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Goals in Retirement

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:06 am
by karma
It has been mentioned that in retirement most people will probably continue with old activities plus add some new. Ernie Zelinski developed what he calls a Leisure Tree to help a person find out what they really want to do. The description is found on pages 113-121 in "The Joy of Not Working"￾ (1st edition).

A leisure tree is sort of like a 3-D list. Ernie suggests that you have at least 3 major categories to get you started: activities you are currently pursuing, activities that you have enjoyed in the past, and activities you think you might like to pursue. You can add other major categories that are important to you like travel or physical exercise. Then just start branching off the major categories with anything that hits your mind. Get as much on there as possible. If you have the same activity in multiple places, that activity might be a priority for you.

Here, with the help of gummy :!:is the picture of the Leisure Tree in the book (page 114).



I actually found an old leisure tree of my own when I start writing this post. I see I had "running"￾ and "gardening"￾ in several places - and I still do both. I also had volunteering, though not what I do now. Think I'll build myself another tree.

karma

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:36 am
by ElSupremo
Greetings karma :)

Here ya go! I just had to help. :oops:

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:47 am
by Bookm
Heck I don't need to draw a tree to determine my goals in retirement. Jus gimme enuff money to buy a lazyboy with a built-in fridge to keep my non-stop supply of beer cold, my remote and sit back for 20 years. :wink:

Seriously, thanks for the leisure tree concept, karma. Similarly, it has always helped me to write down ideas I have or numbers (data) when really getting serious about a topic. Putting pen(cil) to paper seems to stimulate my thought process "more better". :roll: Of course a cocktail napkin is my weapon of choice, so what does that tell you.

I just hope we all make it to the point where we're able to enjoy retirement for a while at least. Some events cannot be stopped. Anyway, I'll get outta the way to let the thread continue.

Bookm

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:49 am
by ElSupremo
Greetings Bookm :)
I just hope we all make it to the point where we're able to enjoy retirement for a while at least.

I'll second that! 8)

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:03 pm
by karma
Here ya go! I just had to help.

Thanks to you, too, ES. :) If gummy hadn't done whatever he did, I would have asked you to put it up somehow. I still don't understand my problem, but I will perservere.

In the meantime, everyone should draw their Leisure Tree. If you're still working, just put in a major category for "After reitrement"

karma

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:12 pm
by palavajjhala
Interesting to see Chess "among activities that turned me on in the past" in the picture from the book! Wish it appeared more than once though. :wink:

-Srini

Re: Goals in Retirement

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:24 pm
by peteyperson


Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:32 pm
by ElSupremo
Greetings Srini :)

Wow it's great to hear from you again Srini! :D Where have you been keeping yourself these days? I miss our "Free Web Data Sources" author around here. :cry: Any chance of an update sometime? :wink:

I hope you and yours are well old friend. Don't be such a stranger ok? 8)

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:47 pm
by karma
For that I would think it better to take vacation time in order to spend more time on your activities and live a little like you are FIREd. I would even go so far as to take extended unpaid leave in order to lengthen this period a little bit, and I think this would give a good feel for it.


Petey - I think this is an excellent idea. I've heard that most people don't even relax until they've been on vacation for 10 days. Early retirees can tell you that it takes between 2-6 months to really feel comfortable with retirement. During that time, your idea of activities might drastically change. I know mine did. Having pure freedom takes a lot of getting used to.

Some companies do allow parttime work, which is another way to partially get used FIRE, but doesn't give you the real feel a long sabbatical would.

karma

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:49 pm
by ben
bookm:
Heck I don't need to draw a tree to determine my goals in retirement. Jus gimme enuff money to buy a lazyboy with a built-in fridge to keep my non-stop supply of beer cold, my remote and sit back for 20 years.


