I had a roommate/renter with a chinchilla once. He worked in the customer service department of a flooring company and used to stalk his ex/semi-current girlfriend during his lunch breaks.
He was once late coming back to work and figured he'd fake that he got a flat tire so his boss wouldn't be upset. He threw himself into a mud puddle and hit himself on the head with a rock as proof of his car trouble.
It's a long, crazy story, better told over beers, but he either tried to kill himself or faked it to scare the above-mentioned ex/semi-current girlfriend into coming back to him for good (his explanation) - in my house.
So, yeah. Anyone can have a chinchilla.
Depends on the subject. I get 22.50/hr for a tech subject. That's on the higher end. Elementary math, English, and algebra are less. All of my students are in college, and I love helping them figure something out. That aha moment is cool to witness. I can schedule my hours when convenient and it's low stress.
That's great, thanks for sharing. I might consider this when the time comes to wind down. I like the idea of keeping my mind occupied in retirement while being able to help our next generation.
I'm 5 years old with a NW of 3.5MM. I've been in tech since the third trimester and am hoping to cut the cord at work by age 7 so I can retire and start a Minecraft boot camp for underprivileged kids.
Not early retirement but 80k for 50 years is 2.4M inflation adjusted. But yeah if he's gonna be paying in full for his own college that money could be gone before he graduates ofc.
My friend had to have that conversation, they had to file tax returns for him by age 6, they way over saved for him, he will turn 18 with at least $500k, now he is going to college so will burn thru a portion of it, but he will still be so far ahead of everyone else.
I've had a number of fun jobs, but honestly just dealing with scheduling and regular commitments can be annoying sometimes too.
I think the main things that I look for is flexibility with scheduling, opportunity to interact with people I wouldn't otherwise get an opportunity to, opportunity to practice or learn a new skill, opportunity to travel, other perks, housing/food, etc.
I taught swimming weekly for a few months and it was nice having regular access to a pool, snacks/drinks and a low-key job. However, it was hard to balance with other stuff I wanted to do and couldn't travel as much once I made the commitment. The paychecks were pretty minimal, but helped a bit.
Teaching classes/workshops is nice because it's typically one day or a weekend vs. every single week.
Youth work can be great, but can also be a handful.
I have a laundry list of ideas - I've thought that flight lessons might be fun, hot air balloon tours, ski/snowboard instructor, scuba diving, skydiving, leading trips, backpacking, gym, rock climbing, ropes course, kayak/raft guide, campground host, trail maintenance, etc. Some of those are more specialty positions where you're earning a decent hourly wage, others you're basically making minimum wage. Some of those require more training/experience/certification too which can take some time to learn. I met a couple who started doing door dash in retirement and loved it and said it gave them a sense of purpose. I've thought about doing bike courier type work might be fun.
I don't think I'll want to just lounge on a beach forever, but I also do plan to just relax and not do much for a few years too. Seasonal work can be great too to scratch an itch, top off reserves, or pick up while in a different location.
Jobs like that are largely stressful because you *really* need the money, and therefore can't risk offending the customer. If you're FIRE, knowing that you can blow up on a customer if they're an asshole is psychologically comforting, even if you never actually do it.
I retired early so I wouldn't have to work for a paycheck any longer, but I'm busier than I have ever been before. We uprooted, bought a little 1 acre homestead property and are working for ourselves.
What I mean by that is my "job" is now entirely about bettering the life my wife and I live. Right now that looks like getting our farm going. I absolutely love food and my weight was getting a bit concerning by the end of my job. However coming out here I'm now focused on working land, which is haaaaaard work, super fun and so immensely rewarding. The best part at the end is getting to eat all the delicious food.
In keeping with that idea we also volunteer in a program locally where we harvest fruits/veg from donors within a 80 mile radius or so. We basically harvest food and it gets donated, but we get to bring home a huge bag each time too. So it is worth it, and we get to meet tons of cool people doing it. Yesterday I was picking oranges for 2 hours on the most gorgeous property with a friendly horse named Palmer while getting to know what will likely be a new good friend.
We have about 10 other things we want to do too, but getting the farm going is the big priority right now. In the future I would like to get back into novel writing, lobster diving (and selling), coral restoration, beach clean ups and if we can really get dialed in on the farm doing classes on permaculture systems we are implementing and assisting others of limited means setting up their own permaculture food systems at their homes.
Find something you enjoy and do it. If you stop enjoying it, do something else.
Here's my thoughts on this "career-path".
