you’d be saving, at least, $5000.00 a year in management fees.

And portfolio management really isn’t that hard of a task, if you rely on low-cost index funds to create a balanced portfolio, like the Golden Butterfly, All Seasons Portfolio, or Three-Fund Portfolio. If you’re interested in learning more about portfolio management, using low-cost index funds, I’d recommend visiting the following websites.
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/150-portfolios-better-than-yours/
https://www.bogleheads.org/

However, my overall point is that you can get a part-time job in early retirement to make some extra money. Or you can create your own job or business to make some money, as well. In either case, you’ll be having so much fun making cash that you’ll never get bored in early retirement. Moreover, if you’re also focused on cost savings in your budget. Well then, this will create a virtuous cycle, where you’ll have even more money leftover to invest. Or spend as you see fit in early retirement.

Bored in Early Retirement? Travel

But who cares about making money in early retirement? After all, it’s just fiat currency. And you don’t want to spend all your time in early retirement working, anyway. But what else will you do then to occupy your time? How about traveling around the country? Maybe even the world.

So this was the greatest opportunity that I took advantage of soon after retiring early.

First, I just drove up to Boiling Springs, PA to clear my mind of everything after more than 20 years of working for corporate America.

Then I traveled down to Florida, visiting Fort Lauderdale, Titusville, and the Cocoa Beach area for a couple of weeks. Driving back, I took the scenic route A1A through the state. Saw incredible coastlines! A few months later, in early summer of the following year, I took yet another trip to Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee to reacquaint myself with the areas where I used to work as a whitewater raft guide.

You see, I was also searching on my travels for a lower cost of living area where I could relocate to. And be happy!

No, I wasn’t quite sure what my exact criteria was for choosing a new home. But at least I knew that I wanted to be close to great fly fishing and other outdoor activities.

Still, I wasn’t done with my travels. And soon, I took another trip to Central PA. I was thinking of relocating to the State College area, because of the amazing fly fishing opportunities on the legendary limestone spring creeks up there.

An Epic Idaho Road Trip:

And finally, because I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned, I headed out later in the summer on an epic road trip to explore more of Idaho. There, I checked out the cities of Idaho Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Moscow, McCall, Cascade, and Boise. Saw the Great American Eclipse! All the while, I was also fly fishing my heart out on the South Fork of the Snake, St. Joe, Clearwater, and Selway Rivers. No doubt, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Which only got better, as I continued visiting places on the way home, like Park City, UT and the psychedelic Goblin Valley in Utah. And a stunning series of natural hot springs to the east of Villa Grove, Colorado.

This was absolutely one of the best trips that I’d ever taken in my life. My mind was blown away by much of that jaw-dropping Western scenery.

In fact, I enjoyed that first western road trip so much that I took another 2-month road trip out West again two years later. Moreover, my travels during that first year after I’d retired early helped me pick a fantastic place to live.

Thus, I say to you in early retirement that, no, you can’t get bored, as long as you have road in front of you and a destination you’re going to.

So go traveling to the places you want to go. And see every site you want to see when you retire early.

And no, I’m not done yet with my travels, as I’ll probably head out West again on another road trip. Or I might just take a flight overseas to Southeast Asia. So, as you can see, I’d highly recommend traveling the country, and even the globe, once you’ve retired early and have the time to really explore our world.

Bored in Early Retirement? Pursue Your Passions, Hobbies, and Goals

One of the very best ways to keep yourself from getting bored in early retirement is to pursue your hobbies, passions, and goals. One warning, though. If all you do is just centered around your own hobbies and interests, well, you can get to the point where even those fun pastimes will seem like chores.

That’s why I believe that you should also find an activity or pursuit you find meaningful, as well.

That said, I’ve spend A LOT of my time in early retirement fly fishing, hiking, camping, backpacking, and floating whitewater rivers. And even waterfall chasing. Though, sometimes, towards the end of the summer season, I’ll get a little bored with the fishing, especially if the hatches slow down or the TVA is releasing a lot of water on the South Holston River. Whenever that happens, I’ll simply switch to another fun outdoor activity. For example, this year I decided to do a bit of backpacking and camping during October and November at Grayson Highlands. Mainly because the fishing was slow. And no, I wasn’t disappointed at all, hanging out with the wild ponies of Grayson Highlands. In fact, it was an incredible experience!

