I recently retired from a career as a software developer to
write. This has meant significant changes in how I spend my time, in my social
life, and in my family’s finances. These are just some of the lessons I’ve
learned during my first year of retirement. Note that this is all lifestyle and
finance advice – I’m not going to say anything about what you write. I’m also
not giving any advice about how to make money from your writing. In my case, I only retired once I knew I didn’t have to make any
money from writing to survive.
1. Set up a schedule
and stick to it. Once you’ve quit your day job, all sorts of other
activities may creep in to eat up your freed up time. Maybe that’s fine to a
point, but you have to manage it. You need to set up a work schedule for you
new job of being a writer and stick to it just like it’s a job. Sure, you can
give yourself sick days and vacation, but you should also try to make up for
any time you miss. Worry about your productivity the same way you did while you
were working for someone else or running your own business. I don’t think I can
write forty hours a week, so I’ve consciously carved off Mondays and Tuesday
mornings for spending more time with my wife and doing work around the house.
That leaves me about thirty hours a week to be a writer.
2. Find a place to
write. I have a very nice writing spot at home. It’s a lovely office with
built in bookshelves and a big, heavy desk that my wife refinished. I could
write there all day, but I would have trouble focusing. I do other things at
that desk, and there are too many distractions close at hand. So, most of my
writing happens somewhere else, usually at libraries or the local university. I
try to repeat the same schedule every week, so I know where I’m going and my
wife knows where I’ll be. This makes it feel like I'm going to work and writing really is my job.It also helps me plan regular lunches or events
with friends and other writers. This brings me to…
3. Maintain human
contact. Before I retired, most of my social interaction came through my
job. My career required me to work with other people to create things and get
things done. I also made good friends at work. Social interaction was required and
happened every day. Now, unless I actively seek the company of others, I’ll loose
all those connections and not forge new ones. The disadvantage now is that it
takes more effort, but the advantage is that all of my social interactions are
of my choosing. I make sure I get together with friends for lunch, or to play
games. I interact with them a bit more on social media. I make better use of
the time I have with them. This also leads to…
4. Seek the company
of writers. Most writers you interact with won’t be full time, but they’ll
be dealing with many of the same writing and publishing issues as you, and
they’ll be eager to talk about them. They’ll also be much more understanding of
rejections and the sacrifices you make to write. I belong to two small critique
groups made up of writers I trust. One meets monthly and the other weekly, and
they’re equally valuable for emotional support and writing feedback. (I’ll be
writing another article soon about how critique groups can form and be
maintained.) You can find other writers at writing get-togethers, like
conferences, community college classes, or meetups (check out Shut up and Write!).
5. Continue your
writing education. There are some wonderful craft books, YouTube videos and
podcasts out there for writers. Find them. Use them. However, nothing beats
classes with other writers. These can be short sessions at a local writer’s
conference, or classes at a local university or community college. I live in
Milwaukee, where I have so many options. The University of Wisconsin offers
three major writers conferences every year and the local community colleges
have inexpensive courses on writing for publication. I’ve taken advantage of all
of these, and right now I’m enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
for a master’s degree in creative writing. There are scholarships and teaching
assistant positions available to help with the cost, but I’m taking advantage
of Wisconsin’s very generous state GI bill. Also, once I turn 60, I can audit
any class in the UW system for free. Most states I’ve checks have similar
programs for veterans and senior citizens.
6. Set writing goals.
When I was working and trying to find time to write, I knew that every hour of
writing was precious. Once I had all the time in the world, productivity didn’t
seem so urgent. To fix this, I needed to be my own boss and give myself
deadlines. If you don’t think you can manage this, partner with another writer
and give each other deadlines and goals. Make sure you include time for
marketing, critiquing other writer’s work, building a social media platform,
researching stories and markets, outlining, and education. Word count is
probably the most important goal, but it isn’t everything. I’m writing this
blog right now because it’s on my task list for this week.
7. Use a financial
advisor. You can’t write if you don’t eat. All the rest of this advice
doesn’t matter if you can’t retire with some degree of financial confidence.
Maybe you have writing income you can count on, maybe you don’t. In either
case, using a financial advisor to help you decide when you’re ready to
retire and what lifestyle is realistic can give you some peace of mind.
Financial advisors aren’t cheap, but just avoiding one or two financial
landmines is enough to justify their fee. Having said this, the next three
points cover some specific financial advice.
8. Make sure you have
an affordable health insurance option. Health insurance will probably be
the single biggest expense for early retirees, at least until Medicare kicks in
at age 65. You may have to get insurance on the open market. The problem is
that you’re old compared to everyone else and more likely to have health
issues, so your premiums are going to be expensive. My wife and I are in good
health, but our full rate premiums would be about $1800 per month. First, you
should see if you’re eligible for coverage through a spouse’s plan, or maybe an
extended group plan through a union. You can probably get COBRA coverage from
your last employer, but you’ll likely pay the full premium, which can be
expensive. If you’re retirement income isn’t high, the Affordable Care Act may
be a good option. With an adjusted gross income of around $60 thousand or less
for a couple, the ACA subsidies may cover most of your premiums.
9. Consider the Rule
of 55. If you retire before age 59 ½, you’ll generally pay penalties on any
money you withdraw from 401k plans and traditional IRAs. There are a couple
exceptions to this and ways to avoid the penalties that your financial advisor
can help you with. I’m actually using the lesser-known IRS “Rule of 55.” You should look up the IRS rules on
this, but basically, if you leave an employer in the year you turn 55, or
later, you can withdraw money from that employer’s 401k plan without penalty,
as if you were already 59 ½.
10. Reserve some
money for writing expenses. If you’re already a successful writer when you
retire, you’ll have a good understanding of what writing expenses you have to
build into your retirement budget. If you don't already have a career going,
but hope to start one, you should do some research on how much money you’ll
need for your new career. Are you going to maintain an author web page or have
someone else do it for you? How are you going to produce your marketing
materials and get them in front of readers? What about the cost of writer’s
conferences? If you’re going to self publish, remember that you’ll have to pay
cover artists, editors and sensitivity readers and possibly pay up front for
any physical books.
