Freedom at 45

I came across a blog called "Canadian Dream: Free at 45" in a news article today. The title was intriguing. We keep hearing about the American Dream so often. But what do the Canadians dream of? And what kind of freedom does the blogger dream of, at 45?

I soon learnt that at least one Canadian, if not all, dreams of early retirement and is looking for freedom from work as soon as possible. Tim Stobbs, 32, recently wrote a week-long series on his retirement plans in the next 13 years, with a salary of less than $80,000 a year. It earned him a lot of flak from readers as they questioned his expectations of interest rates, inflation and other math that went into his future planning, to be able to retire so soon.

One of the readers related his friend's example saying that he too had made similar plans to retire early. But the wife divorced him for living so frugally and there went half the money in alimony :P Another said that he couldn't imagine his life without work for he had finally found the work he loved.

That last comment echoes my thoughts too. I can't imagine myself doing work that I do not enjoy or I'd soon be writing my own Freedom 21. Interestingly, Tim too says that after retirement, he plans to work at what interests him rather than what pays the most. Now I can't say I have figured out the kind of work I can't live without, yet, but the search is on.