The Hobbies, Passions, and Interests of Other Early Retirees:

Of course, other people will have different hobbies and interests. For example, former President George Bush, Jr. spends his time in retirement golfing, attending Rangers games, riding bikes, and reading American History. And he also began painting pictures of his pets
and world leaders he met while serving as President.

Another guy I personally know, Alan D., who was also an early retiree, has a passion for trail monitoring and maintenance. I see him all the time clearing, cutting, and repairing trails, whenever I hike Buffalo Mountain near my home. He said he’s been doing trail maintenance for years. And he’s always joined in this activity by his affectionate dog, Scout, a year-and-a-half-old Golden Retriever. Alan also creates custom-made wood lamps in his spare time, which are available at a local consignment shop in the Tri-Cities area.

So the point is that in early retirement there’s plenty of time for you to enjoy your hobbies and passions. In addition, if you’re like me, Alan D, and Dubya, you’ll also want to pursue some type of activity that gives you a sense of meaning. And Purpose.

And for me that’s writing and blogging about the subjects I know the best and love.

So that’s exactly why I’m here as a writer and blogger. And my goal is to inspire people to live the early retirement lifestyle. And to inspire people to enhance and improve their lives now. But to do this you must live in reality, first. So let’s explore that topic for a bit…

Bored in Early Retirement? Live in Reality and Question Things.

Researching this article, I discovered that the average American spends 6 hours and 43 minutes a day in front of various screens. Smartphones, computers, LCD smart TVs, and so on. That’s over 7,956 days of screen time over a typical lifespan. Or almost 22 years of your life, not living in reality. So here’s what I’m going to suggest. That, in early retirement, or any time, that we, as humans, make a conscious effort to spend more time observing reality–real things around us–and less time in front of screens.

It could literally save your life. No kidding.

For instance, years ago I was walking through Georgetown during my lunch break at work. Eventually, I came to a stop sign at one of the very busy intersections along M Street, where I halted. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a young woman, staring down at her smartphone, while she stepped into the street without looking. I didn’t have time to react. But, by some miracle, she suddenly froze, just as a bus rushed passed her, inches away. Crazy thing is, she turned, glaring at me with daggers in her eyes. As if it was my responsibility to notify her of the potential dangers she wasn’t paying attention to.

So people, I beg you, please pay attention to your surroundings.

And let’s stop being so distracted by what’s happening on our screens. I know those smartphones are addictive. But we have to live in reality, if we are to survive as human beings.

Another true story. My LCD TV broke about one year ago. Guess what? I haven’t replaced it. Maybe I never will, either. Despite my large DVD collection of classic movies. And you know what?

I don’t miss watching TV. After all, it’s called programming for a reason.

Actually, the only time I miss TV is when I really want to chill out, lay back, and relax. But I figure if I really want to relax well, perhaps, the best way to do that is to just rest on the couch or bed. And pray or meditate. Focus on my breathing. And awareness. And infinite love. Just saying.

That’s got to be a better experience than most of the trash certain studios are producing these days. And it’s an infinitely better experience than listening to the mainstream media trying to sell me some sort of identity, which will separate me from my fellow citizens. And, by golly, it wouldn’t hurt me if I did some good old-fashioned reading every now and then. Like a great classic, like Animal Farm or 1984. Or Brave New World. That might create a more complete understanding of some of the current events today.

Bored in Early Retirement? Try Walking.

Now here’s another thing I was thinking. We should all do more walking instead of burying our faces in screens all the time. I’ve found that walking or hiking is the perfect activity to help one think and see the reality all around us. And to create some original thoughts. Instead of having our heads stuffed with someone else’s beliefs and agendas from the TV.

Of course, something everybody should be doing these days is just walking around your area downtown. I did that just the other day. And have been doing it regularly ever since the current “pandemic” began.

And here’s some of the things I’ve witnessed and started to wonder about, as I walked around my local downtown.

First, why are so many small businesses closing? And what will happen to all these people’s livelihoods? And why are mostly large corporate businesses considered essential? Whereas, in most states, your average small business is not? And how come some states have tried to curtail people’s rights to gather for religious services?