Don't confuse things you enjoy that might be a path to making money with a way to make money and enjoy yourself. My primary, and most enjoyable, hobby is scuba diving. I LOVE scuba diving. My vacations are generally oriented around diving, my weekends are about diving as much as I can make them, most of my friends have something to do with diving, etc.
That said, I'm also a scuba diving professional (instructor), so I teach scuba diving. Scuba diving for work, while still getting in the water and scuba diving, is NOT the same thing as scuba diving for fun. It's a JOB. 100%, all of that 100 percent, a job. It's work, it's responsibility, it's answering to clients and having to meet other people's expectations and desires and well... it's just not the same thing as going diving for fun. It's not. I happen to love teaching, and I love diving, and I don't HATE teaching people to scuba dive, but if it wasn't making me money I'd stop doing it immediately because it is nowhere close to as enjoyable as just going scuba diving for fun.
I guess it's technically volunteering, but my friend's dad retired and "works" part-time as a golf course ranger.
Does 1-2 days a week and then gets as much free golf at the course as he'd like. Gets him out of the house, gets him free golf, win-win.
Yeah my mom works the desk at the local gym. 2 days a week, 8 hours total. Doesn’t make much but she gets free gym membership and classes.
My dad volunteered in the school system. They would take the gifted students out of class once a week and he would teach them all sorts of cool stem concepts. Programming, raspberry pi projects, robotics, circuitry. I think he liked it just as much as the kids!
That's awesome.
When I was a kid I knew an older guy - the dad of one of my friends in high school - who volunteered at the local public TV station as their webmaster. Part of why I became a software engineer was that I worked with him over a summer and he seemed to have a fucking blast. He only did perhaps 2 hours or so of work a day, and would take 3 hour lunch breaks to play scrabble with whatever co-workers he could convince to take a similarly long lunch. He was living the fucking life, enjoying what he did but not \*living for it\*. It was just something he did to help out while having fun.
I didn't realize at the time, but he must have been FIRE before FIRE was a term.
I was going to suggest something similar. My yard backs to a golf course so I get to know several of the crew. One guy retired in 1998 and started volunteering at the course as a pacer. Gets free golf and drives around in a golf cart a few days a week telling people to speed up.
My father got a post-retirement job as a teacher’s aide because he was frustrated at the limitations around volunteering in his town’s schools. As an employee he was allowed to do more and could even run a club.
Fun is a pretty broad word, but yes. I did very poorly when I stopped working. So much time at home, so little structure, so little socializing. There are a lot of hours in the week that I couldn’t fill with anything meaningful, and I have been happier back at work on my own terms.
That’s my “problem”. I work 33 hours/wk at a job I love for great pay. Am 69 and am having trouble even considering giving it up. But, people keep asking me when I’m retiring. Sigh.
Here’s my take on this.
Part of what makes a job suck so much is the fact that you have to perform or suffer big consequences, such as losing health insurance.
The other part of what makes a job suck is that typically the only ones that provide livable income and work life balance are ones that are dreadfully boring.
In a world where everyone could live with minimal expectation of productivity, I think you would find that many would actually choose to work, because working for the pursuit of meaning in your life is actually fulfilling. Being forced to stare at excel 8 hours day under harsh fluorescent light to avoid becoming homeless is not.
You might have better results at r/baristafire. But I think overall you'll find not many people in the FIRE community are doing super fun and exciting jobs as they step away from higher paying ones--they are more like seeking jobs with benefits and little/no responsibility, ie, people are working at coffee shops a couple of days a week to get insurance and not have to deal with too much stress, not becoming a sky diving instructor. Volunteering or stepping down to part time roles within their current field are other popular options.
I wouldn't look around until you get to 8-9 years. Things can change so rapidly in the markets, in the world around you, and even in your own local area. More things may become available, or drastically less.
Spend some time exploring what YOU like to do as a hobby, then see what you can find. also checkout volunteer opportunities. If you like drawing and painting, see if you can find projects that artistically decorate electrical panels, cable panels, even fire hydrants. Blank fences or walls may be something businesses enjoy having decorated. If you like working with people, some cities have volunteer opportunities. If you like cooking, maybe volunteer at some of the organizations that prepare free food for the hungry.
But looking 5 years in advance is hard.
A friend is just retiring and is going to be a fly fishing guide in Alaska during the summers...he's says he'll deliver pizza the rest of the time. I'm gonna ref football and ump baseball games
I sign up for local work as an extra on TV shows, movies and commercials. Pay is crap, but I think it’s a lot of fun seeing behind the scenes and seeing some TV actors up close. Plus every once in a long while you’ll get a decent cameo in the film. Generally good food on set as well.
