Early Retirement After 1 Year: What It’s Really Like

Last week, I shared what our first year of early retirement looked like financially.

Going from a paycheck and employer-subsidized health insurance to being fully self-sufficient was a big shift. At the six-month mark, I wrote about some of the early adjustments and surprises we were already experiencing.

But money is only one part of the equation.

Leaving my job also meant losing structure, schedules, social connections, purpose, and identity.

This post is about what the early retirement lifestyle actually feels like.

WHAT DAILY LIFE IN EARLY RETIREMENT LOOKS LIKE

I was still in my prime when I chose to retire before 50. I had a full calendar up until my final day of work.

Then on Day 1 of retirement, I had nothing. No need to clock in by a certain time. No meetings. No schedule. No responsibilities.

The sudden, infinite freedom was nice, but also jarring. I felt lost. It felt a bit like being released back into the wild after years in captivity.

Coming up with a structured routine for a few hours daily helped me get back into a rhythm.

A TYPICAL DAY

My wife and I follow somewhat of a joint schedule every morning. A walk in the park with our dogs, followed by breakfast, catching up on the news, and finally yoga. The rest of the day is unstructured.

We’ll go out with our separate groups of friends or explore our own separate hobbies. She spends the majority of her time creating products for her Etsy store. I manage my blog, play the piano, and take a variety of online classes just for the fun of it.

It’s just enough of a regular schedule to give us structure while keeping a lot of freedom.

THE BIGGEST LIFESTYLE CHANGES

One of the biggest lifestyle changes since retiring is the amount of time we have together. It’s dramatically different from when we had jobs to go to.

To ensure we don’t drive each other crazy, we intentionally spend the majority of our time doing individual activities. We even make it a habit to go on solo adventures. This is where we individually go out to explore a new activity or event, and later share about the experience with each other.

We still spend quality time together, but it definitely helps to have me time and not just we time.

The other big change has been what our time is used for. Or rather, who it’s used for.

When we were working, most of our time and energy went toward our companies, customers, and coworkers.

Now, that time is ours. We can focus on what actually makes us happy.

In addition to personal projects and hobbies, we’ve allocated a large portion of our time to our health. We can be much more physically active since we’re no longer exhausted from work.

This includes regular exercise and outdoor activities. The traveling we’re doing is also more focused adventure and physical activity. Later this year, for example, we’ll be taking a four-day hike along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Keeping a healthy level of social interactions has also been a major focus. Since everyone we know is still working, it takes a lot of work to maintain current relationships.

Before, it was easy to catch up every day during lunch breaks. Now, it requires scheduling lunch dates days in advance and dealing with last-minute cancellations.

These social interactions are the only thing I really miss about working; I’m still trying to get used to this. Still, after years of having to focus on others, it’s nice to be able to be a little selfish.

WHAT SURPRISED ME MOST ABOUT DAILY LIFE

I enjoyed my last five years of employment. I loved what I did and the people I worked with. I even choked up when I announced my retirement. So, I seriously worried I might miss working.

Confidently walking off into the retirement sunset before age 50 is a cool scene. Crawling back to my ex-employer, asking for my job back, is not.

Would I miss the daily projects and being relied upon? Would I be worried about all the work I had done being dismantled? Would I be worried about how I’d be remembered? Would I miss the sense of purpose and identity my job provided?

Turns out, not really.

I was surprised at how easily I was able to close that chapter of my life. Although I was proud of what I had accomplished, I realized that at the end of the day, it was just work. And I had no problem walking away.

I managed to make the cool cinematic exit.

THE EMOTIONAL SIDE OF EARLY RETIREMENT

Outside of the loss of social interaction with coworkers—and, of course, the health benefits—there haven’t been many downsides to retirement.

What I consider the biggest upside, though, might surprise you.

If you had asked me a year ago what I thought would be the highs of early retirement, I would’ve answered freedom and reduced stress.

Now a year into retirement, I’d still agree with that, but there was one other unexpected high that would top the list.

THE UNEXPECTED HIGH

I spent the majority of my career bouncing from one low-paying job to another. I didn’t have a marketable college degree. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had no direction or plan until my late 30s.

My friends, on the other hand, were advancing in their careers, building families, and traveling the world. They were going places—literally and figuratively—and I was stuck in place.

