What does retirement look like to you?

What does retirement look like to you?

          Recently I was asked to provide some information to an article about what people who retire early do.

          I have always considered being retired means you can do what you want.

          This means something different to everybody.

          Some just want to fish every day, others look forward to spending their time doing crafts and hobbies, or travel.

          Many people use their time and experience to do charity work locally and in other countries.

          Then there are the ones that have retired from one career but still want to pursue other business ventures. It’s not saying that we don’t want to do some of the other things listed above and may start spending more time on those activities but at this point, it’s time to “put the training to use”.

          All the experiences that we have built in our previous careers allow us to pick and choose the parts that we feel fit into the new venture.

          In the article on the site Wisebread.com Living Large On A Small Budget, I provided one option of the 9 Things People Who Retire Early Do.

          In my case, it was purchasing and renovating 3 Laundromats in 7 months. Not an easy task but I used the experienced gained in my previous career to complete the Due Diligence and supervise the renovations.

          One thing I have found in this business is that a Laundromat is a part of many communities and providing a clean, well lit, safe, convenient store is important to the health and welfare of the customers. Gone are the days of dingy, dark stores with broken machines.

          At this point in time, this is what retirement looks like to me. Running Laundromats, online marketing and telling my stories.

          I have some other plans in the works for the next retirement in a few more years but for now I am enjoying the flexibility of this venture.

So what does retirement look like to you?

Ken Barrett
Multi-Store Laundromat Owner