Fascinating thread. I have a slightly contrarian view. Probably not very relevant to silklisters but I am very wary when my clients talk about early retirement. Not because they would put their financial independence at risk, but because they hugely overestimate their ability to fill the day with meaningful pursuits. A typical conversation (which occurs very frequently, I might add) would go along the lines of
Client - I would like to explore retirement by 50. Shyam - Given your financial situation, it is quite likely you will be able to do that from a financial perspective. But what do you plan to do after you retire? Client - I really want to make time for the things I enjoy. I want to spend more time with the family (First red flare), travel (second red flare), and volunteer my time with NGOs (big third red flare) or coaching young professionals or start-ups Shyam - Great. How specific are your plans? Client - What do you mean? Shyam - Is there a specific NGO you have already been associated with? / Do you currently mentor start-ups or coach? Client - Not really. But I am sure I can easily figure that out. I mean, I don't want any money for it. I fear that the above describes someone who will wake up six months later with nothing to do during the day, and drives everyone around him / her up the wall! For someone aged 50, they need a plan that will last decades, not months. Their family perhaps doesn't want them hanging around all the time. Their life's travels can be completed in six months, and reasonably well-run NGOs want a volunteer who comes and wishes to optimize/streamline/improve the set-up like they want a bullet to the head. For many, work gives them identity and self-worth. My advice for someone without specifics is to work for as long as they can. For most people, there is 20% of the job that makes the remaining 80% worth it. Like I said at the beginning, the above probably doesn't apply to the typical intelligent, multi-dimensional silklister. Warm regards Shyam -----Original Message----- From: silklist [mailto:silklist-bounces+shyam.sunder=peakalpha....@lists.hserus.net] On Behalf Of Vijay Anand Sent: 24 January 2017 11:06 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] In praise of slowness "Slowing down" - the phase in life when making money is not the priority anymore and there is the intention to expand to other interests that have been at best side projects, so that they get focus. It seems that the more i read the viewpoints, unless and if there is a) a significant windfall that money isnt a big concern anymore or b) you make the financial planning so that there is an insurance of sorts so that something doesnt take you unaware - worse put your dependents ar risk, this is a hard one to pull off. I often mind myself going back to a bookmarked linked of self-sustainable farms. An acre or two of land, grow what you want and get away from the race of making your monthly commitments, seems like a dream. BUT... 1. Any self sufficient farm thingerie is a lot of upfront capital - to cure the land, and setup things needed for substanence - food, water, electricity. 2. Given the scenario with the government where the apt definition is "revolutionary governance", and what holds value, suddenly goes out of it and land reform policies might be on the horizon, i wonder if any of the planning we do would be free of risks. 3. All said and done, to keep up with inflation we need an asset that goes up in value and creates liquidity over time, as agri for eg will never be a commercially successful enterprise (atleast at that scale). And building assets right now, take a lifetime in India. Vijay On Jan 24, 2017 10:54 AM, "Venkatesh H R" <hrvenkat...@gmail.com> wrote: > It is a terrific experience reading all your thoughts. To me, it > appears that most people, when talking about slowing down, are just > referring to removing clutter from their lives. It doesn't mean they > are actually slowing down. > Indeed, in some respects they might be working harder on a few aspects > of their life than ever before! Of course, there is a good chance I'm > mistaken in this assumption. > For what it's worth, I too am slowing down in my own way. 2012 was the > last time we had TV at home. And this year, I'm planning to cut down > significantly on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. There is a > dynamic tension to this, because I depend on social media to > distribute my work and listen to others. So I will still use these - > but not on my mobile phone. For me, this is equivalent to slowing > down. I've just been reading Deep Work by Cal Newport, the Georgetown > Uni Computer Science Professor. And he is in praise of some radical > retooling of our calendars and priorities. > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 12:16 AM, Venkatesh Hariharan ven...@gmail.com > wrote: > John, thanks for your hones answers. It's been enlightening to read > all the > > answers. Charles, I hope to be as disciplined as you, one day. > > > > > One of the biggest tensions in my life has been between the activist > in me, > > who wants to change the world, and the recluse in me, who wants to run > away > > from the world. Currently, I work with a non profit working on > financial > > inclusion (www.ispirt.in & www.productnation.in). I have other > consulting > > gigs but the iSPIRT one has been most intense and has pretty much > taken > > over my calendar. I like the fact that this work contributes to a good > > cause, but there are moments when I crave intense solitude. I never > liked > > multi-tasking and doing too many things at the same time. I stopped > > watching TV many, many years ago... try not to spend too much time on > > Twitter and Facebook... and thoroughly hate the always-on online lifestyle. > > With age, I have realized that time is not money. Time is precious and > we > > choose to exchange it for those things that we value the most, whether > > that be taking care of our health, a walk in the park, meeting loved > ones, > > or reading a book. I find that there is great joy in doing things > slowly, > > meditatively... However, my working life has all been about cramming > as > > much as possible into every minute available, and doing a hundred > things at > > once... not complaining, but just making an observation... after all, > it is > > those jobs that gave me a degree of financial independence. For a > change, I > > want my life to be not always about efficiency, but also about beauty > and > > the joy of each moment. Let's see how this works out :-) > > > > > Venky > > > > > On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 10:32 PM, Radhika, Y. <radhik...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > Thank you so much for your honesty John. Other accounts for slowing > > down > > > always sound like they come from wherever lotuses grow (supposedly > > that > is > > > where Vancouverites live!). > > > > > > best wishes. > > > Radhika > > > > > > > > > > H R VenkateshTow-Knight Fellow 2016, New YorkCo-ordinator, > Hacks/Hackers New Delhi > Ph: +1 646-874-9924Twitter: @hrvenkatesh >
