YRetirement got better when hobbies stopped being assignments
A layoff at 47 brought a planned retirement trial forward. Three years later, Yangoose enjoyed games, films, classes, cycling, and time with family. He was comfortable letting leisure stay unproductive.
Finances
Investments at retirement2023-09 · Household
$1,200,000
Liquid assets; about $500,000 home equity separately disclosed.
Author reported retiring with $1.2 million and having $2.1 million about three years later. He attributed the change to market performance, low expenses and his wife's part-time school job, which also provides health insurance.
Editorial summaries with short, attributed quotations. The original contains the full story.
2024Year 1
Post 02
A much longer summer vacation
“I think I just have a finite amount of patience in a given day and now instead of using it all up on my job, I get to be more gracious and kind to my loved ones and that's pretty great.”
Played games, watched old films, took classes and rode an e-bike.
Volunteered with foster children and took a large theme-park trip with his adult children and their partners.
How it felt
No longer required leisure to prove that retirement was productive. “The one thing I haven't been is productive, and I'm OK with that.”
Saw identity and contentment as work that money and free time could not complete by themselves. “More time just lets you be more of what you already are.”
The original Reddit page was reviewed during its October 2026 publication window, but the accessible rendering exposed only a relative timestamp; month precision is retained.
Retirement section
Retirement won't change who you are section
Post title and opening financial context
Editorial summaries with short, attributed quotations. The original contains the full story.
The job can end before the pressure to be productive does.
2 min read
Research
Last checked Oct 2026. The accounts are self-reported. This timeline follows selected accounts, including recollections where labeled; it is not a complete archive.
Public self-report; no independently verified finances or later developments.
Selected public self-reports, not a complete archive or independent verification of finances.