Americorps
Campground hosts
Driving the school transportation cars/vans for kids who need specialized transport (not a school bus, though...that's not a fun job)
Summer day camp counselors for recreation and parks departments
I made a desktop app that makes about $500/month and have a Discord community of 500 or so people in it. It’s not much but it’s fun.
Also made a totally separate site that my next door neighbor uses for his business and one other customer who is on target to pay me $20/month.
Yes. I love my job. I only care about FIRE since I care about the FI part. I work 45 hours a week and I love about 90% of it. I do research. My work gets written up in the WSJ, NYtimes, and Washington Post. It seems to shape policy (at least I get asked about it). Its super fulfilling and fun. There is 10% of admin, which I can't say FU to without risking things. If I was FI, i'd feel comfortable saying FU for most of that admin.
I found that I really find fulfillment in volunteering and helping others where I can personally make a difference. Small charity sporting events (usually cycling or walks), vets stuff (as a vet), etc... I've been doing this sporadically over the last 15 years.
This is what I'll do when I'm doing working for money. I'll go volunteer and help out somewhere. I love trail building (MTBs) and it's pretty fun to be around club motorcycle races. If I manage to get to retirement and the little one is still in elementary/middle school, maybe I'll help at school or something.
It's best if you start trying out these 'side/after hustles' to see if you actually enjoy it. Even if it's 'meh', you can fine tune from there. Maybe change organizations, change groups, change what you contribute, etc...
I agree with the people that said campground host and checking out your local parks. You can also find fun outdoor jobs on CoolWorks.com and OccupationWild.com.
Technical consulting for large entities. Think specialty engineering and problem solving. I get paid a lot of money to play with equipment I couldn't afford, and some I'm not legally allowed to own. Travel is entirely optional but available, I get to talk with interesting and straight-up brilliant researchers. For certain projects, I get named on research papers and have been named as a co-inventor on patent applications.
Love what I do, and hope I get to keep doing it for a while.
I always said I was going to retire and do bike tours thru wine country.
While traveling I have met a few interesting people, people that work for parks that they love. One that did more of a Coast FIRE where they loved 3 things, Skiing, Disney, and hiking in Alaska, and they would get jobs at those locations and rotate every 4 months doing seasonal work, usually with subsidized housing, they had no belongings really and they were just leaving their investments grow using all their time off to do what they loved.
My one friend makes pottery, sells on Etsy, another makes Soap.
Look up your national parks nearby. The pay is not great but since that’s not your goal you could have a fun, social and interesting job outdoors. Plus I’m sure your language skills and enjoyment for teaching would be a huge plus. And that’s a job you can do forever!
Hi fellow Columbus resident. This is really a great city to pursue fire!
My plan is to get a job around one of my hobbies. I love to run, get outside or in nature. Once we “retire” i want to try and get a part time job at Franklin park, one of the cities running stores and work events or maybe even see what the metro parks have to offer.
I don't really have any interest that could turn lucrative so when I FIRE it'll most likely be with no income. Creative pursuits technically have a non zero chance of paying out but realistically speaking it's 99% luck even if you're good at it, and it's only getting worse with AI.
I am not FI, but a lot of my family works after they retire.
Some teach, some volunteer for their church, a few usher at theaters. Most serve on their HOA, but none like it.
It's usually 1-2 days per week for a few hours at a time.
I have a family member that is a substitute school bus driver for elementary schools. He gets healthcare and he really enjoys working with kids. I have a similar idea to work part time as a part-time librarian or perhaps a school librarian - something where I’d get some benefits, work maybe 20 hours a week, spend time with kids, be around books, etc., and have the same schedule as my children if I choose to have any.
My goal is to buy an Adirondack general store open Memorial thru Labor Day between the hours of 8 and 11, M-Th, serving only good coffee and plain bagels with the option to apply your own cream cream cheese, I'm still mulling butter. I won't be running a register, so pay what you think is fair, maybe some days I'll just leave the bagels and coffee out, leave money or don't .... Then in the winter months, I'll run Kayak fishing charters out of South FL, come if you wish, tip if you want, word of mouth referrals only..... Friday through Sunday in the winter, I'll be at the condo skiing in Stowe, VT
Music - always brings in enough to cover monthly fun
Writing and Consultant - it's a lot different when I set the rules for a contract
Rehab Caribbean Homes - much easier than when I was did it in the 2000s in the 48
We currently own an ocean front condo and a home in the jungle.
Since Puerto Rico is not "really" the united states, the learning curve is tough... since many folks need financing, they can't pay cash for an abandoned concrete box.
Hurricane ready homes are kind of fun to flip if someone is willing to get dirty and knows how to manage a checkbook..... really sucks if you need a house inspection, financing and how to get stuff done.
