I meant people already past their retirement age, in their 60s and 70s. What are the options for them? They would get bored to death (sometimes literally) if they stayed home and watched TV.
I'm in my 30s and I've been really struggling to find something both enjoyable and meaningful besides work, and maybe gym.
> those options are unburdened by the unpleasant aspects that every job has.
Anything worth pursuing has some unpleasant aspects.
Your experience may be different, but I know surprisingly many such people in my circles. Usually engineers, doctors and other white-collar workers, who got to the point where their job is more satisfying than stressful. They don't do it for the money, but to socialize and to have a purpose in life.
> But doing that would ruin any chances I ever had of being able to retire early.
> I would love to be able to retire and get into meditation / travelling the world / learning about things for fun.
I lost some of the best years of my life because of thinking among the same lines. What I had failed to consider:
- The more you make, the more you want, you never have "enough"
- Whatever you save, keeps losing its value, sometimes rapidly, and there are no bullet-proof investments
- An injury or sickness can suddenly make your long-term plans impossible
- Being miserable/depressed deteriorates your health and shortens your lifespan
- You change as you get older, the stuff that excites you right now may not be as exciting to the future you
My advice would be - don't waste your life chasing an arbitrary financial goal. You'll either burn out, or keep pushing it forever forward, or be too old and miserable to be happy when you get there.
Consider that you'll never again be as young as healthy as you are right now.
Better find yourself a job which you'd be happy doing even if you could never retire, and build some happy / healthy / harmonious lifestyle around it.
I'm in my 30s and I've been really struggling to find something both enjoyable and meaningful besides work, and maybe gym.
> those options are unburdened by the unpleasant aspects that every job has.
Anything worth pursuing has some unpleasant aspects.