Bookm; you just mapped out my entire tree! :lol::lol::lol:

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:46 pm
by peteyperson
Well I did not want to suggest a sabbatical. I think most companies are aware that many people never return after taking such time off. In any case the kind of jobs I've had to date are such that taking four weeks off together would be tough to swing and if I requested 6-8 weeks together it would have immediately been turned down. I think the only way most people could do it would be by leaving their current employment and then finding other work after. Even then future employers don't look too kindly on such things. So it is a difficult one.

BTW, as I have remarked to Rob/Hocus privately when discussing a different matter, I am very much enjoying your threads which are delving into the "softer" sides of FIRE. It is also very nice to see women venturing onto the boards, not only because it is a positive thing to see but also because it brings a different perspective we might otherwise not benefit from. Please keep posting! :lol:

Petey
karma wrote:
For that I would think it better to take vacation time in order to spend more time on your activities and live a little like you are FIREd. I would even go so far as to take extended unpaid leave in order to lengthen this period a little bit, and I think this would give a good feel for it.


Petey - I think this is an excellent idea. I've heard that most people don't even relax until they've been on vacation for 10 days. Early retirees can tell you that it takes between 2-6 months to really feel comfortable with retirement. During that time, your idea of activities might drastically change. I know mine did. Having pure freedom takes a lot of getting used to.

Some companies do allow parttime work, which is another way to partially get used FIRE, but doesn't give you the real feel a long sabbatical would.

karma

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:33 pm
by karma
:oops:Thank you for your kind words, Petey. Though I can do the math and do like spreadsheets, I am more interested in the nuances of the types of people who want to retire early, including successful transitions and how to deal with difficulties that might not occur to working folk.

Maybe I'll try a more analytical post at some point.

karma

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:25 am
by hocus2004
BTW, as I have remarked to Rob/Hocus privately when discussing a different matter, I am very much enjoying your threads which are delving into the "softer" sides of FIRE.

I don't think it hurts to add here that, when Petey said that in an e-mail to me, my response was that I very much agreed. There may be some newcomers to the community who don't realize that for the tirst three years of my posting career I was srictly a "sofe-side" guy. When you talk about SWRs, you are always having to deal with those Big Scary Numbers!

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:49 am
by peteyperson
hocus2004 wrote: BTW, as I have remarked to Rob/Hocus privately when discussing a different matter, I am very much enjoying your threads which are delving into the "softer" sides of FIRE.

I don't think it hurts to add here that, when Petey said that in an e-mail to me, my response was that I very much agreed. There may be some newcomers to the community who don't realize that for the tirst three years of my posting career I was srictly a "sofe-side" guy. When you talk about SWRs, you are always having to deal with those Big Scary Numbers!


Oh yes. Rob was as soft as a puppy when he first started out. :lol:

Oh dear.. keyboard malfunction.. keyboard malfunction!

Petey :wink:

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:24 am
by hocus2004
Rob was as soft as a puppy when he first started out.

It's true!

But they say it takes a tough man to make a tender chicken. So I make an effort to go against my nature and do what it appears to me needs to be done.

Anyway, let's drop this diversion and get back to the point of the thread.

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 10:42 am
by karma
Told you I'd be dangerous if I learned how to do this. My updated tree - except I called it an Activity Tree. I made it in Powerpoint, saved it as a jpeg.


karma - I edited this page, so the following posts may not make sense. I sure hope this works.

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 10:51 am
by ElSupremo
Greetings karma :)

Bad news. I don't see anything! :?

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:01 am
by karma
Bad news. I don't see anything!


I looked on my husbands computer without logging in to the board, and I could still see it. Is anyone else having ES's problem? It may be another job for SuperGummy.

karma

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:03 pm
by JWR1945
I don't see it either.

I thought that Karma might have been engaged in humor. (You can never tell on a discussion board.)

I am sure that some people erroneously think that they won't want to do anything at all in retirement. That is OK for about a week or two, but not longer.

Have fun.

John R.

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:18 pm
by ElSupremo
Greetings karma :)

I tried this link myself and it did not work. I typed it into my browser and a blank page showed up. It's not working. :(