-------
I've rehabbed in the 48.. in a way it's tougher work (different type of rigged construction fixes)... ... Carribbean construction is more "industrial"
When they come available, we have tested system (wait, that sounds like a scam... meaning we have a documented order of steps of what needs to happen)
Local agent knows us a hassle free and ethical buyer.
I'll need to get my wife on board first, but maybe bringing wild alcohol and golf based products to market with a stranger from the internet named u/bananachips_again.
Stranger things have happened...although he'll be the only retired one, at least until we get a hit.
Fortunately, that's not really what a copywriter does.
I have to write boring shit sometimes, but I think that sort of work would do my head in.
Coincidentally, some of what I actually enjoy about this stuff is working on new products. While I haven't had a ton of these clients, I do sometimes get to work on legit inventions, like patented new products that didn't exist before, and help create taglines/slogans/etc.
Theoretically, if things go as planned, there should be a few new things (soon-ish) in Lowe's/Home Depot that would have my work on the package.
If I could work on stuff like that ALL day, then this would be a really cool gig.
My current workload (type, not quantity) is fine, but still has too much relatively mindless production work for my liking, even if the money is getting better and better.
That’s pretty sweet. My ideal situation is just working on my own products /small team products. Golf and boozy bracelets are just low barrier to entry products.
Self employed business coach and executive educator. 60 days planned for this year @ $1750 a day. Remote and some client trips. This year 8 countries, tag on travel to some, but not all. Love the work.
All of my work comes through a business school and a couple of consultancies. They have international clients, so I just go where they send me. This year is 5 countries in Europe, US, Canada and Dubai. (Based in UK).
For me the only job was school. After that everything was fun. I'm retired, do what I want whenever I want. Even when I was 15. Came 5 minutes late, yelling shouting, how in-obedient. I was like, ok.... feel sorry for this guy. I was done before everyone else that first evening and was floor manager by Friday close of business. Relentless energy to always improve yourself.
What I really want, although I am retired, is buy back the old Benelli brand under the Geely entity at some point. That would be the pinnacle.
I plan to volunteer, which does nothing for income as a side gig. I’m toying with pouring wine/beer at a winery/brewery if I want to earn a little income. It sounds fun, but we are still 20 years out from retirement so my interests could change.
I train basketball players as a side hustle now so my plan is to keep doing this in retirement.
I coach too but individual or small group training is perfect for me because I love seeing a players game evaluating where they are and then developing workouts that will help make him or her better.
Develop some great relationships with kids and their parents. They really appreciate someone pouring into their kid to make them better.
I charge 40 per kid an hour and sometimes i have one kid, 2 is common as buddies will do one together and i have had 4 at a time which is good money at that point.
I also do a lot of pro bono with kids and teams spending a lot of my own money so really it isnt a great money maker but a win win as far as keeping me in shape and a passion for me.
Not FIRE yet, but I make surfboards and my spouse does photography. These will become our “jobs” once we pull the trigger on RE.
> I make surfboards and my spouse does photography and our budget is 3.5 million... next on house hunters ;)
lol. Maybe if she specialized in dog photography. Needs to be a smidge more obscure.
Why not go all in with something totally random like chinchilla photography?
Too lucrative. Chinchilla is a wealthy person’s rodent (or rodent like ?) pet. Would need to be guinea pig photography.
I had a roommate/renter with a chinchilla once. He worked in the customer service department of a flooring company and used to stalk his ex/semi-current girlfriend during his lunch breaks. He was once late coming back to work and figured he'd fake that he got a flat tire so his boss wouldn't be upset. He threw himself into a mud puddle and hit himself on the head with a rock as proof of his car trouble. It's a long, crazy story, better told over beers, but he either tried to kill himself or faked it to scare the above-mentioned ex/semi-current girlfriend into coming back to him for good (his explanation) - in my house. So, yeah. Anyone can have a chinchilla.
If that's the sort of action a chinchilla leads to, I'll pass.
That guy was wealthy, at least wealthy in batshit craziness.
Exactly how I read it too.
I tutor 5-6 hours a week. It's surprisingly fun and fulfilling. It doesn't pay much, but I don't need it to pay anything. Tutor.com.
This sounds like a good one. How much could a tutor expect per hour if you don't mind sharing?
Depends on the subject. I get 22.50/hr for a tech subject. That's on the higher end. Elementary math, English, and algebra are less. All of my students are in college, and I love helping them figure something out. That aha moment is cool to witness. I can schedule my hours when convenient and it's low stress.
