Sorry for the 7 year hiatus. If anyone was ever following this blog, I bet they aren't after 7 years! I can't believe it has been so long...time flies when you are having fun, I guess - and as you get older... I don't have a good excuse (are any excuses really "good"?); I have simply been distracted by other things.
Obviously some things have changed for me over the past 7 years, but many of the most important things remain constant (church, wife, family).
I suppose the biggest reason that I stopped writing so much was a waning enthusiasm for purely passive income. "Heresy!" you say. Well, hear me out:
Why my enthusiasm for passive income has waned
1) Lack of motivation for more money
First, my wife and I have a very comfortable income, and I lack the motivation to become really wealthy. If we had more income - passive or active - it would not change our way of life significantly. (Although we might take more unpaid vacation if our work allowed it.) I enjoy saving & investing, so additional funds would largely go there and to the church. These are all worthy activities but not enough to cause me to lust after additional income.2) Active income is better than I thought
Second, active income provides more flexibility down the road. Mark Ford (aka Michael Masterson) talks about this a fair amount after his two attempts at retirement. Passive income can be lost - interest rates dropping kill your income from the bank, you lose network marketing customers and dealers as they pursue the "next big thing," etc, etc. Actively working for income keeps your skills sharp (and improving) in a particular field, which is useful if you want to do part-time consulting or if you need to find work to provide additional income for whatever reason.3) Working is better than I thought
Finally - and probably most importantly - I now believe that "work" is a significant component of a healthy life. I think the typical American ideal of retirement - stop working and hit the golf course or simply laze about - is very unhealthy. Work provides social interaction, purpose (if you are doing it right!), and mind & body benefits (again, if you are doing it right!). Work can be unpaid; a lot of retirees I know do a lot of volunteering, which can provide all of the benefits mentioned above. But I think even volunteer work should take advantage of the specifics skills and talents people have - my experience is that many organizations just use volunteers for "busy work."I understand the urge to just be "done" with work. I have had that urge. Sometimes a lot. Ideally, work is something you enjoy. No, not every second, but you should generally feel good about the work that you do and enjoy it. I also understand that many people work in jobs they hate just to make a living. My question is - why do they hate that job? If their boss is abusive or coworkers are vindictive, then try and get a new job. But I think many people hate their jobs just because they are jobs. If those people worked to do the best possible job they could and worked to make their workplace pleasant for coworkers, customers, etc, then I think their jobs would be much more fulfilling.
I reached this conclusion over time, so I don't expect anyone who looks forward to that day when they "stop working" to agree with me right away. I still have one pair of grandparents living, and they used to travel a lot when they first retired (and my grandfather downhill skied into his 70s), but for the past decade or so I think most of their time was spent watching TV. They have declined fairly quickly in this time with a lack of socializing, movement, and purpose. I don't think they see anything wrong in what they have been doing, but it has been sad for me to watch.
If you are going to retire and simply stop working, please find something else productive to fill your time, therefore adding value to others and keeping your mind and body in shape.
