Do you know someone who exudes positivity?
The world feels like a better place in their presence. They make you feel lighter and brighter.
One such person is the crossing guard near my house. Every morning she greets me—and everyone else who crosses the street—with a cheery, genuine "Have a great day." Sometimes she'll add in a little comment about the weather ("Rain's coming" or "Gonna be a cold/hot one").
Our daily interaction lasts mere seconds, but it has a lasting impact for the rest of the day. I try to pay her cheerfulness forward to the people I meet.
Recently, on Thursdays and Fridays, she has started saying "Almost the weekend!" instead of her usual greeting.
Despite her pleasant intention and delivery, these words always make me wince.
Don't get me wrong. I love my weekends. LOVE them.
I wince because I like the thought of the impending weekend, but I don't want to like it.
Working for the weekend, missing out on today
For pretty much my entire adult life, I've been "working for the weekend" (just like Loverboy sings about—sorry to re/introduce this song into your world).
I put off fun until all the work was done. Delayed gratification. Lived for the future.
These days, I'm trying to "walk the walk" with mindfulness and Buddhism and live more in the moment.
But delayed gratification is a hard habit to kick. It's so engrained in me. And, I would argue, in our society.
Case in point, The Three Little Pigs, a story known to many, if not all, of us. Two of the piggies prioritize having fun over work. They build flimsy houses—one out of straw, the other out of twigs—that the Big Bad Wolf easily destroys. The third pig, "a sober little pig," delays fun to build a house of bricks that the wolf can't blow down. The sober pig saves the day. He is the hero.
I lapped this story up as a kid. The two fun-loving pigs seemed irresponsible and reckless. The third pig seemed like a great role model.
But, now, in my mid-40's, I feel uneasy reading this story to my toddler son. In doing so, am I instilling in him an idea that will take him 40 years to shrug off?
Anyway, getting off topic here...
Your retirement might not happen
The "working for the weekend" mentality has particularly permeated into the personal finance world. The focus of financial planning has been and continues to be to squirrel away money until retirement. And delaying fun along with it.
The problem is, there's no guarantee that retirement will happen. Or happen in the way that you imagine it. Or when you imagine it.
You might die before your planned retirement date. Or, like 30% of people1, you might have to retire earlier than planned because of illness. Or you might have to un-retire because you can't afford not to work.
The weekend you're working for might not actually happen.
That's why it's so important to live in the moment. Be mindful. Pay attention to what's in front of you. Cherish what you have.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't plan for retirement. By all means, work hard, save and invest your money, dream big.
But maybe try living like you're already a little retired.
Plan to spend your retirement playing golf? Play it now.
Want to travel more? Travel now.
Want to learn to play guitar? Sign up for lessons now.
Doing these things now is not only an embrace of the present moment, but it is truly the best way to pave a path to a satisfying retirement (should it actually happen).
Retire a little bit every day
I think the Coast FIRE crowd have the right idea. They're not waiting for the day their bank account hits some magic number to cash out and start living like Jimmy Buffett (no relation to Warren2). No, they're already enjoying margaritas, but still putting in a good day's work. At a job that they enjoy and that leaves enough time to pursue other interests—golf, travel, guitar, writing Substacks3, etc.
Jonathan Clements4 shrewdly points out that a "phased retirement" like Coast FIRE also gives us a chance to "test-drive" our retirement plans—in case the things we think will bring us happiness in retirement don't:
"We humans are not very good at figuring out what we want. I’ve heard folks say they’d like to spend their retirement writing, or volunteering, or teaching, or woodworking. My first question when I hear a prospective retiree’s wish list: Do you do these things now? If not, you may discover these things aren’t really for you. After all, if you truly have a burning desire to do something, why aren’t you doing it already?...We shouldn’t assume we know what we want from our retirement years. Instead, we should prepare for a period of experimentation."
- Jonathan Clements, Before You Quit
Coast FIRE and test-driving retirement isn't for everyone. But I think every one of us can take a lesson from it:
Retirement isn't some far away destination. It's right here, right now. We should start living, in small ways, like we're already retired.
Try asking yourself these questions:
How do I envision my retirement?
What if it doesn’t work out as I planned?
How can I start living my retirement now?
Is Coast FIRE or a ‘phased retirement’ for me?
Same thing with the weekend. Try enjoying a little Saturday night when you're in the grips of the ‘Sunday scaries’ or dealing with a ‘case of the Mondays’.
For me, I’ve embraced a new mantra for when I'm crossing the street and the well-meaning crossing guard gets me pining for the weekend :
"The weekend is now."
- The Buddh-i$h Investor
Take home points:
The risk with delaying gratification is that it might not actually happen.
Go ahead and ‘work for the weekend,’ but don’t miss out onhaving fun today.
Consider test-driving your retirement—whether Coast FIRE, pursuing hobbies, scaling back on work, etc.
If you’re looking for more:
Of Dollars & Data’s Nick Maggiulli on Coast FIRE
Can’t not post this (sorry):
This unnerving statistic comes courtesy of Stats Canada.
Writing this Substack is my own daily "retirement practice." For years, I daydreamed about spending the autumn of my life reading and writing great texts. For now, 3-minute reads read by a handful of people is a source of great joy.
Jonathan himself is coming to terms with his own upended retirement plans after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer earlier this year.