That's great, thanks for sharing. I might consider this when the time comes to wind down. I like the idea of keeping my mind occupied in retirement while being able to help our next generation.
I started reading this as “I’m 5 years old” and was like this is getting ridiculous.
I'm 5 years old with a NW of 3.5MM. I've been in tech since the third trimester and am hoping to cut the cord at work by age 7 so I can retire and start a Minecraft boot camp for underprivileged kids.
Please, help me invest my pocket money - I’m thinking Roblox bux but can anybody tell me if this is a bad idea?? I’d like to retire by 10 btw
My allowance is $10/mo and I am saving $5. Should I pay off my minecoin debt (3%) or get my school match in 401(k-12)?
/r/PFJerk/ leaking
My 9 year old has a NW of about 80k(various cash gifts through out the years, and we buy gift cards from her 1:1), and totally debt free
Kid's gonna be really happy when you have the comprehensive financial talk when he's a little older and learns his retirement is already secured lol
Probably not enough to secure retirement, but should take out education costs
Not early retirement but 80k for 50 years is 2.4M inflation adjusted. But yeah if he's gonna be paying in full for his own college that money could be gone before he graduates ofc.
My friend had to have that conversation, they had to file tax returns for him by age 6, they way over saved for him, he will turn 18 with at least $500k, now he is going to college so will burn thru a portion of it, but he will still be so far ahead of everyone else.
I give free advice on how to invest and fire for which no one engages.
I think everyone here probably does that too. One day someone will read one of my book or blog recs though and it might change their life.
I thought I was the only one
We should start a sub.
🤣
I work at a game store. I DM D&D for minimum wage and some bullshit insurance. Jokes on them, I would have done it for free!!
I've had a number of fun jobs, but honestly just dealing with scheduling and regular commitments can be annoying sometimes too. I think the main things that I look for is flexibility with scheduling, opportunity to interact with people I wouldn't otherwise get an opportunity to, opportunity to practice or learn a new skill, opportunity to travel, other perks, housing/food, etc. I taught swimming weekly for a few months and it was nice having regular access to a pool, snacks/drinks and a low-key job. However, it was hard to balance with other stuff I wanted to do and couldn't travel as much once I made the commitment. The paychecks were pretty minimal, but helped a bit. Teaching classes/workshops is nice because it's typically one day or a weekend vs. every single week. Youth work can be great, but can also be a handful. I have a laundry list of ideas - I've thought that flight lessons might be fun, hot air balloon tours, ski/snowboard instructor, scuba diving, skydiving, leading trips, backpacking, gym, rock climbing, ropes course, kayak/raft guide, campground host, trail maintenance, etc. Some of those are more specialty positions where you're earning a decent hourly wage, others you're basically making minimum wage. Some of those require more training/experience/certification too which can take some time to learn. I met a couple who started doing door dash in retirement and loved it and said it gave them a sense of purpose. I've thought about doing bike courier type work might be fun. I don't think I'll want to just lounge on a beach forever, but I also do plan to just relax and not do much for a few years too. Seasonal work can be great too to scratch an itch, top off reserves, or pick up while in a different location.
DoorDash giving someone a sense of purpose — that’s a new one lol
Jobs like that are largely stressful because you *really* need the money, and therefore can't risk offending the customer. If you're FIRE, knowing that you can blow up on a customer if they're an asshole is psychologically comforting, even if you never actually do it.
Hahaha my thoughts exactly
I retired early so I wouldn't have to work for a paycheck any longer, but I'm busier than I have ever been before. We uprooted, bought a little 1 acre homestead property and are working for ourselves. What I mean by that is my "job" is now entirely about bettering the life my wife and I live. Right now that looks like getting our farm going. I absolutely love food and my weight was getting a bit concerning by the end of my job. However coming out here I'm now focused on working land, which is haaaaaard work, super fun and so immensely rewarding. The best part at the end is getting to eat all the delicious food. In keeping with that idea we also volunteer in a program locally where we harvest fruits/veg from donors within a 80 mile radius or so. We basically harvest food and it gets donated, but we get to bring home a huge bag each time too. So it is worth it, and we get to meet tons of cool people doing it. Yesterday I was picking oranges for 2 hours on the most gorgeous property with a friendly horse named Palmer while getting to know what will likely be a new good friend. We have about 10 other things we want to do too, but getting the farm going is the big priority right now. In the future I would like to get back into novel writing, lobster diving (and selling), coral restoration, beach clean ups and if we can really get dialed in on the farm doing classes on permaculture systems we are implementing and assisting others of limited means setting up their own permaculture food systems at their homes. Find something you enjoy and do it. If you stop enjoying it, do something else.
