Retiring at 45 has become fad or sign of burn out?

Too much hustle, Too much fuss all the time, chasing dreams 24/7, focus and commitment 120%, losing appetite, losing sleep (not to mention, lost smile, shine and love in eyes long back), body fucked, mind sucked, turning anti-social, and why………….bcoz I want to secure financial freedom and retire at 45!!

Has this become a new aspirational goal for this generation?  Or a new FAD in social circles?  Or are we really this burnt out that we want to end this at 45?

We have our take on this – tell us your views in comments!!

• Aspirational career goals? – ah, not really! its competing with others in a race or a FOMO of not being in the list of 40 under 40 or Unicorn or likes. In the maddening rush of attaining saturation at 45, the thrill/ excitement/ pride and most importantly, fun of doing great work is somewhere totally lost.
• The ‘power feeling’ of being able to buy BMW 7 series or taking Quorum membership has taken precedence over small vacations and walking by the lake holding those fleeting moments tight.
• Commitment towards work has somehow destroyed the ability to be committed towards relationships and love – the basic fundamentals of life which is “work to make life better” has been replaced by ‘live to work better’. Are we not losing out on that thin line of BALANCE that governs the eventual peace and happiness?
• Cheese and wine late evening parties to socialize, stay relevant have taken precedence over chai in evening with family/ friends soaking that setting sun moment – is becoming social making us anti-social in real sense with no real friends/ family around?
• Is over consumption of reading or listening news to ‘know it all’ making us boring and depressed, hasn’t the FOMO of having an opinion on everything made us overthinkers…….after all if there is no tinkle in laughter or if lips don’t touch the cheekbone while smiling, are you even really happy knowing it ALL dude!
• Adding more zeros in bank account is indeed important to secure a healthy and comfortable lifestyle, certainly not to pay hospital bills bcoz of unhealthy lifestyle – even most pragmatic set would agree with this.
• Finger on keyboard is dancing all the time – wasn’t the idea of body swinging on a good music along with someone close to heart more appealing?

And this is not about you, this is about all of US!   Should we not take a PAUSE and reflect – when, how and why did the priorities changed so much? what messed with our minds so badly that financial freedom has become more important than the freedom to choose how to live IN today!

At the end, we will be all dead, so seize every moment (even it it means running a bit slow) and you can always retire when you are dead anyhow !