The Pretired.org six month blogoversary

6monthIt was a dark evening in March when I stared long and hard at the blinking cursor in the new Pretired.org dashboard before writing these words:

Many terms have been tossed about: “early retirement”, “pre-retirement”, “semi-retired”, “working part-time”, etc. None have really captured the exact meaning as well as “pretired” has.

If retirement is doing nothing, then pretirement is doing what you want to do.

Now, nearly at 50 posts, two Liebster nominations, a new Facebook page and Twitter account, nearly 700 comments and rapidly rising site traffic, I have to stand back in awe. Not so much of the body of work I’ve produced, but of all of you. The emails, comments and even your clicks keep me motivated to keep explaining my perspective on financial freedom.

The search engine terms people use to find the site tell the story of who is reading. These people are aching to be free of their corporate prisons, they’re looking for ways to pay off their mortgages quickly, they’re realizing they bought too much house and they’re figuring out how much house they should buy. In general, they just want to be free and spend more time with their families.

In other words, they’re just like me.

I am not an expert investor and I didn’t figure this out early enough to reach financial freedom in my 30s. I always knew I wanted my investments to cover my expenses so I could be free. Now I want to show the world not just HOW to do it, but to show how possible it is. For most people, pretirement is impossible because they believe it’s impossible. I love watching people do the math for themselves and suddenly undergo an abrupt mindset shift.

Finding the right path to pretirement is a challenge, but understanding HOW to get there was the big missing piece for me when I was still working full time.

And I’m still learning. I’ve made just about every mistake in the book and I’m making more each day. But I’m getting just a little bit smarter every day. This site has been part of that learning process. It’s made me think a bit more deeply about what I’m doing and it’s helped add discipline to my personal life as well.

I’m hoping to build the site that I wish I’d been able to read 20 years ago. Maybe I’ll suddenly get bored and stop blogging. But probably not right away. I still have a lot I want to say and a lot to learn so I’m not going anywhere any time soon.

Thanks for sticking around.

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28 Thoughts on “The Pretired.org six month blogoversary

  1. Congrats on your Blogoversary! I haven’t been here from the start, but I will make sure to be here to say “happy birthday” when your blog is 1 year old and yearly from that date on… and see it grow bigger and bigger! Keep up the great work and good luck!
    C. the Romanian recently posted…Time to Work with a Five Year Plan!My Profile

  2. “I’m hoping to build the site that I wish I’d been able to read 20 years ago.” That is such a wonderful sentiment, Nick and precisely what we are doing on ours and with our book. What a wonderful way to pay it all forward. Looking forward to more of the same from your fun and useful site! Have a gummy bear on a sundae type day!

  3. Congrats on your 6 month anniversary! Your experiences have been great motivation to kick our butts into gear. Well, mostly mine, since I read your blog, but then I motivate my husband.
    SavvyFinancialLatina recently posted…Home Buying Tips for First TimersMy Profile

  4. Congrats Nick! I just hit 7 months and it’s pretty crazy when I think about how much I’ve learned from this community in that time. There are a ton of really smart people out there and blogging has connected me to a lot of new ideas. You’ve got a great thing going on here. I’m looking forward to what comes next.
    Matt Becker recently posted…5 Tips For Traveling With a BabyMy Profile

    • Pretired Nick on August 7, 2013 at 6:15 am said:

      Thanks, Matt. I don’t know what’s next, but it’ll be to find out. Glad you’re aboard for the journey!

  5. Congratulations on six months!

    So far, I’ve found the hardest part of starting things up to be just convincing myself to start the thing up!
    No Waste recently posted…We Killed $30,000 In Student Loans (Part I)My Profile

    • Pretired Nick on August 7, 2013 at 6:27 am said:

      Yeah, I thought about it for probably a year or more before jumping in. I’m enjoying it quite a bit so far so I’m glad I did it, though!

  6. Congrats on 6 months! You are definitely one of my favorite blogs 🙂
    Michelle recently posted…$11,117 in July Extra Income – Growing but I crave stabilityMy Profile

  7. Happy blogoversary, Nick! Your increasing readership and growth are well deserved! YOu are inspiration for me, not only as a pretiree, but also as a blogger. I look forward to what Pretired has in store for the future! 🙂
    Lisa E. @ Lisa Vs. The Loans recently posted…Who Wants to be a Millionaire?My Profile

  8. Congrats on 6 months Nick (or Nick number 2 as I like to refer to you). I know how much work it takes to get here, as I reached the same milestone earlier this week. Best of luck to you for the remainder of your first year!
    Nick @ ayoungpro.com recently posted…Five Frugality Rules to Improve Your LifeMy Profile

  9. A very merry half-birthday to you! To me? Yes you!

    Thanks for the kind and gracious words, but you are the one who should be proud for all the good content and thoughts on the blog. Cheers to you, Nick!
    Done by Forty recently posted…Fantasy Football Trades & Behavioral EconomicsMy Profile

  10. Congratulations on six months of blogging! Getting involved in the PF blogosphere has definitely increased how much I’ve learned about money and investing. It’s a great thing indeed.
    E.M. recently posted…July Goals Review & Goals for AugustMy Profile

    • Pretired Nick on August 7, 2013 at 7:23 pm said:

      Yeah, there’s an old saying in the medical world when they train doctors: “see one, do one, teach one.” It’s only when we teach do we really internalize our learning.

  11. Happy 6 month blogoversary! Glad you decided to start a blog 6 months ago…really enjoy reading it!
    Andrew@LivingRichCheaply recently posted…Is There a Fast and Easy Way to Prosperity?My Profile

  12. Way to go and nice work! I love your work and do look forward to meeting you someday for some of that Spuds!
    Mr. 1500 recently posted…Thursday Rant: Can I borrow some money?My Profile

  13. I’m so glad you’re not going anywhere anytime soon. For me, your site offers hope and strategies to make sure that we are headed in the right direction!

    Cheers to you Pretired Nick!

  14. Congrats Nick!! I’m still new to the personal finance website world, but I’ve really enjoyed your site so far.

    700 comments sticks out to me as an extremely impressive number! How have you been able to foster such interest and feedback? Any tips would be extremely helpful…

    • Pretired Nick on August 12, 2013 at 6:29 pm said:

      Thanks, Brad! I’d certainly share the secrets to my success if I was doing anything on purpose. Basically I haven’t done too much in terms of actively seeking a following and have just been writing about what I feel like writing about. But then maybe that is the secret…?

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