Prosperity in Retirement Through The Joy of Not Working

On January 1, 1991 I started writing The Joy of Not Working and made an agreement with myself that I would have it completed in rough by July 31 of that year. It turned out that I completed it one day ahead of schedule, on July 30 — in other words, exactly 20 years ago today.

In The Joy of Not Working and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, I talked about how I don't like working too much in the months that don't have an "r" in them, the warmest months most suited for leisure time. At the time, I thought about how great it would be to be prosperous enough to work very little — or not at all — in these four months and still earn $10,000 a month for each of these months. It turns out that in the last 3 months (ones with no "r" in them) I have worked very little and have still earned over $10,000 in gross pretax income for each month largely due to sales of How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free.

To me this is true prosperity. I just want to make a point that there is great opportunity for anyone with a bit of motivation and determination to also attain this type of freedom and prosperity.

I just don't want to make it sound easy, however. It isn't easy and it's a good thing that it isn't easy. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it.

Perhaps you have noticed that the people are looking for the easy way out are the people who are broke, and even in debt big time. These are the people who go from one seminar to another seminar about how to make money but never ever achieve anything because they are not commited to anything. Others do spirtual meditations on prosperity and recite affirmations until they are blue in the face. Years later they are still broke wondering why the universe hasn't responded. Nothing has changed in their lives.

Most of these people will also end up with very little money in retirement, living at the poverty line, relying on winning a lottery as a retirement plan. If you want to have a happy retirement living a comfortable lifestyle, I would suggest that you get your act together and create something worthwhile for humanity regardless of how much struggle you have to put into it. Your retirement plan will then look more like my retirement plan. and you will find 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement.

It may sound a bit weird that I am giving this advice on a Saturday in a month that doesn't have an "r" in it. Fact is, 20 years ago I was actively working 4 or 5 hours a day every day of the week on The Joy of Not Working. The payoff didn't happen until later, some of it much later. (The book has earned me well over $650,000 and still brings me a passive income of about $10,000 a year.)

In short, this quotation applies:

"Much of tomorrow’s success
and prosperity will depend
upon what you do today.
The question is:
What seeds of success and
prosperity do you intend
to plant before the end of today?"
— from Life's Secret Handbook

Also see Letters about The Joy of Not Working