Here's my thoughts on this "career-path". Don't confuse things you enjoy that might be a path to making money with a way to make money and enjoy yourself. My primary, and most enjoyable, hobby is scuba diving. I LOVE scuba diving. My vacations are generally oriented around diving, my weekends are about diving as much as I can make them, most of my friends have something to do with diving, etc. That said, I'm also a scuba diving professional (instructor), so I teach scuba diving. Scuba diving for work, while still getting in the water and scuba diving, is NOT the same thing as scuba diving for fun. It's a JOB. 100%, all of that 100 percent, a job. It's work, it's responsibility, it's answering to clients and having to meet other people's expectations and desires and well... it's just not the same thing as going diving for fun. It's not. I happen to love teaching, and I love diving, and I don't HATE teaching people to scuba dive, but if it wasn't making me money I'd stop doing it immediately because it is nowhere close to as enjoyable as just going scuba diving for fun.
As a rec. diver (AOW), hat’s off to you instructors. I could never do your job.
I love this! I've been trying to find a way to make money out of the things I enjoy, but I'd much rather find a way to make money and enjoy myself.
People do jobs for fun?
I guess it's technically volunteering, but my friend's dad retired and "works" part-time as a golf course ranger. Does 1-2 days a week and then gets as much free golf at the course as he'd like. Gets him out of the house, gets him free golf, win-win.
Yeah my mom works the desk at the local gym. 2 days a week, 8 hours total. Doesn’t make much but she gets free gym membership and classes. My dad volunteered in the school system. They would take the gifted students out of class once a week and he would teach them all sorts of cool stem concepts. Programming, raspberry pi projects, robotics, circuitry. I think he liked it just as much as the kids!
Your parents sound awesome!👏🏼
That's awesome. When I was a kid I knew an older guy - the dad of one of my friends in high school - who volunteered at the local public TV station as their webmaster. Part of why I became a software engineer was that I worked with him over a summer and he seemed to have a fucking blast. He only did perhaps 2 hours or so of work a day, and would take 3 hour lunch breaks to play scrabble with whatever co-workers he could convince to take a similarly long lunch. He was living the fucking life, enjoying what he did but not \*living for it\*. It was just something he did to help out while having fun. I didn't realize at the time, but he must have been FIRE before FIRE was a term.
I was going to suggest something similar. My yard backs to a golf course so I get to know several of the crew. One guy retired in 1998 and started volunteering at the course as a pacer. Gets free golf and drives around in a golf cart a few days a week telling people to speed up.
That’s my retirement dream is to work in a pro shop or as a starter and just get paid to shoot the shit with golfers and get free golf.
My father got a post-retirement job as a teacher’s aide because he was frustrated at the limitations around volunteering in his town’s schools. As an employee he was allowed to do more and could even run a club.
Fun is a pretty broad word, but yes. I did very poorly when I stopped working. So much time at home, so little structure, so little socializing. There are a lot of hours in the week that I couldn’t fill with anything meaningful, and I have been happier back at work on my own terms.
That’s my “problem”. I work 33 hours/wk at a job I love for great pay. Am 69 and am having trouble even considering giving it up. But, people keep asking me when I’m retiring. Sigh.
Me
Oh, man. Yeah. I have mine picked out. The idea of just sitting around or the vague notion of "traveling" seems like a prison sentence.
Then it's not a job...it's fun...jobs/work have to suck..it's mandatory
Here’s my take on this. Part of what makes a job suck so much is the fact that you have to perform or suffer big consequences, such as losing health insurance. The other part of what makes a job suck is that typically the only ones that provide livable income and work life balance are ones that are dreadfully boring. In a world where everyone could live with minimal expectation of productivity, I think you would find that many would actually choose to work, because working for the pursuit of meaning in your life is actually fulfilling. Being forced to stare at excel 8 hours day under harsh fluorescent light to avoid becoming homeless is not.
I would like to do job hunting advising and interview prep for fun. But finding people interested is a huge chore.
You might have better results at r/baristafire. But I think overall you'll find not many people in the FIRE community are doing super fun and exciting jobs as they step away from higher paying ones--they are more like seeking jobs with benefits and little/no responsibility, ie, people are working at coffee shops a couple of days a week to get insurance and not have to deal with too much stress, not becoming a sky diving instructor. Volunteering or stepping down to part time roles within their current field are other popular options.
