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This is Optimal Finance Daily Episode 1788. Retiring early has nothing to do with doing nothing by Chris Rining of ChrisRining.com.

And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Mariam.

This is the show where I serenade you with the sweet sounds of personal finance knowledge from some of the best blogs on the planet, with the author's permission of course, and we're going to get right to today's post as we optimize your life.

Retiring early has nothing to do with doing nothing by Chris Rining of ChrisRining.com.

The early retirement movement continues to gain traction mostly because there's an increasing amount of media coverage.

When I agree to stories, they go viral. I guess retiring before 40 is pretty intriguing, but here's a little secret.

I never liked sharing my story because it always felt braggy to me.

When my picture was splashed across the front page of the New York Times wealth section for becoming a millionaire, coverage people would die for. I hated it.

That was when I was still working. People at my office saw the article and sent emails. Congrats, you must be so proud.

I never responded. But as time goes on, I'm better at embracing all this. What changed? Well, I see the exposure as opportunity.

If my story inspires you, then I know I have a chance to help you. That's what I'm trying to do here.

Of course, these stories also bring naysayers. Here's one recent email.

Quote, doesn't it make you feel like a bit of a fraud to claim to be financially independent while you're spending a lot of time working and earning money from your website?

All this work makes it seem like a career, maybe one you enjoy more than the one you had before, and not retirement.

Quote, people have this idea that if you retire early, you're supposed to be on a beach. Sitting there, rubbing coconut oil on your body, turning into some old, stupid, wrinkled sack of organs and bones.

Look, retiring early has nothing to do with doing nothing. That's not the objective. It's about having control over your time.

I asked my private email list, what financial independence means to them, and not one person mentioned a beach. Why? They're intelligent, ambitious people.

They want more time to watch their kids grow up, to do more meaningful work, the means to take a risk.

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