Of even greater concern, I have to wonder why so many people seem so gripped by fear these days? And then, who controls the mainstream media, which is pumping out all of this fear of the pandemic on a 24-hour news cycle? And what do these wealthy media elites and their network have to gain?

And what industry provides most of the advertising revenues for the major media companies?

I’ll give you a hint. Yes, it might be that same industry that’s pushing an experimental cure for the “pandemic” that they’d surely like to make mandatory, as a condition of employment, government services, or to board an airplane.

Can I even get the answers to these questions if I do a search on the most popular search engine in this country? Or, are the results of certain subject matters being purposefully suppressed by big tech?

And why is there currently all this censorship that’s taking place on social media?

And what does that say about the direction this country is headed in? And who would do such a thing in a country that champions freedom of the press and speech?

And finally, is it okay that people’s lives are being turned upside down–their lives and livelihoods wrecked–by all these government mandates and lockdowns, when the sickness in question has, AT LEAST, a 99.5% survival rate, for anyone who’s under 70 years old. Moreover, news outlets report that over 80% of the people, who test positive for the virus, report no symptoms.

Along these same lines, I wonder, if it’s becoming increasingly apparent to US citizens, that their elected leaders don’t even believe the pandemic is that deadly. How can I assert this? Because, some of them won’t even follow the very mask and no travel mandates that they demand of the citizenry. Democratic leaders like Gavin Newsom, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock have all flouted the very pandemic rules and guidelines that they seek to mandate others to follow.

Even a member of the nation’s top health authorities has now flouted her own health advise. Specifically, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, traveled for Thanksgiving to gather with three generations of her family. She had previously cautioned Americans not to travel for the holiday and limit celebrations to “your immediate household.”

But as George Orwell once wrote. “Some animals are more equal than others.”

Apparently. Or is it just that these politicians and top health officials justifiably don’t believe that the “pandemic” poses a serious risk for the majority of the population given the overwhelming likelihood of survival in the event of individual infection.

So why am I bringing all this up in an article about how not to get bored in early retirement, anyway? Well, I’ll tell you why and how I think. Yes, early retirement is something to strive for and a goal you definitely want to reach. And then, once you get there, well, I’ve already given you many ideas to stay engaged with the world and to enjoy your life as much as possible. So instead of being bored throughout your early retirement, you can find it fulfilling, meaningful, rewarding, and engaging in so many ways.

But I’m not so sure early retirement will be such a special time for anyone the way things are going lately. With arbitrary and capricious lockdowns, based on inaccurate PCR tests, becoming a way of life in the United States and the rest of the world, from this moment forward until… Until they decide to end them, if ever? Lockdowns that destroy small businesses and restaurants. And transfer massive amounts of wealth to the elite, yet gut the American middle class. And leave the public in a pliable state of perpetual fear, many so willing to trade their essential freedoms and rights for the illusion of security, provided by a government that just wants to keep all of us locked up in our own homes for our own good and protection.

It’s all for your own good and protection is what every tyrant and dictator has said throughout history.

So while, I’d encourage everyone to keep striving to retire early. And to plan to live a healthy, happy, meaningful, and fulfilling life when you get there. I wonder if this type of life and liberty will be possible for anyone now or in the future.

Because, if we allow things to keep progressing the way they are going. We might just find ourselves locked in our own homes indefinitely. Bored and languishing, like political prisoners in jail, who are innocent and guilty of nothing. Wondering what happened to the free societies and democracies we once knew. And struggling to even be viewed as human in a new world order. A new world order devoid of the freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, press, expression, and religion.

A world where, you’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy about it. That’s just cause the wealthiest of the wealthiest will own everything, including you. And your children, too.

So the final way to prevent boredom in early retirement is this. Encourage your friends, family and fellow citizens to embrace and fight for liberty and freedom. And not to acquiesce and obey out of fear and anxiety. Because crises, whether real or perceived, require calm, courage, and reason to overcome, not blind obedience, acquiescence, and fear. Live free or die.

Quotations:

“You’ll own nothing.” –And “you’ll be happy about it.” – Klaus Schwab -World Economic Forum

“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself” – FDR

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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Gary Alan

After a long career in the publishing industry, Gary Alan left his corporate job to pursue his next adventures in life as a blogger, writer, investor, fly fisherman, hiker, and traveler. He is the author of the adventure fiction book, 'Big Thunder-Hearted River'.