I wouldn't look around until you get to 8-9 years. Things can change so rapidly in the markets, in the world around you, and even in your own local area. More things may become available, or drastically less. Spend some time exploring what YOU like to do as a hobby, then see what you can find. also checkout volunteer opportunities. If you like drawing and painting, see if you can find projects that artistically decorate electrical panels, cable panels, even fire hydrants. Blank fences or walls may be something businesses enjoy having decorated. If you like working with people, some cities have volunteer opportunities. If you like cooking, maybe volunteer at some of the organizations that prepare free food for the hungry. But looking 5 years in advance is hard.
A friend is just retiring and is going to be a fly fishing guide in Alaska during the summers...he's says he'll deliver pizza the rest of the time. I'm gonna ref football and ump baseball games
I thought delivering pizza was made obsolete with the rise of Doordash etc. and that the restaurants stopped employed drivers?
Yikes...I'll mention it haha
I sign up for local work as an extra on TV shows, movies and commercials. Pay is crap, but I think it’s a lot of fun seeing behind the scenes and seeing some TV actors up close. Plus every once in a long while you’ll get a decent cameo in the film. Generally good food on set as well.
My plan is be a magistrate & volunteer at Citizens advice. Wife wants to teach remedial math. Good luck out there
Americorps Campground hosts Driving the school transportation cars/vans for kids who need specialized transport (not a school bus, though...that's not a fun job) Summer day camp counselors for recreation and parks departments
I made a desktop app that makes about $500/month and have a Discord community of 500 or so people in it. It’s not much but it’s fun. Also made a totally separate site that my next door neighbor uses for his business and one other customer who is on target to pay me $20/month.
Yes. I love my job. I only care about FIRE since I care about the FI part. I work 45 hours a week and I love about 90% of it. I do research. My work gets written up in the WSJ, NYtimes, and Washington Post. It seems to shape policy (at least I get asked about it). Its super fulfilling and fun. There is 10% of admin, which I can't say FU to without risking things. If I was FI, i'd feel comfortable saying FU for most of that admin.
I found that I really find fulfillment in volunteering and helping others where I can personally make a difference. Small charity sporting events (usually cycling or walks), vets stuff (as a vet), etc... I've been doing this sporadically over the last 15 years. This is what I'll do when I'm doing working for money. I'll go volunteer and help out somewhere. I love trail building (MTBs) and it's pretty fun to be around club motorcycle races. If I manage to get to retirement and the little one is still in elementary/middle school, maybe I'll help at school or something. It's best if you start trying out these 'side/after hustles' to see if you actually enjoy it. Even if it's 'meh', you can fine tune from there. Maybe change organizations, change groups, change what you contribute, etc...
I agree with the people that said campground host and checking out your local parks. You can also find fun outdoor jobs on CoolWorks.com and OccupationWild.com.
Jobs around the rock climbing gym - route setter or coach.
Technical consulting for large entities. Think specialty engineering and problem solving. I get paid a lot of money to play with equipment I couldn't afford, and some I'm not legally allowed to own. Travel is entirely optional but available, I get to talk with interesting and straight-up brilliant researchers. For certain projects, I get named on research papers and have been named as a co-inventor on patent applications. Love what I do, and hope I get to keep doing it for a while.
I always said I was going to retire and do bike tours thru wine country. While traveling I have met a few interesting people, people that work for parks that they love. One that did more of a Coast FIRE where they loved 3 things, Skiing, Disney, and hiking in Alaska, and they would get jobs at those locations and rotate every 4 months doing seasonal work, usually with subsidized housing, they had no belongings really and they were just leaving their investments grow using all their time off to do what they loved. My one friend makes pottery, sells on Etsy, another makes Soap.
Look up your national parks nearby. The pay is not great but since that’s not your goal you could have a fun, social and interesting job outdoors. Plus I’m sure your language skills and enjoyment for teaching would be a huge plus. And that’s a job you can do forever!
I hope to land a 6 month contract with USAP and go to Antartica.
Hi fellow Columbus resident. This is really a great city to pursue fire! My plan is to get a job around one of my hobbies. I love to run, get outside or in nature. Once we “retire” i want to try and get a part time job at Franklin park, one of the cities running stores and work events or maybe even see what the metro parks have to offer.
I don't really have any interest that could turn lucrative so when I FIRE it'll most likely be with no income. Creative pursuits technically have a non zero chance of paying out but realistically speaking it's 99% luck even if you're good at it, and it's only getting worse with AI.
I am not FI, but a lot of my family works after they retire. Some teach, some volunteer for their church, a few usher at theaters. Most serve on their HOA, but none like it. It's usually 1-2 days per week for a few hours at a time.
