Turning 50: Preparing for Retirement and Living a Life Fueled by Passion

So, I’m turning 50 this year (2023). My honest first reaction is that I can’t believe it! I still feel like I’m in my late 20s, which I guess is both good (young at heart) and bad (immature). When I was in my 20s, 50 seemed far away and so old. Today, I feel that 50 isn’t too old yet. 😅

The past 10 years, from 40 to 50, have gone by so quickly. Most of those years were spent on work, with little time for personal pursuits like travel or photography, and I never felt free from work, even on my rest days or during holidays. Besides, since turning 40, I’ve started to see the end and worry more about aging and such.

Preparing for Old Age Through Cycling

We have no control over how we die, but we can influence how we age by regularly exercising and eating healthily, etc. I’m not a sporty person, but I started cycling on a folding bike in 2020, as cycling was still allowed during the COVID lockdown. Since then, I’ve been riding about 30km every weekend.

I’m grateful that I’ve picked up cycling (in a way, thanks to COVID 😅) because I now have something to look forward to every weekend. In terms of aging, cycling surely helps with mobility and prepares me for old age, so I plan to keep riding for as long as I can!

My folding bike at the Merlion Viewing Platform in Singapore, taken during the COVID border closure (which is why nobody is around 😅).

Work, Retirement, and the Fear of Running Out of Time

Another thing always on my mind is how many more years I should be working full-time. The worst scenario is working until my 60s and passing on soon after retiring. Then, what’s the point of working all those years?

Dying without enjoying the retirement years is hardly acceptable. At this moment, I’m aiming to retire at 55, as I’d rather retire early with less money to spend than work into my 60s and continue losing my precious time on this planet, because there is no guarantee that I’ll remain healthy and live a long life.

That said, quitting work while still having a full-time income is scary, 😱 as I can never come back to a decently paid job in my late 50s, especially considering my low employability. However, saying that, I can never retire. 🤣 So, when the right time comes, I’ll need to take the plunge, give up the potential income, and free myself from the unfulfilling day job before it gets too late.

An Introvert’s Struggle in the Corporate World

During my so-called “career” being an extreme introvert, I was always happy to stay in the background, doing my job and avoiding the spotlight. The funny thing is that I finally moved into a managerial position for the first time at 47, then was surprised to find out that the manager’s job is easier and paid much higher for seemingly less important work. 🤣

In a way, the corporate world isn’t kind to those hardworking, non-managerial employees who lack leadership (like me 😅). These are the people who are always underrated and underappreciated for the high-quality work they do.

Anyway, never mind, as I’ll be out of it soon! At the end of the day, corporate work isn’t “my stuff.” It’s someone else’s business. Once I’ve retired, I’m finally going to live for my passions—traveling and shooting cityscapes at blue hour in my favorite cities around Asia and beyond. 😀

LASTLIGHTS.NET is my passion project, focusing on long exposure photography at blue hour.

Retirement: My Second Chance at Life

Whenever I came across the phrase, “Life begins at retirement,” I always felt it’s too late. Indeed, it’s quite late for your life to start at 60 or 70, but in reality, it is probably what it is for ordinary people like myself, considering how little free time I have in my everyday life, all because full-time work takes up a huge chunk of my time and sucks up all my energy. 😫

So, yes, I’m really looking forward to retirement to take back my time, but there is another reason to look forward to it, which is to redeem my mediocre life.

Looking back on my 50 years in the rearview mirror, I can’t say I have a ton of great memories. During my school days, I was always an awkward, uncool kid. Corporate life has also been a struggle with my nonexistent leadership and social skills.

As is often the case with such people, I turned online, aspiring to be somebody I could never be in my real (offline) life. Since the 2000s, I’ve launched a few websites/blogs, but none took off. 😅

So, these are the reasons why I’m looking forward to retirement. Indeed, it’s my last chance to truly enjoy my life. I’ll retire early, stay healthy, live super long, and spend as much time and energy as needed to live my life shooting photography for passion. With retirement on the horizon, I have no doubt that the best days are still ahead of me. 😀

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About the Author: LASTLIGHTS.NET is a passion project of Joey J, a Singapore-based Japanese photographer primarily shooting cityscape photography with long exposure at blue hour. Visit his Photo Gallery (40 most favourite photos taken) or download his free eBook, Getting Started with Long Exposure Photography .