I don't want to retire. I want to be free to create.

For the past year, I wrote a new original story every week. After I finished the story, I published it—creating the artwork, formatting, and all the rest. At the same time I was also writing the next story. It was the Super Great Challenge. Fifty-two stories written and published over a year (without A.I.).

I learned a lot and had fun sitting down every day to write. I squeezed it all in between working as a full-time librarian in IT, time with my (extremely supportive) family, and everything else going on in my life. Like sleeping.

One thing I came away with—I want to spend more time creating.

I write because I love writing. I sat down to write each story without any idea of what I was going to write—and love the feeling of discovery that comes from it.

I love 3D modeling and working in Blender to create the cover illustrations for my work. I love drawing and painting digitally.

I even love publishing my work. I love coding and working on my website. I love learning about all aspects of my creative work and business.

My biggest problem? I don’t have as much time to devote to those things as I’d like. As much as I love libraries (I’ve devoted my career to libraries, over thirty years. I’m a professional librarian. I’ve held many different positions and currently use my skills in IT), my career takes up, has taken up, most of my time.

Outside of creating stories and artwork, I also love reading and (as Murderbot might say) watching media. I’m not the only one that eagerly waited for the next episode of Widow’s Bay, Welcome to Derry, and Andor.

I have no interest in ‘retirement’ in the sense of doing nothing. I have far, far more that I would like to do than I have time left in my brief existence on Earth. Especially now that I’m over fifty, the sense that there are likely fewer years ahead than behind has grown stronger.

If you’re in a similar position, you might be asking the same question that I’m asking:

What do you want your next decade (assuming you have one) to look like? And any decades after, if so blessed?

Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE)

Chances are, you’ve heard about HALE, the World Health Organization’s healthy life expectancy indicator.

How long do you expect to live at ‘full health’?

My ‘full health’ today doesn’t look the same as it did ten years ago. That was my peri-Santapause period. Now I’m in full-on Santapause (white beard included). Turns out that being a librarian and writer isn’t the best path for health—because there is little time to look after my health with everything else.

The WHO data shows that for the past decade, the HALE indicator at birth and at 60 years old in the United States has fallen. At birth the latest (2021) indicator is down to 62.8 years for men. If you make it to 60 years old, the picture is better, 14.8 years. A decade ago, indicators were a couple years better. (For comparison: In the UK, at birth you’re looking at 68.2, and at 60 years old, 16.9 years. In the Netherlands, 70 years at birth, and 17.2 years at 60 years old. Things aren’t going great in the US).

Statistically, if a man in the US waits until 67 to ‘retire’, they’ve got maybe 7-8 good years left. Individually, however, outcomes have to be considered based on your own particular factors of lifestyle, current health, activity, diet, existing medical issues, etc., there’s nothing to guarantee you’ll a) make it to 67, b) have even 7-8 years after that point.

Sadly, I’ve seen people not reach ‘retirement’ age. Or ‘retire’ only to die a short time later. Sure, it’s possible to retire at 67 and live decades longer, just no guarantee.

What’s Freedom Worth?

Another key factor that often receives the most focus in retirement discussions centers around money. How much you’ve got, how much you’ll receive from your retirement plan (if you have one) or Social Security (in the US), and your current and anticipated expenses and debts.

All important details to look at, and I’ll talk about some of those in future posts.

Today, the question is basically a simple one: what’s your freedom worth?

How much would you pay, to gain the freedom to write, paint, or create as much as you’d like? To have freedom to do as you wish with your day?

That’s an impossible question for anyone else to answer, but one that is key to deciding how you spend the next decade.

In my case, I enjoy my job and position with the library. I believe libraries are vitally important to our communities. I wish that they received more support. Every dollar spent on libraries returns several dollars in benefits to the community. That's great, but it doesn't even touch the life-changing impact libraries bring to people.

Because that’s the case, it isn’t like I want to escape from a job I don’t enjoy. I don’t have that sort of pressure.

I do want more time to create. More unstructured time.

And more time to pay attention to my health. As I’ve said, both my job and my creative outlets tend to be sedentary. That’s not great for my health. I’ve gotten a small, height-adjustable desk, great for using my MacBook Air, and that helps. I also have a walking pad / treadmill. Unfortunately, I’m not hitting activity targets. Which means my health is a concern.

Financially, it’s also challenge. My pay is being cut with furlough days. I have a family with dependents to take care of and all associated costs, on a sole income. With over thirty years contributing to our retirement system, I’m eligible to receive an 80% benefit (reduced to provide survivor benefits). Doing so, after taxes, is maybe a third of our current income. That’s not enough to cover our expenses, not now. Healthcare alone would wipe out a significant portion (no universal healthcare here). Mortgage, student loans (still paying), and everything else means that in order to get by on income from my retirement system, I’d need to work another job. Or make enough money from my creative endeavors to make up the difference—along with identifying ways to reduce our expenses.

My Next Decade

As it stands, my plan for the next decade is to continue working until:

• Income from creative activities is sufficient to offset another third of our current income;
• Or, I reach 62-65 years old and become eligible for Social Security;
• Or, my health becomes too poor to continue working (or I die).

I’d like to reach my freedom age sooner, rather than later, for the reasons I’ve already touched on. It’d be wonderful to enjoy what time remains on my own terms. Ideally, that’ll be many decades, yet realistically, I’m maybe looking at a couple decades. But hey, who knows? Maybe I’ll reach one hundred years. That’d be pretty amazing, if unlikely.

What about you?

Are you already ‘retired’? If not, when do you want reach your freedom age?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,

Ryan

p.s. — if you'd like to help support my goal to spend more time creating, check out my stories and novels. I love writing them and think you'll love reading them. You'll save 20% on your order.