Mini-Retirements: Test Driving Financial Independence | Ep 561

ChooseFI

Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media

Financialindependence, Investing, Firemovement, Passiveincome, Frugalliving, Personalfinancepodcast, Daveramsey, Careers, Business, Earlyretirement, Habits

4.8 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Brad Barrett welcomes Jillian Johnsrud, author of Retire Often, as they delve into the transformative concept of mini retirements. Jillian shares her insights on how taking intentional breaks from work can enrich life experiences, enhance personal growth, and help individuals navigate transitions on their journey towards financial independence.

Key Topics Discussed:

Introduction to Mini Retirements
- Overview of the concept and its significance within the financial independence community.
What is a Mini Retirement?
- Jillian defines mini retirements as intentional breaks of one month or longer focused on meaningful activities.
The Importance of Seasons of Life
- Discussion on recognizing and embracing life's unpredictable seasons and their relation to experiences.
Practicing Early Retirement
- The necessity of practicing life beyond work before transitioning into full retirement to build confidence.
Overcoming the Fear of Retirement
- Exploring common fears related to stepping away from work and how to leverage the fear of regret as motivation.
Finding Balance in Life Experiences
- Tips on focusing on one to two meaningful goals during a mini retirement to create a fulfilling experience.

Key Quotes:

"Mini retirements are intentional breaks to enrich life experiences."
"Embrace life's unpredictability; seize the moment for experiences now."
"Practice mini retirements to master the art of living beyond work."

Actionable Takeaways:

Attempt a mini retirement for a month to discover personal interests and break from routine.
Focus on one or two meaningful goals during your mini retirement for a fulfilling experience.

Discussion Questions:

What experiences resonate with you when thinking about a mini retirement?
How does understanding life's seasons impact your financial journey?

Resources Mentioned:

Retire Often Book - Jillian Johnsrud's guide on incorporating mini retirements into life.
Retire Often Group Coaching - A supportive resources for individuals seeking guidance on financial independence and lifestyle design.

Related Episodes:

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Choose a Phi. Today on the show, we have her good friend Jillian Johns
0:03.9	Rood, who's back with a new book. The book is Retire Often, and she's been on the show
0:08.9	previously talking about many retirements. And this is a concept that has really taken hold
0:13.9	in the Phi community, largely because of Jillian's tireless work of bringing this to our attention.
0:20.1	It's really critical. And I think it'll
0:22.3	help us design a better life generally, especially on our path to FI. It used to be FI was this one
0:29.1	monolithic thing where we would just save, save, save, we'd wake up, we'd hit a number, and that would
0:35.4	be that. And what next was the question that a lot of us asked?
0:39.1	And I think what's really cool about the concept of many retirements is this helps you practice.
0:43.9	It helps you practice all along the journey of what is next. What do I want my life to look like?
0:49.6	I think this is really critically profound. I think you're really going to enjoy this episode.
0:54.6	And with that, welcome to choose that fine.
1:04.3	Gillian, welcome back to the show.
1:06.1	It is always good to see you.
1:07.4	It is always so lovely to see you.
1:10.2	Yeah, this should be fun. So we,
1:12.5	you and I talk quite often offline. So I was going through, I think the last time you're on the show
1:18.2	was episode 451, where we actually talked about many retirements, unsurprisingly. And I listened to
1:24.4	that episode this morning. And A, it was great. B, it was a nice overview of the whole conceptual framework of many retirements. But you actually floated, oh, I'm thinking about writing a book. I think I'm in the early stages of it. And lo and behold, that book has now come to fruition. It's publishing. Isn't that amazing? Oh, man. So it's coming out September 9th, and it's called Retire Often. Yeah. Very cool. So, yeah, it was neat kind of hearing that blast from the past. So for everyone who's interested, I think I'm not going to give you a ton of homework, but go back and listen to episode 451. It's absolutely fantastic. Many retirements, thanks to Gillian, have really become a central piece of the modern
2:07.2	financial independence movement. I think to me, two of the biggest changes in FI have been
2:13.0	the concept of Coast FI, which are friends over at at the Fineers, have helped coin and popularize
2:19.3	and mini-retirements, which are the brainchild of Gillian in our community.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.