On April 12, 2015, I published my first post.

In the nine years since I’ve kept writing… and writing…and writing.

I’ve published 428 articles about retirement (see my Archives page).  If you do the math * …

…I’ve written the equivalent of 11 books over the past 9 years. *

(* The Math: 1,500 words per post x 428 posts = 642,000 words.  The average 200-page book is 60,000 words, so that’s ~ 10 books.  Add in the actual book I wrote, and it’s equivalent to 11 books in 9 years.)

And yet, with all of the writing, I’ve missed something.

I’ve never taken the opportunity to step back and think about what I’ve learned from all of my writing.

During our recent RV trip to the Ozarks, I took some time to reflect, and today I’m sharing the most important things I’ve learned through my years of writing articles about retirement.

I suspect the most important lesson may surprise you.  But I’m getting ahead of myself…

I’ve written the equivalent of 11 books in the past 9 years, all on retirement. What’s the most important thing I’ve learned in the process? Share on X

What I’ve Learned Writing 400 articles about Retirement

Reflecting on the past 9 years of writing has been an interesting trip down memory lane.

• The first 3 years, as I was preparing for retirement.
• The middle 3 years, as I was making the transition.
• The final 3 years, as I figured it out.

It’s all there.

The 428 articles are like pebbles I’ve sprinkled on the trail, helping those in my footsteps find their way.  I’m thankful I decided to experiment with blogging.  It’s turned into something I love.

But what have I learned?

What I’ve Learned about Retirement

• Retirement is Complex:  Any topic that can fill 11 books has more layers than an onion. Don’t underestimate how complex retirement is.  Yes, we all expect the financial complexity (Bucket Strategies, Roth Conversions, Safe Withdrawal Rates, Estimated Quarterly taxes, Asset Allocation, etc.).  What’s been more surprising to me is the complexity behind the non-financial aspects of retirement.  Working through your experiments to determine how to replace all those non-financial aspects you once received from work (Sense of Identity, Purpose, Structure, Relationships).  As complex as the financial issues are, I would argue the non-financial aspects are more so. Be prepared for ebbs and flows as you go through your retirement transition, you’re entering a maze that’s more complex than most people realize.

• Retirement can be Difficult:  I’ve gotten hundreds of emails from readers telling me their stories, and I’ve read every one.  Many are stories of the difficulties you’re having adjusting to retirement.  Your stories led me to research the Four Phases of Retirement and realize how blessed I was to be in the 10-15% of retirees who skip the dreaded Phase II.  As you’ll read in the next bullet, I’m convinced there’s a proven way to make retirement less difficult, and I’m fortunate that I chose the right path.

• There are Proven Ways to Make it Easier:  I was 3 years from retirement when I started this blog.  I’d seen some of my friends struggle with the retirement transition, and I was obsessed with learning why some people have great retirements, whereas others struggle. I was motivated to find the path that led to success and was fortunate to discover it. I’m convinced it wasn’t merely luck, but rather a result of the extensive planning my wife and I did in my final few years of work.  If there’s one trick I’ve learned to make retirement less difficult, it’s the importance of putting in the work to prepare for the transition before you cross The Starting Line. Focus on the non-financial aspects as much (or more) as you do the financial ones.  To understand how I approached the challenge, check out The Ultimate Retirement Planning Guide, which lays out all the steps starting 5 years before you retire.

• Retirement Changes with Time:  I’ve often said that retirement is like marriage – you never really know what it’s like until you do it.  As I thought about what I’ve learned from writing so many articles about retirement, I realized there’s another parallel between marriage and retirement.  Just as your marriage will evolve over the years, so too will your retirement.   The honeymoon is great, but it doesn’t last forever.  Working through the challenges that surface is one of the fun parts of both marriage and retirement.  No retirement (or marriage) is perfect, but there’s a lot you can do to make it the best experience possible.  Learn to experiment, learn to follow your curiosity, and learn to maintain a positive attitude.  If there’s one piece of advice I’d give to help you deal with the changes that occur throughout your retirement, it is to embrace, nurture, listen to, and follow your curiosity wherever it leads.

