Life And How To Live It: Towards An Early Semi-Retirement.
Life. And How To Live It. That’s the name of the album and the line from R.E.M.’s 1985 song that has inspired me throughout my adult life, and now it’s led me to be self-employed and now, semi-retired.
After more than 20 years of working with the Graceful Duet: Tom and Kathy Marks, my full time job transitioned to part-time, freelance work for them when they began their retirement journey. I tried a few different full-time jobs where I wasn’t treated very well, the benefits were penurious, and the fit was about as comfortable as my Doc Martins. Uncomfortable as all hell, but I still wear them because they look cool and give me some much-needed height. I struggled to find any pros to go with the cons of my last few gigs.
Working for The Man (or The Woman, or The They/Them), I was competing against ageism, and recent graduates who are willing to work for much less money than I was accustomed to with my education and experience. Now, that I’m the GD Boss, I’ve taken charge and I can set my own hours, tweak my hourly rate, and work from my home office. Picture The Taj Mahal, but on a much smaller scale.
A new Bentley Continental GT Convertible probably isn’t going to happen, but that’s OK. My Grabber Blue Mustang convertible kicks ass and is affordable, and is under warranty for a few more years. My living expenses are low, I paid off my mortgage about six years ago, and I finally paid back my student loans last year. Damn, grad school was expensive!
Everyone asks me, “But What about health insurance?” Fortunately, there are good options for early retirees and for those who are self-employed, thanks to The Affordable Care Act.
Set your priorities, and think about where you are, where you want to be, and find your pathway.
Listen, listen to the holler,
I will write a book,
it will be called “Life and How to Live It”
Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe: REM
Editor's Note: Contributing Editor, and author of this article, Kurt Huber, worked for me and Kathy at our ad agency for over 20 years as our Senior Art Director. In the ad business, at least for graphic designers, in dog years that's equivalent to 150 years. If you know, you know. In fact, Kurt is still doing freelance work for us in our retirement, mostly for The Peaceful Retiree and assorted other projects. If you're looking for a great designer without the overhead that drives-up hourly rates, you can find samples of Kurt's work here: https://www.900turbostudio.com/.
