Early Retirement to No Retirement

My writing today is very different from 2013.

Back then, I was a dividend stocks and early retirement writer.

But now I’m more about passive investing and data-driven DIY financial planning.

I’m also no longer the guy who doesn’t like his job and wants to retire from it.

I like being self-employed and have no plans to retire.

Those two sentences have lost me a lot of readers.

The saga of not liking my career and trying to escape from it with a measured dividend-investing plan was pretty cool, I admit.

But while plotting my initial escape from my humdrum career, I found a more fulfilling one.

That wasn’t in the original plan.

I went from full-time IT Modernization Engineer and part-time blogger to full-time content creator and a successful career escape artist.

I didn’t retire. I’m working more hours today than when I was employed.

Work excites me.

My business is two-fold.

On the RBD side of things, I’m in my early 50s now, which is a vastly different place to be than the 38-year-old with a young family I was when I started writing.

As such, my content priorities have shifted from investing and wealth accumulation to DIY financial planning.

Until recent years, we only had spreadsheets. But the modern tools I often mention here have dramatically increased our capabilities.

Better financial planning can have a much greater impact than picking specific investments.

In a world of thousands of other creators, AI tools, and advisors trying to woo your business, I’ll keep sharing what I know and learn.

What amazes me is that the same thing can be said over and over again with a slightly different angle or message deliverer (human or bot), and there’s always someone out there that can benefit from hearing it.

In fact, many more could benefit, but still never hear it (distracted by cute cat videos).

As long as my audience wants it, I’ll keep producing RBD content.

Writing and recording for you have been the most rewarding work of my life.

On the ​Access IPOs​ side (my other website and podcast), I’ve developed a deep and genuine interest in the ever-evolving world of startups, venture capital, and IPOs.

The fast-growing startup stories and people behind them are fascinating.

They share a common thread that is contrary to the early-retirement, job-disliking RBD of yesteryear — working on things that have meaningful impact, improve lives, and create new wealth.

For many founders and product builders, retirement isn’t a thing.

I’ve always admired people who genuinely love their careers.

This kind of attitude toward work and wealth has resonated more with me since I left my salaried career.

The founders, dedicated employees, and investors behind the wealth-creation engine in the startup world are ultimately driving growth in public stocks — which become the investment vehicles on which aspiring retirees rely.

I still own the total market with most of my money, but I’m more curious about the growing wealth creation in private markets because that’s where so much of it is happening.

That part of the economy is becoming more investable, and Access IPOs exists to help investors participate.

Professionally, it’s at the forefront of a massive trend that’s far less crowded with other creators.

If that’s not your thing, no worries. RBD isn’t going anywhere.

I’m 51 now, just four years away from my original goal of retiring before the age my Dad retired, at 56, and all I can think about is how to grow my business.

And I can focus on my business today because I diligently implemented everything I wrote about in pursuit of early retirement.

Strange how that worked out.

Featured photo via DepositPhotos used under license.

Craig Stephens

Craig is a former IT professional who left his 19-year career to be a full-time finance writer. A DIY investor since 1995, he started Retire Before Dad in 2013 as a creative outlet to share his investment portfolios. Craig studied Finance at Michigan State University and lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children. Read more.