Lifelong Semi-Retirement: A Hot "Career" Opportunity

By John O. Andersen

This is my proposal for a new entry to be added to career reference books which young people use when trying to decide what they want to be when they grow up.

Career Title

Lifelong Semi-Retirement

Nature of the Work

Lifelong semi-retirement is an exciting career especially suited for people with wide interests, a preference for living deliberately, and an uncontrollable passion for learning. It's available to nearly everyone, not just the wealthy.

Semi-retirement refers specifically to a person's relationship to paid work. The semi-retirees work for pay only enough hours to meet their monetary needs. After that they spend much of their time in non-paid work like strengthening relationships, pursuing hobbies or performing community service. Semi-retirees arrange their lives so that they can afford the "luxury" of not having to work for pay from sun up to sun down.

They operate on the idea that people should enjoy life to the fullest throughout life. They feel that not giving ample time to dreams, hobbies, or close friendships until after the traditional retirement age is unwise. Although they make provision for their declining years, they unapologetically enjoy many of the fruits of retirement in the present. Life to them isn't a big meal followed by a big nap, but rather a nibble here, a catnap there.

There is no typical day for a semi-retiree. On a few days they may work for pay for six to eight hours. Other days, not at all. They might spend three weeks caring for an aging parent, followed by three months of paid work. They may choose to participate in a project at the local library, volunteer for a community awareness campaign, or raise funds for a non-profit organization. Unattached to one specific full-time career, they are free to pursue a variety of interests, and maintain or develop expertise in several fields. The possibilities are endless.

For instance, a semi-retired young husband and father could run a small handyman business for his primary income. Occasionally he might tutor struggling algebra students. He could also be a soup kitchen volunteer, and perhaps a member of a search and rescue team.

Another semi-retiree with specialized engineering skills may earn money through a string of freelance consulting contracts. After a well-paid assignment, she may choose to spend six months as a volunteer consultant in another country. During that stint, she could pursue other interests such as becoming fluent in a foreign language, developing expertise in that country's cultural history, or even taking a cooking course.

Such varied "careers" are within reach of many people whether married or single. Those with meager financial means, often discover that voluntary frugality enables them to pursue a career in semi-retirement. They decide that not waiting until traditional retirement age to control how they spend their time is a high priority. Hence, they structure their lives to safeguard that prerogative. They happily exchange a lot of small and immediate pleasures for a few grand ones.

Suppose, for instance, that our semi-retired engineer decides to buy a house. She has a flawless credit record, and is pre-approved for a loan large enough to purchase a home in a swanky suburb. Although she can afford this financially, she decides she cannot afford it in terms of her top priorities. Consequently, she opts for a considerably smaller, and less expensive home. She thus retains the freedom to not have to spend most of her day working for money. She sees frugality as a small price to pay for the flexibility to fill her life with all sorts of interesting experiences: to travel, pursue a hobby or self-educate to her heart's content.

Aptitudes, Training, Qualifications, Advancement

Aptitudes:

Individuals who decidedly prefer experiences over possessions tend to fit well into this career. This is an important point, because happy semi-retirees value their freedom purchased through reduced needs much higher than the pleasures and conveniences purchased through wage work.

Semi-retirees generally cast a critical eye on cultural sacred cows. For instance, many think over-specialization in careers often damages creativity and needlessly narrows a person's scope.

Specialization is a necessary feature of an advanced industrial economy. Without it the career of semi-retirement wouldn't be possible in the first place. But semi-retirees don't have to worship specialization or let its demands rule their lives. For instance, they may become expert in one specialty, only to drop it to pursue another (frequently unrelated) which suits their fancy. Though mainstreamers would call this behavior "career flightiness," in the semi-retirement field, such "jumping around" is a sign of success.

Training & Qualifications:

Trainees often get their basic education by simply embracing life. Along the way, they tend to pick up desirable traits such as a questioning attitude and a discerning eye for the shadow sides of power, money, and prestige. They learn that bigger isn't always better and that in some cases, having more money can limit rather than liberate their lives.

Hobbies which help people to think differently are very useful. For instance, backpacking in wilderness areas is great training. Backpackers exchange the stresses of modern life for the peaceful serenity of the woods. They learn in a very real sense how packing lightly decreases their fatigue leaving more energy to enjoy the adventure. With such experiences, it's not difficult for a person to grasp the idea that traveling lightly through life can actually increase their enjoyment of it.

Young people anticipating a career in semi-retirement should expose themselves to as much of the interesting things in the world as possible. They should experience on an intensely personal level, the grandeur of art, the excitement of intellectual discovery, the complex beauty of nature, and the magic of great music. People who have such experiences at a young age are more likely to develop eclectic tastes. Once sufficiently "infected" they will have a lifetime worth of itches to scratch.

The only hard and fast qualification for a career in semi-retirement is an overwhelming desire (as Thoreau put it) "to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." But before you do that, you've got to figure out how to live deep and just what the marrow of life is. Most people would agree that getting stuck in a time-starved work-and-consume rut doesn't qualify as living deep. More likely to fit that definition is a life which isn't overwhelmed by pressure to "succeed," "get ahead," or make a name for oneself; a life which gives ample time for reflection.

Semi-retirees do need a skill or two they can perform which will provide them with income. Sometimes they learn these through attending colleges or trade schools. Others find that self-education and seeking out mentors in fields which interest them, gives them the expertise and confidence they need to offer their skills in exchange for money.

Advancement:

On-going self-education is necessary for advancement in this career field. With ten or more years experience, an individual could be well on the way to becoming a renaissance man or woman. Others may choose a more practical, hands-on route in which they become a jack-of-all-trades. The options are endless. Local libraries are excellent resources for continuing education. In addition, semi-retirees can upgrade their skills or learn new ones through apprenticeships, mentorships, or tutorials. Still others participate in informal study circles with other adults seeking to learn a new subject outside of institutional walls.

Earnings

Earnings are a combination of money, physical and moral support from close friends, a high degree of self-reliance, and an ever increasing love for simplicity. While the average semi-retiree may have considerably less possessions than others in mainstream careers, they don't need to sacrifice good housing, heat, food, clothes, medical treatment when needed, and other essentials. They learn how to have all of those things and more without spending most of their waking ours working for money to pay for them.

Career Growth Projections

As our culture increasingly questions the wisdom of using a career-driven template for adulthood, more people will look for alternatives. Ever greater numbers will realize that by traveling lightly, they can reclaim the option to quit an unpleasant job, or spend less time working for money. These trends will likely open new opportunities for people to enjoy a more healthy balance between making a living and having a life.

Sources of Additional Information

There are a number of very insightful writings on this subject. To get started, try Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and the essays "Man the Reformer" and "Self Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Final Note

While lifelong semi-retirement is a viable career path for some, for many others it may be just a helpful mind-set. In other words, they can take the independent spirit of semi-retirement, and use it to relieve the stresses of their current life. Who knows, they may like it so much that somewhere down the line, they actually join the ranks of the semi-retirees!

Copyright © 1998 John O. Andersen. All rights reserved. Any communication should be sent to:
editor at unconventionalideas dot com