You Need a Mini-Retirement.

January 05, 2023

For those who feel stuck in the daily hustle and bustle, dreaming of a life where they can retire early to some tropical paradise, it may feel like you need to grind away at your job of 10+ years in order to make that dream a reality. I think you need to try a Mini-Retirement.

Here’s how:

Mindset

Let’s start with mindset. This is how a financially free person (at least myself) actually thinks, regardless of their net worth.

Ever since I started saving my income, I have felt more free every year.

I live for today, not some future time when I will be “financially free.” I make sure I love my life during the whole journey. I am not sacrificing my life for a future goal.

I make sure to learn valuable skills. Because of that, I can always make more money.

I make sure to put my money to work through reliable investments. These investments support me!

I am in no rush to find early retirement because I can take a break whenever I want. With the cushion I have built, I can take off 6 months any time I need to recharge.

I realize that, in today’s environment, it is more secure to be an independent agent than an employee of a big company. My security comes from my agility and adaptability, combined with my financial cushion.

My financial goal is simply to grow my net worth every year.

The higher the net worth, the more freedom I have.

I will resist investing large portions of money in volatile assets and make sure my portfolio is balanced between many types of investments. Volatile assets will make up a small portion of my portfolio.

I will become more free & more prosperous every year for the rest of my life.

Measuring Freedom

Here’s how we can actually measure your level of freedom.

  • What’s your net worth? _____

  • What are your yearly expenses? ____

  • How long could you live on your net worth if you quit your gig today?

  • How long would it take you to get another source of income?

For example, say you’re a W2 employee of a tech company. You make 100k per year. Your net worth is 100k because you’ve saved a bit. You spend $60,000 per year.

You could live for almost 2 years on your net worth.

Congratulations, you are free!

Let’s say your burnout level is 8/10 but you enjoy your work so your fulfillment is about 7/10. You know that if you took a break, you could be less burned out and even more fulfilled in your work.

You need a mini-retirement!

Mini-Retirement is Underrated and Very Important

If you are burned out and your runway is over 1 year, I think you should quit your job and spend 3-6 months doing a mini retirement.

The reason is twofold:

  1. It will give you a preview of early retirement.

  2. It will give you time & energy to recharge so you can enjoy your life even more.

I took mini-retirements all throughout my 12 year tech career. I would work really hard for a year or two, then take off for a couple of months. I learned so much about myself through mini retirement. I learned:

  • Retirement isn’t as awesome as people think it is.

  • Being out of a job isn’t that scary. Life isn’t that scary.

  • I am actually already free.

  • When I decide to go back to work, I feel a greater sense of career clarity & fulfillment.

This is something you have to really experience to get a feel for.

If you’re looking for a sign to quit your job & go backpacking for 3-6 months, this is it.

The Long & Winding road.

Once you’ve mini-retired a couple of times, you realize that getting to retirement levels of wealth by a certain age is just not that important. After all, you can always take time off to recharge your batteries.

Once you master this mental model of personal finance, you will be more inclined to live your life with a sense of lightness, in the present moment instead of an imagined future. You will find yourself living a life more aligned with your true passions. A life that you don’t need a vacation from.

One day, you will be doing exactly what you want to do, on your own schedule, whenever you want.

To quote Fat Mike, who is clearly living his best life:

Which means we make more money, we’ve got better prescriptions

We own most of our own music, no one’s got their hands in our pockets

We don’t have management, we get to play loaded

And only 3 months a year

Some years we just take off, vacations are a write off

And so is goin’ out (fuck us)

I suppose that’s how we’ll go out

Played out and way after our time

For more inspiration, I recommend these articles:

And if you are a dev, make sure to check out my Bulletproof Guide to Becoming a Millionaire Technical Founder

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