How does it feel when you haven’t yet found your purpose after retiring early? In this episode, Jason talks with Eric about his three year journey exploring his post-FIRE purpose. In this episode, they discuss the phases of retirement, seeking out meaningful projects, lessons learned along the way, and much more. Be sure to check out the show notes below.
Show Notes
Essential Background:
- There’s a good reason Eric has clear opinions on what it takes to launch and succeed with solopreneurship. If you’re not familiar with Eric’s 30×40 Design Workshop business and his FI journey, you’ll want to see our two-part series: Passive Income = A Path to Financial Independence (Part 1) and Lessons Learned in 7 Years Earning Passive Income – A Path to FI (Part 2). Those links are to the show notes pages, which link both the episodes themselves and a host of related content that you’ll want to check out – particularly Part 2. In that post he shares tons of information on his various passive income streams.
- There are many surprises in the first months and years of retirement. This fact has been repeated countless times in our conversations and exchanges with retirees, both early and traditional age. In “Retiring Early – So Why Am I Worried?“, Jason spoke with Eric about what his first year post-RE was like, and the topic of one’s purpose was a key theme.
- One of our most popular Two Sides of FI episodes of 2022 was our chat with Jordan “Doc G” Grumet, titled “Will You Run Out of Money or Time? FI Advice From a Hospice Doctor“. The topic of purpose can be found all over our conversation with him. In a related vein, Jason recently spoke with Doc G again in “Fulfillment Beyond FI: Life After Early Retirement with Jason”, on the Earn and Invest podcast.
- For more on Jason’s FI journey, check out these episodes centered on his retirement milestones to date: What I Learned in My First Year of “Early Retirement (1 year), My New Life: Two Years After Early Retirement (2 years), and Finding My Way in Early Retirement: A 30 Month Check-In (2.5 years).
Interested in more information about Jason’s decision not to pursue his private pilot’s certification? Check out his recent blog post, Catching up on life, in which he shares the details of why he recently put that long-held dream to rest.
Did you know Jason blogged regularly for the first 2+ years of his post-RE life? This included documenting his feelings on purpose and navigating his new post-career world. While he decided to archive that original blog, you can still access those old posts. Check out this post on his new blog for all the details on how you can get a free copy.
Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor’s Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life (also available as an audiobook) is Doc G’s recently published book. As you will readily glean from our conversation in the episode linked above, this text contains pure gold. It’s not at all a traditional FIRE book – and this is precisely why we found so much value in it. As a hospice doctor, Jordan Grumet has had a unique front-row seat to the regrets of his dying patients. And the stories he relates in this book will remind you to take stock of life now, before it is too late. Please do check it out and recommend it to those in your life!
Have you checked out the Two Sides of FI Discord server? If you’re not familiar, this is an instant messaging social network. Ours is meant to be a community for viewers of our show, as well as a space to discuss all things relation to FIRE. It’s totally open, free of charge, and is anonymous as you’d like. This makes it a safe space to talk about financial topics you might otherwise be sensitive about sharing. Come check it out and see if it fits your interests! There are both desktop and mobile apps available.
Did you know Jason resumed blogging? To be notified of his future posts, please consider subscribing here. He’s also archived his old blog, which documents the first two years after he retired from his career, and started even before Two Sides of FI began. Get more information on those archived posts here.
You can find information on the tools we mention in each episode along with additional information in the Resources section of this site.
- Eric’s business: 30X40 Design Workshop
- Jason’s blog: the next phase is now
- Eric’s YouTube Channel
- Our podcast
Jason, I was listening to you talking about missing something and that you like the projects or short term commitments. I think you should consider some version of a missionary trip. Whether that means habitat for humanity, a religious based organization, etc. I went to Honduras with a group from my kids catholic school for 2 weeks and we built 2 homes. You didn’t have to be part of the school or even catholic to go. Some of the adults or “chaperones” were just people who went before and wanted to go again. There are so many options out there, but it might be something to consider. Anyways, just wanted to mention as I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about anything like that when it comes to a purpose.
The “What’s Next” was pertinent for this 75 year old who is facing a second attempt to retire in January — thanks for the transparency in the conversation. It is helping me think about my next steps, but the issues don’t go away just because you add a few years to your life! What resonated with me was the open processing of the real life questions … thanks, Jason, for your openness, and thanks, Eric, for your persistent if not painful query — an authentic life dialogue that I needed right now. Thanks so much.
Thanks, Joseph. I appreciate your perspective and your support. I wish you all the best on your retirement in January!