I used to have a job, worked hard, and tried to be productive. Nobody paid much attention. Then I retired early, some say to do little (which I dispute). But seemingly, I'm more interesting now.
That's ironic. The less I do, the more interesting I am? Wow, I must have been pretty dull before!
Today there's an article about me in The National, one of the main daily broadsheet newspapers where I live. The article is Prudent living allowed me to retire from work at the age of 48. Note I was actually 47, but I guess I must look older😬
It's strange to read about yourself. You get a sense of how others view you, at least the bits they think are worth writing about. It's intriguing when they highlight things that I hadn't dwelt on, it gives pause for thought and reflection.
Despite having a blog, I consider myself shy. So being in the newspaper is quite alien, although exciting at the same time. I felt the same when I appeared in a Forbes.com article and on Rockstar Finance (they featured this post about my wife's view of my early retirement). I suspect I'm still safe from autograph hunters, so won't need a disguise to go to the supermarket just yet ;)
This week's flirting with publicity isn't stopping there. On Saturday I'm giving a talk to SimplyFI, who are also the local chapter of Bogleheads and ChooseFI. The subject is my journey to financial freedom and early retirement. Being in the newspaper is one thing, standing up and talking in front of people, now that's something to make me nervous! Well, at least life isn't boring.
There are definite upsides to the publicity. For example, today I can be lazy. I don't need to write a long post for my blog. Instead, I can cheat with this short one, and point you to the articles where someone else has done the hard work. I hope you enjoy reading their view of me. I know I've already put the links above but, to make it easy, here they are again:
The National article, Prudent living allowed me to retire from work at the age of 48 (March 2018)
The Forbes.com article, How two couples fund their fun in early retirement (August 2017)
Rockstar Finance featured my post, How the other half lives - my wife's view of my early retirement (October 2017)