• Retirement can be the Best Phase of your Life:  We all want great retirements, right?  I’m grateful that retirement is the best phase of my life.  Many of you can say the same.  But …. there is a large percentage of folks who can’t.  If you’re struggling, I encourage you to study those in the first camp.  Listen to what they talk about, and observe what they do.  Chances are good you won’t hear much talk about money.  As I wrote in The 90/10 Rule of Retirement, if you’ve done your planning correctly you won’t worry much about money after you retire.  By studying the 72% of happy retirees,  you’ll find the common themes of Curiosity, Purpose, Relationships, Fitness, and Planning.   Focus on doing those things well, and you’ll find, like many others, that retirement can be the best years of your life. It’s interesting to realize how many of those commonalities relate to the non-financial aspects of retirement.  In my experience, it’s in those areas where you’ll find true joy.

• Adaptability is Critical (and can be Learned):  Retirement will be one of the biggest changes you’ll experience in life, so embrace it (rather than resist it).  Intentionally choose to adopt a positive mindset before crossing The Starting Line, retirement is in many ways a self-fulfilling prophecy. The creative muscles in our minds have gotten out of shape during our careers.  Through decades of “grooming,” we’ve lost our mental flexibility.  A key to a successful retirement is to learn to exercise that long-dormant creative part of your brain that you haven’t used since childhood.  Learn to play again.   Learn to embrace change.   Foster curiosity, and take that first step – you’ll be surprised where it can lead. If things aren’t going as expected, learn to adapt through trial and error.  You’re in control, and with that comes both opportunity and obligation.  As you work through that “messy middle” you’ll find yourself missing many of those non-financial benefits you once received from work (relationships, sense of identity, purpose, goals, sense of achievement, etc).  There’s nothing wrong with falling back to some sort of work to fulfill these basic human needs, but hold off on making that decision until you’ve explored other non-work avenues to achieve the same thing.  Consider doing non-profit work, and getting involved in new areas of your community.  Learn to adapt … and overcome.

My Biggest Surprises along the Way

• Retirement Is Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be:  And yet, retirement is exactly as I thought it would be.  I wrote about that contradiction here, and have been surprised by how many things in retirement have taken me by surprise. If I’d written a list of 100 things I expected in retirement, it would never have included having a treehouse writing studio, building a woodworking shop, starting a charity with my wife, or building a barn.  And yet, those surprises are perfectly aligned with the mindset I established when I wrote The 10 Commandments of Retirement just three months before I retired.   My mindset is exactly what I had hoped for, but the places it has led have been a series of retirement surprises.  This reality of how retirement evolves, and the things I have chosen to pursue with my free time,  has been one of the biggest surprises in my retirement.

• I’m not who I Used to Be:  Losing one’s sense of identity is a risk often associated with retirement.  One of my biggest surprises is how easily I’ve shed my past sense of identity (Corporate Warrior) and how easily I’ve discovered the New Me. The “New Me” is an identity I’ve been free to develop and embrace, and I wear my new identity with pride.  In reality, I don’t have one overriding identity now.  Rather, I wear several different hats, and they all fit perfectly.  Some days, I’m a writer.  On other days, I’m a guy who builds fences alongside other enthusiastic volunteers.  Or, if I prefer, I’m a woodworker playing around in my shop on my latest project. Sometimes I’m a virtual builder, figuring out how to assemble the Building Blocks of my past into a new hobby, like mountain biking.  Two things are certain:  1) I’m not who I used to be, and 2) I love who I’ve become. 

• Spending Money is Hard:  While I think a lot less about money now than I did in my working years, I still find it hard to spend money.  It takes a long time to break a lifetime habit of frugality, but I’m making progress.  Knowing your Safe Withdrawal Rate helps, as does having money flow monthly into your checking account via a Bucket Strategy.  If the money is in our checking account, we’ve got to learn how to spend it. The market has been generous since we retired in 2018, and we’re still underspending what we can safely spend.  To rectify that, my wife and I decided to “go big” with our travel plans in 2025.  You’ll see more about it in a future post, but we’ve booked a cruise to Greenland!  Yes, we’re still learning, but we’re making progress …

• Mindset Matters:  When most folks think about retirement, they focus on the money.  That’s natural, but I’ve been surprised to discover that the mindset you bring to retirement matters as much as the portfolio. Pursuing your curiosity with a positive attitude is the proven path to Phase IV’s “Reinvent & Rewire”, which should be the goal for anyone seeking an enjoyable retirement.  Of all the things I’ve learned while writing, the importance of mindset is the one I think of most often.  Spend as much time preparing your mind as you do preparing your finances.  It matters.

