You’ve committed a large part of your life to your business, you’ve grown it to be a roaring success and executed a perfect exit strategy to leave you with financial freedom and the early retirement you’ve always dreamed of. Now what?
Although many of us count down the days to retirement, when it finally comes it can be a strange, slightly daunting scenario when you find yourself with no job to go to. On the other hand, if you’re prepared for this new stage in your life, it can be the best years of your life.
If you are fortunate enough to retire early, consider these six ways to spend your time to ensure you are maximising your time.
Travel
As a successful business owner/entrepreneur, you’ve likely committed vast amounts of time to your ventures. While your success may have taken you all over the world for business purposes, a downside can be the lack of time you have available to travel for leisure.
An early retirement will present you with an abundance of time and one of the best ways to spend this time is by seeing the world. It’s also a great way to de-stress and revitalise your body after many stressful years of managing a business.
Part-time job
Money isn’t the only benefit of a job, and some people just aren’t cut out for life without work. If you are someone who enjoys a typical working routine, it may be useful to consider a part-time job.
You’ll have the luxury of being selective about your part-time job, and you can focus on roles that align with your passions. For example, if you like to spend your spare time working on DIY projects, a part-time role at your local DIY store may be enjoyable and can also allow you to meet like-minded people in your retirement.
Hobby
Retirement is the perfect time to take up a new hobby or master an existing interest. You may have found that your busy life prior to retirement left you with little time to work on certain skills. Even if it’s something as simple as going to the gym, you’ll now have ample time to spend time on those hobbies you’ve always wanted to commit more time to.
The best thing about working on new hobbies is that you can do this anywhere in the world, allowing you to combine this with travelling. A workout at L.A.’s famous Muscle Beach, or a game of chess around a pool in the Caribbean, there are many ways to combine a new skill with a new destination.
Mentoring
Mentoring can be a great way to give back, and if you’ve retired early due to business success, there are probably a lot of things that you can give back to the next generation of aspiring entrepreneurs.
Obviously, everyone’s skillset will be different, which will determine how and who you can mentor. For example, maybe you were the brains behind the marketing efforts of your business. In this case, mentoring aspiring marketing students would be a great option. Explore delivering seminars at local universities or reach out to a local digital marketing agency to find businesses in need of your support.
Charity work
An early retirement is often linked to a large-scale business buyout. If you find yourself with a wealth of riches, you may want to explore giving to a cause close to your heart. This will give your life a new purpose and can be great for your mental well-being.
You could also explore joining a charity in an advisory role that could see you offer both financial and business support.
Write
As already mentioned, if you’ve led a successful business career, there will be plenty of others who would like to hear from you. There will be plenty of lessons you can teach to others and tonnes of ways that you can give back. Having said that, mentoring isn’t for everyone and might be too big of a commitment.
Instead, pen your thoughts by blogging for a website or even writing a book. Many successful entrepreneurs become authors later in life, using the lessons they have learnt from a long, successful career in business. This can allow you to focus on the things that you feel are the most important.