2 Years Into Early Retirement, Is Skill Decay Real?

Coming up on 2 years of early retirement, am I still capable of doing my old job? Is all of my knowledge obsolete? Do I even care?

When I retired early in 2022, I was 51. I was arguably in the peak of my career in terms of experience, earning ability, and skills. It was an easy decision to leave the stress and frustration of corporate life behind, but I was worried that I was also saying goodbye to something else… my relevance.

Things we say to make ourselves feel better

A story I’ve always told myself on this journey in early retirement is that “hey, if this doesn’t work out, I can always go back to my job.” I mean, I left on good terms, right? No bridges were burned.

But now that I’m almost 2 years away from the office, I wonder if it’s true - if I really could just jump back into my old job like nothing happened?

The reality is that the longer I’m retired, the more my knowledge about my old role fades into distant memory.

Knowledge is important…

I’m not going to lie. I like to know things.

“That’s what I do. I drink, and I know things.” - Tyrion Lannister

I used to be able to whip up a quick Python script to solve some data problem that was too difficult for Microsoft Excel. I knew how to use Python to answer questions that the spreadsheet jockeys couldn’t get their heads around. Now, I wonder if I could even print “Hello World.”

I used to know the technical design of complicated workflows and logic for very important applications in my company. I was critical to the success of many of our key tools and processes. That knowledge is mostly still there, but likely obsolete. After all, business changes, and so their processes and workflows must change too.

I used to know people. Important people. People who knew how to get things done. People to lean on when processes break down or there is an urgent company fire to put out.

We all need to call in a favor now and then.

It is the orchestration of those relationships - of people who know how to do things - that turns an employee into a miracle worker.

But the truth is, my transition from colleague to former colleague coupled with the simple lack of working together means those relationships are no longer what they were. And people (and their roles) change. I can no longer step in tomorrow and orchestrate a miracle.

Am I stressed or depressed that the knowledge I have built over a long and successful career is now going by the wayside?

No. Knowledge is important…

… but it’s less important than skill

Knowledge about something can be forgotten, but skills are a little more sticky.

I can’t tell you anything about the first bike I owned as a kid, but I can still ride a bike.

When I would conduct interviews for potential new hires for my team, I paid very little attention to the resume, instead focusing on the conversation. I was less interested in what they knew, but rather how they think… their skill to acquire knowledge was more important to me than the knowledge itself.

Here are some skills that are just as strong in early retirement as they were in my working prime.

Skill #1: I continue to be a life long learner.

A very big skill throughout my career has been that I’m a lifelong learner. Before I knew Python programming, I learned Perl programming. Why? Because at the time, we needed something done in Perl. Why did I learn Python? Because we needed something done in Python. Same with Java. Same with JavaScript. Same with C.

That hasn’t changed in early retirement.

• I have been learning bookkeeping because we need better bookkeeping for our small business.

• I’ve been learning tax optimization because we want to pay our fair share, but nothing more.

• I’ve been learning about investment allocation because we want to optimize our return on risk in a household that’s increasingly dependent on market returns for income.

When we are retired, we have permission to forget how to do those things we no longer need to know how to do. It’s no longer relevant for me to know anything about the Python programming language. But I could re-learn it with little effort. I’m confident of that.

So go ahead and forget stuff. I promise you won’t shrivel up into a mindless potato, because you’re going to be so busy learning new things that are more relevant to your life now.

Skill #2: I still ask questions and think critically.

A second big skill in my career has been the willingness to ask questions that no one else seems to be asking. Seriously, I would often listen in meetings and think to myself “Does no one else see this trainwreck that’s about to happen?” Others saw it. I know they did. But they were afraid to tug on a loose thread.

Not me. Work was far more interesting with a little boat rocking. A lot of my best projects started with me pulling at a thread that others ignored.

Autopilot is boring - stay engaged

I’ve never been content operating on autopilot - careers are boring on autopilot. You have to be willing to question the status quo and be an agent for change, not just in your career but in your own life.

I’ve learned that retirement is not all fishing trips and BBQs. We still have to spend time thinking, analyzing, and making hard decisions.

Retirement is definitely not the time to go on autopilot, especially when it comes to our finances. I know good people in the financial services industry, but there are also MANY bad actors looking to siphon away your savings.

Retirement is not a time to go on autopilot.

High fees and questionable financial products are everywhere.

It’s not the scammy email from the Nigerian prince that you need to worry about. You know, the one who needs you to send him $400 so he can unlock his millions?

No, it’s the legitimate financial products and firms that target retirees that are sometimes terrible, or maybe just unnecessary.

When you finally leave your job, you will get multiple calls from financial services companies claiming that they handle the retiree accounts for [Insert Your Company Here] and pitch for control of your retirement accounts. They’ll want 1% of your portfolio every year, whether you make any money or not.

We need to continue to apply the same intellectual curiosity about our retirement assets that we did in that very complicated job we were so good at. You were good at sniffing out BS products and shady vendors at work. You can do the same in your financial life.

Skill #3: I am comfortable being uncomfortable.

Early retirement is working out so far, but when I retired, it was a very uncomfortable time to be giving up a stable job and salary.

Da bear

When I left, we were in the middle of a bear market and record inflation. It was scary stuff, but I knew (based on market history) that there was a pretty good chance we would be better off, not worse off, in a few years. And that has proven to be true. Our net worth has increased since leaving my job in 2022.

Fighting complacency

I left my job for a reason - I was tired of being a technology manager. I was tired of neglecting weekends, vacations, personal interests, and my physical health. But mostly, I felt like I had become too comfortable in the role. When that happens, it is a cue that it’s time to seek out new challenges. It’s uncomfortable to step away from the easy and familiar, but I’ve become good at that over the years.

Retirement as a new job

Like any new job, retirement has its challenges. There will be growing pains. A lot of your current knowledge about those TPS reports from finance, or that super important company application will be meaningless. But that’s ok, because it’s the skills you’ve built over your career, not the knowledge, that will help you to adapt, change, grow, and continue to be relevant in this new “job” of retirement.

Go forth - you are your own client now. You are the CEO, CFO, and senior architect of your own retirement experience.