• Focusing on Others is more Rewarding than Focusing on Self:  Throughout our careers, we’ve had to prioritize “self.”  Striving for that pay raise, trying to earn that promotion.  That’s fine, but retirement is the time to change that priority.  You don’t need to focus on yourself anymore.  You’ve made it.  More rewarding is searching for opportunities to help others who haven’t “made it” yet. If you’re not enjoying retirement, and you’re primarily focused on yourself, try shifting gears.  Look for an opportunity to help someone else.  You won’t regret it.

• We’re All on the Journey Together: Of all the things I’ve learned by writing these articles about retirement, one that resonates with me is the reality that we’re all trying to figure out this journey together.  I’ve had thousands of interactions with you through comments and emails, and I’ve learned that we’re all just figuring it out as we go.  It’s an exciting time in life, and the community that has developed around this blog is one of the most rewarding aspects of my writing. I wish you could read all of the emails I receive. I hope you read the comments on each post (my favorite part of blogging).  I get motivated knowing that the words I write on this keyboard are helping you on your journey.  Knowing we’re all in this together, and we can benefit by interacting together, is perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned over the years. That’s led to my biggest discovery during this time of introspection, and the most important thing I’ve learned.  I’m saving that for the conclusion below.

Conclusion

I’m amazed that I’ve written over 600,000 words on this blog. Retirement is, indeed, more complex than an onion.  I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I’m thankful I took the time to reflect on today’s post.

So…

…What is the most important thing I’ve learned?

As I’ve taken some serious time thinking about it, the most important thing I’ve learned is WHY I write.  Before I go there, it’s important to touch on the “why nots”:

• I don’t do it for the money (trust me, it’s not much.  It doesn’t quite cover our health insurance).
• I don’t do it for the fame (I hate to break it to you, but I’m really not famous)
• I don’t do it for bragging rights (tho it is cool to say I’m a published author, wink).

So what, then, is my primary motive for writing?

As I’ve reflected over the past month, my thoughts kept coming back to you, the reader. Knowing that you benefit from the words I write is rewarding beyond words. I’ve found my Purpose in “giving back” through my writing, and it’s made my retirement better than I could have imagined.

• Knowing I’m helping people live better lives.
• Knowing that my experience is helping you tackle your challenges.
• Knowing I’m making a difference, small as it may be.

You are my motivation.

• My Purpose.
• What keeps me going.
• You are the reason I do this.

It’s rewarding to realize that the work I’m doing has evolved into a Purpose, focused on helping you and thousands of others like you.

It sounds trivial, perhaps, but it’s my reality. And, it’s the most important thing I’ve learned.

Helping others is a great way to live life, and much more enjoyable than being obsessed with self.

I’ve found my motivation.  Find yours. Then, embrace it.  

To each of you, a heartfelt thanks for being my inspiration.

I hope my words continue to help you on your journeys.

Because of everything I’ve learned, the most important is that you are helping me, on mine.

Your Turn:  What motivates you?  What have you learned in retirement, either through my blog or elsewhere, that would benefit others? And, for fun, which article comes to mind when you think of the 400+ I’ve written? Let’s chat in the comments…

Fritz Gilbert is the Founder of The Retirement Manifesto, a Plutus Award winning blog dedicated to helping people Achieve A Great Retirement.  After 30+ years in Corporate America, most recently as a Commodity Trader, Fritz retired as planned in June 2018 at Age 55.  He and his wife are looking forward to extended travel and “giving back” to their community through charitable work in retirement. This blog was published on his website on Oct. 28, 2024 and is republished here with his permission.