When I start talking about my early retirement goals and what I am doing to reach them I often get the same reaction...You'll be bored, Won't you miss the challenge of working? Won't you miss the people you work with? Why would you want to make such huge standard of living sacrifices now? How can you live on so little? I could never live without-cable TV, a house, eating out, the latest electronic gadget, expensive vacations, expensive clothes, my toys, a new car/truck/boat...etc.I was beginning to think I was just weird until I found other like minded people on-line, people willing to challenge the typical notions of 'fun' and 'living well'.
I took a personality test last year when I tried out an on-line dating site. This was a temperament test. There are 4 temperament categories: Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic. People are usually a combination of 2 temperaments. You can read the descriptions here: Four Temperaments I am 65% Melancholic, 35% Phlegmatic.
That started me thinking about the other people that can relate to my goals and those that are on the same path. I ran across this article at The Retire Early Home Page. It talks about the MyersBriggs personality types:
(E)xtroverted or (I)ntroverted
(S)ensing or I(N)tuition
(T)hinking or (F)eeling
(J)udging or (P)erceiving
There are many on-line tests to find out your personality type but most if not all charge a fee. The cheapest way to take the test is to get a book that has the test from the library.
The survey asked which types are more likely to want to retire early, who are happy being retired, and who stay retired. The most common types from their survey were ISTJ, INTJ, and INTP. The article did acknowledge that this was an internet survey so the respondents were also the type of people who used the internet which probably skewed the results.
I love these results because I am an ISTJ and I feel like I finally belong in this group. Being an introvert I need less social interaction than the majority of people. Extrovert are the majority of the population. I want to be my own boss, I can't stand performance evaluations, group projects or scheduled hours. Actually, I really just have the wrong job for my personality type which is why my goal is to become financially secure as fast as possible (before I do anything stupid like walk in one day and quit) so that I have the freedom to find the path that is right for me.