I felt like a failure and unworthy of a seat at the same table.

To cope, I cut off contact completely—no explanation, no warning. One day I disappeared, and it stayed that way for almost 20 years.

Early retirement gave me back my self-esteem.

I may have gotten a late start in the rat race, but I finished early. I know I beat some, if not most, of my peers to that goal. That’s something anyone could be proud of.

I finally feel like I can stand shoulder to shoulder with the people I broke contact with. And since retiring, I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to rekindle those relationships.

I know it’ll take time, but I have all the time in the world now.

THE IDENTITY SHIFT

Meeting new people is always interesting. At some point, the topic always turns to, “So what do you do?”

At first, I tried introducing myself as an early retiree, but that got awkward. People seem to have a hard time believing anyone not gray and hunched over could be retired.

Telling friends and family I retired wasn’t much better. Rather than congratulations, I was often asked why I would do such a thing.

Hmmm. I don’t know. Spending time having fun sounds more…well, fun than working.

I even had one acquaintance tell me he was sorry when I told him I retired. It was as if “early retirement” meant “I got laid off.”

I had to explain to him how I had planned early retirement for years. And I still don’t think he believed me.

Subsequently, I've stopped telling people I’m retired. It’s just easier to shift the topic or give my old job title if I don’t think I’ll see them ever again.

Before retiring, I had always planned on “blogger” being my new identity. In reality, I’ve never introduced myself as this, mainly because I don’t have many readers yet. It would be like calling myself an influencer when I only have 50 followers.

For now, I’m writing more for the creative release and a sense of purpose. Perhaps one day I’ll call myself a blogger. For now, hobbyist is what I identify with.

LESSONS FROM MY FIRST YEAR OF EARLY RETIREMENT

There are a couple of things I learned after one year of retirement:

• Structure matters more than I expected

• Too much free time still needs direction

• Social interaction drops off faster than you think

• “Me time” becomes essential (especially as a couple)

• Your identity doesn’t update as quickly as your situation

• Money worries don’t disappear—they just change

We still track our spending closely using a modified version of the Japanese kakeibo budgeting method to stay intentional with money in retirement.

Then there’s one thing that stood out this year that isn’t a lesson per se.

Since we retired, two acquaintances have passed away, and two others were diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Three were in their 50s, and one was in their early 60s. None had retired yet.

Seeing that up close changed how I think about time.

It reinforced something I mentioned in my previous post: waiting until 65 to retire starts to feel like a gamble. You might get there healthy and full of energy—or you might not.

That doesn’t mean everyone should retire early. But it did make me more confident in our decision. We’re using our healthy years now, rather than assuming we’ll have them later. And we’re making every hour count.

THE HIDDEN CHALLENGE OF EARLY RETIREMENT

One thing I didn’t think much about before retiring early was how few people would be in the same stage of life. Very few people retire before 50.

Most of our friends are still working. Their weeks are structured around jobs, schedules, and limited time off. Ours aren’t.

It’s not a problem, but it is a difference. You start to notice that your days don’t line up the same way anymore.

At the same time, we’re not traditional retirees either. We’re not eligible for Social Security, and we’re not surrounded by people going through the same transition.

Early retirement puts us in a bit of an in-between phase—retired, but without a clear peer group. I had no luck in trying to find early retiree groups I could tap for information.

Without peers to bounce questions and ideas off of, it was a lot of trial-and-error to get through this first year. I think we did pretty well, but it would’ve helped to know other early retirees.

Over the past year, I’ve come to see retirement less as a financial milestone and more as a decision about how we want to spend our time. The numbers gave us the confidence to step away, but they don’t capture what this life actually feels like day to day.

What stood out to me this year had nothing to do with markets or expenses. Seeing people around us face serious health issues—and in some cases pass away while still working—changed how I think about waiting. It made the idea of delaying retirement feel less like a plan and more like a gamble.

We don’t know what the next year will look like. But we do know we’re using our time now, while we still have the health and ability to do so.

For us, that’s been the most meaningful part of this first year.

See you at the finish line!

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Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed financial professional. This blog shares my personal experiences and opinions around money, investing, and early retirement. It’s for informational and educational purposes only—not financial, legal, or tax advice. Always do your own research or consult with a qualified professional before making any financial decisions.