I think people use the word "retire" in different ways.
For me at least it means having the option to do whatever you want, which usually would include working, just probably not for the type of organization that pays enough to cover living expenses.
I would be so happy contributing way more to open source projects, and creating interesting things that don't necessarily need to have a positive business plan.
Most people in this forum would probably never really "retire" in the sense of stop working. I see retiring as a way to use my skills in interesting projects, independent of the pay, which might or might not be there.
I've never really understood this new definition of retirement being a time when you just quit working a 9-5.
I'm more of the person who believes that retirement is all about quitting work entirely because you have enough money saved up over the last 50 or so years from working on your jobs. In fact this is the original definition of the retirement.
Regardless, DCA is great strategy to become wealthy, if not rich. But that we already know, now don't we?
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I think it comes from the fact that there's a big difference between retiring when you're old and retiring early. Traditional retiring at like 65-70 years old or whatever, you're freaking old haha, at that age people probably aren't going to have the energy or desire to do new things in life. After 40+ years of working they just want to relax.
But retiring early is a whole different ballgame. You retire and you've still got potentially decades before you even get old, let alone die. That's plenty of time to DO STUFF. So early retirement is usually more about getting out of the daily grind, gaining financial independence, stop trading your time for money, and have the freedom to spend your time how you want. Since it means you get to choose what to do with your life without worrying about needing to make income to pay the bills, it means all options are open, including doing stuff to make money.
Retiring at any age means having enough money to not need to work again. But there is a huge difference in getting to that point when you're too old to really do anything productive anymore anyway, versus getting to that point in the prime of your life.
As the other person said, "it means having the option to do whatever you want". That is exactly right. Early retirement yes is about not NEEDING to work anymore, but it isn't about not WANTING to do anything productive for the decades to come.
For example, I retired four and a half years ago, in my 30s off of my Bitcoin. But after four and a half years of just chillin, and only being 40 now, and looking ahead at the decades stretching before me, I'm starting to feel the need to do stuff again besides just relaxing and traveling. At the moment I'm starting to learn new things/skills, thinking about either trying to start a company or maybe even starting a new career in a few years IF that career would be SO interesting to me as to override my lack of desire to get a job. I'll probably try to go the route of starting a company though cuz I'd rather just run a business than become an employee again.
It's about wanting to keep accomplishing things in life. After early retirement, accomplishing things in life might just be volunteering, or hobbies or maintaining a homestead or being a full time parent, or it might be starting a company, or it might be just working a fun low stress part time job for the enjoyment, or starting a cool new career, or become a writer, or starting a blog about early retirement, or developing a skill and being a freelancer or working for oneself, etc. I think few people can retire in their 30s or 40s and simply not do anything for the numerous decades after retirement. Because it is human nature to WANT to accomplish things. Hell, if even I am thinking about doing something professional again, then that's a pretty good argument for being productive/useful/accomplishing things as a basic human need, because I often didn't even work even before I retired hahaha. I never liked going to work and would often take of several months between jobs even if I had only worked the jobs for several months. I retired thinking I'd pursue hobbies but never pursue any sort of economic activity again, cuz f work lol, but here I am not even five years later thinking about all the cool stuff I could learn/build/do if I start applying myself rather than just relaxing.
Traditional 65+ retirement is about getting out of the workforce cuz you're too old and tired to keep doing stuff and just want to relax.
Early retirement in 20s/30s/40s and maybe even 50s is about gaining financial independence so instead of needing to make money you get to choose how you spend your time, which for most people is going to be doing SOMETHING productive which of course is a much wider category of things than having a job/career to pay the bills.
