A recent post about early retirement by Jim from Route To Retire distills the reasons why I quit my job to take a break from work. Jim talks about his early retirement, but I chose semi-retirement/work break for the same reasons. Though I was foremost escaping a job in the short term, in the long term, I wanted freedom from a job. In the end, whether running from a 9-to-5 job or running to freedom, it's the same difference.
The job I quit wasn't a bad job; it was actually a good job as far as jobs go, and the best job I've had. But it was just no longer a good fit; I could not handle the role of being a tech lead. I always had problems with leadership roles. I can't handle the responsiblity and visibility. If I could stay a junior engineer my entire career, I would. The pay is good enough and the stress far lower. But that's not the American way. It's always move up at all costs. With 20+ years of experience, I wouldn't be considered for a junior role (I know, I tried). In America, there's something wrong with you if you don't want to climb the corporate ladder. I can see this reflected in most of my managers' eyes when I tell them I don't want to be promoted, raises be damned. I think it is this same attitude that looks down upon early retirement that Jim talks about.
Apart from escaping a job, I realized only a few years ago that I was also working towards financial independence. I'm not quite there and can't retire early yet, but I'm close. This work break has given me a taste of early retirement and I like it. I'm spending more time with my kids, and the time is of better quality. Before, when I was playing with my kids, the aftermath of the workday made me very irritable and short-tempered towards my family. Now, my mind isn't riddled with stress from work and I can be more present and more patient.
Some people have problems during retirement with a loss of identity. Work was their main reason for being. I can say that has not been a problem for me! I don't miss it at all. In fact, I think I'm going to have trouble getting back to work, so I will have to see how that goes. I also think the loss of identity issue affects doctors, lawyers and senior executives more. After retiring, they're no longer seen as high status individuals. Software engineers like myself usually don't have that problem because software engineering is not a high status position to begin with.
The only downer to my semi-retirement is the pandemic. I would have travelled a lot these past few months had it not been for covid-19. Instead, I've stayed close to home and taken only day trips.
Leave a comment on Twitter or Mastodon