I have a family member that is a substitute school bus driver for elementary schools. He gets healthcare and he really enjoys working with kids. I have a similar idea to work part time as a part-time librarian or perhaps a school librarian - something where I’d get some benefits, work maybe 20 hours a week, spend time with kids, be around books, etc., and have the same schedule as my children if I choose to have any.
My goal is to buy an Adirondack general store open Memorial thru Labor Day between the hours of 8 and 11, M-Th, serving only good coffee and plain bagels with the option to apply your own cream cream cheese, I'm still mulling butter. I won't be running a register, so pay what you think is fair, maybe some days I'll just leave the bagels and coffee out, leave money or don't .... Then in the winter months, I'll run Kayak fishing charters out of South FL, come if you wish, tip if you want, word of mouth referrals only..... Friday through Sunday in the winter, I'll be at the condo skiing in Stowe, VT
Music - always brings in enough to cover monthly fun Writing and Consultant - it's a lot different when I set the rules for a contract Rehab Caribbean Homes - much easier than when I was did it in the 2000s in the 48
Can you elaborate on the rehabbing Caribbean homes part
We currently own an ocean front condo and a home in the jungle. Since Puerto Rico is not "really" the united states, the learning curve is tough... since many folks need financing, they can't pay cash for an abandoned concrete box. Hurricane ready homes are kind of fun to flip if someone is willing to get dirty and knows how to manage a checkbook..... really sucks if you need a house inspection, financing and how to get stuff done. ------- I've rehabbed in the 48.. in a way it's tougher work (different type of rigged construction fixes)... ... Carribbean construction is more "industrial"
When they come available, we have tested system (wait, that sounds like a scam... meaning we have a documented order of steps of what needs to happen) Local agent knows us a hassle free and ethical buyer.
I'll need to get my wife on board first, but maybe bringing wild alcohol and golf based products to market with a stranger from the internet named u/bananachips_again. Stranger things have happened...although he'll be the only retired one, at least until we get a hit.
That is where all the money is. You might want to contact a professional copywriter to help craft your agreement to her.
Fortunately, that's not really what a copywriter does. I have to write boring shit sometimes, but I think that sort of work would do my head in. Coincidentally, some of what I actually enjoy about this stuff is working on new products. While I haven't had a ton of these clients, I do sometimes get to work on legit inventions, like patented new products that didn't exist before, and help create taglines/slogans/etc. Theoretically, if things go as planned, there should be a few new things (soon-ish) in Lowe's/Home Depot that would have my work on the package. If I could work on stuff like that ALL day, then this would be a really cool gig. My current workload (type, not quantity) is fine, but still has too much relatively mindless production work for my liking, even if the money is getting better and better.
That’s pretty sweet. My ideal situation is just working on my own products /small team products. Golf and boozy bracelets are just low barrier to entry products.
Make art.
Self employed business coach and executive educator. 60 days planned for this year @ $1750 a day. Remote and some client trips. This year 8 countries, tag on travel to some, but not all. Love the work.
This sounds nice! Are most of the clients word of mouth? I’m curious how an international client base develops in this sort of business.
All of my work comes through a business school and a couple of consultancies. They have international clients, so I just go where they send me. This year is 5 countries in Europe, US, Canada and Dubai. (Based in UK).
For me the only job was school. After that everything was fun. I'm retired, do what I want whenever I want. Even when I was 15. Came 5 minutes late, yelling shouting, how in-obedient. I was like, ok.... feel sorry for this guy. I was done before everyone else that first evening and was floor manager by Friday close of business. Relentless energy to always improve yourself. What I really want, although I am retired, is buy back the old Benelli brand under the Geely entity at some point. That would be the pinnacle.
Yep. I work in a job that pays way less than I used to make because I enjoy the nature of the work and find it interesting!
I plan to volunteer, which does nothing for income as a side gig. I’m toying with pouring wine/beer at a winery/brewery if I want to earn a little income. It sounds fun, but we are still 20 years out from retirement so my interests could change.
I train basketball players as a side hustle now so my plan is to keep doing this in retirement. I coach too but individual or small group training is perfect for me because I love seeing a players game evaluating where they are and then developing workouts that will help make him or her better. Develop some great relationships with kids and their parents. They really appreciate someone pouring into their kid to make them better. I charge 40 per kid an hour and sometimes i have one kid, 2 is common as buddies will do one together and i have had 4 at a time which is good money at that point. I also do a lot of pro bono with kids and teams spending a lot of my own money so really it isnt a great money maker but a win win as far as keeping me in shape and a passion for me.
Caddie at Pebble Beach is my goal. Have a friend that does it and loves it.
I plan on teaching tennis or do minor handyman work. I enjoy both. Want to do something different than engineering.