Retired. Hell no! I claim myself a freedom fighter against the tyranny of corporate work-hell. I was victorious the day I turned 60 and walked out the door. Five years of joyful freedom, I watch others living along a continuum between hunter-gatherer or farmer. Where are you? How’s your level of joy? Are you a freedom fighter?

Wait! What is a freedom fight?

Everyone has them. From escaping the womb. Crawling, then walking for the first time. Exploring your new world. New freedoms! Yet completely dependent on your parents. Then off to school for the first time. New freedoms, yet new dependencies. Your first job. First apartment. First home. More freedoms. Yet still chained to dependencies. Job, boss, family, mortgage. Your last freedom fight may be the truest of all. For the first time, your time is your own. Free to do and be whatever you desire.

Freedom alone, or with your partner, on this journey. No work, no boss, no kids. As much socializing, or as little as you desire! Stress vanished. Unless… you never truly wanted freedom?

My back pages

I have always been adventurous… a hunter. What is over that next horizon? My father was a professor at a small college. My mother a school teacher. I graduated high school in a small NW Iowa farm town. Could have gone to college for free… at my father’s college. Or another nearby school. Instead, I chose student loans and college a five hour drive away. Most of my HS classmates stayed close to home. Some actual farmers. Or, fear of leaving the familiar. Many are still there to this day. Most eventually escaped… I think.

Graduating from college, I had one major non negotiable… my first job must be out of state. Same when I graduated from GE’s FMP (Financial Management Program)… I wanted to move. Perhaps that cost me. Turning down a “better job” for a riskier one requiring a move. Over and over. While others “farmed” their familiar surroundings.

Nothing wrong with being a farmer. Nothing wrong with having some fear. But I always wanted to gather new experiences, damn the fear.

Five years ago

So fast, fast forward. I grabbed an early out from that work-hell final job. We sold our last of eight houses (apartments before that), and dramatically downsized. Gave away most of our possessions and moved to a beach community. I have remained high on the hunter-gatherer and joy seeking continuums… with my wife right there with me…since college… wow!

At first, we thought we would be nomads, migrating every year or two. But our newfound beach life pulled us in. Three hundred miles of sand duned beaches to explore, small beach communities everywhere. And living near the gateway to a new frontier (for us).

We built a new home on sand. A community of stand alone and duplex condos. Lots of neighbors on our street. Mostly joyful people. Yay! Some close to the farmer side… a few have lived their entire lives in nearby communities. Had we become farmers? Nope, everyone on the street is in motion. Exploring near (our fantastic third coast), or travel across the nation and world. Now, we just have a special home base. Our Shangri-La.

To fight, or farm

We escaped the sad hell of a toxic corporation. Others have been left behind. Five years later… still working. Some “love” their jobs and will work till death. Many have no choice, they must keep working to live.

But a large group, like my former coworkers, could escape…but stay. Forever worried they have not saved enough. Always harvesting one more crop of withered greenbacks. Believing the financial planners preaching the gospel of the extra dollar. Or, beaten into submission by their friends and randos fear mongering.

This post is not for those who have no choice. It is for that group… just…. too… afraid.

Advice (dont take advice)

Only one piece: Know yourself, and know your situation. Drown out fear mongering advice. Everyone is different. Find your truth. Build from that foundation. Make a plan. Decades ago my first manager told me:

No one is going to manage your career for you. But if they do, and you let them, you might not like the result.

Truth! And if you have any “hunter gatherer” in your bones, maybe true for you in your retirement fight for freedom.

I thought I would have to work till I was 70, or dead. I thought I was firmly in the “no choice” prison. But I reflected on a beach with my wife. What did we truly need? What did we truly want? What did we not really need or desire. A spark was created. My wife wanted me alive and happy! Money was less important.

I discovered I had a choice. My wife fully supportive. It was not “I”, but “We”. Maybe you have no choice? But maybe you do? Find your truth. How much money do you really need for the life you desire? What pools, or flows, can that money come from? Savings, investments, pension, social security, your spouses social security, life insurance, home equity, part time employment? Add them all up. Plan the timing. Is there a gap, or are you already there?

Farm or hunt?

Remember, your life clock is ticking. If you are a farmer… perhaps life is already good for you. The world is full of people who would not know what to do with freedom.

But if you are a freedom fighter… fight for your freedom. It is your last freedom fight!

Money cannot buy you more time.