He makes $200K a year from investments but still bags groceries – should I keep a low stress side gig when I retire?

I think it’s safe to say that whenever anyone strikes it rich, the hope is that they can walk away from a stressful job and either retire completely or find something without the same baggage. While this won’t be everyone’s dream, many people need daily activity without the stress. 

This is the scenario with one individual posting in r/ChubbyFIRE inquiring about how crazy one of their clients may or may not be. This individual earns a substantial investment income on a net worth of $5 million but decided to bag groceries at a supermarket for a low-stress role. 

Of course, this begs the question of whether this is a crazy idea or if this Redditor’s client is really the smartest person in the room and we’re all just trying to keep up. 

The Situation

When you look at this Redditor’s post, you learn that they are trying to FIRE but have around 13-15 years left before achieving this goal. However, they are inquiring about what they may want to do after they hit this goal and finally have the means to walk away from the daily grind. 

This question likely stems from the Redditor’s client list of those whose net worth often exceeds $5 million and who work odd jobs. These odd jobs include working at a golf course, one at a jewelry store behind the counter, and another bagging groceries while having an investment income exceeding $200,000 annually. 

The Redditor has even seen individuals who have decided to drive for Uber to avoid boredom. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen that driving for Uber is more than just a fad, and it’s something people should consider if they want to interact with others outside of an office building. 

Of course, the Redditor is curious about how many other individuals in the FIRE world, especially ChubbyFIRE, are working odd jobs and, more importantly, why. 

Keeping Active and Busy

It goes without saying that the Reddit comment section was undoubtedly filled with people with strong opinions on this topic. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only are there individuals who agree with Redditor’s clients, but there are also many individuals who do it for similar reasons. 

One Redditor talks about a friend who took a job at a local LEGO store while retired because they loved LEGOs and wanted to stay busy. Another commenter talks about how they started buying and selling things on eBay while working toward FIRE and plan to keep doing it while retired because it’s an exciting hobby. 

Another individual talked about becoming a school bus driver, and quite a few more volunteer or recommend this Redditor look at r/baristafire, where thousands of individuals talk about doing an odd job because they want to do something to stay busy. 

More Common Than Ever

It’s fair to say that this Reddit post isn’t the exception to the rule, as more and more baby boomers are taking on side hustles to keep busy or add a little extra income to their lives. More importantly, there is no shame in staying busy and keeping the hustle going, even if it’s something as basic as bagging groceries or working at a jewelry store. 

What matters more is that these individuals are already well-established financially, so they have done something many of us hope to achieve one day. Better yet, they do what many people strive to achieve by making financial decisions without worrying about what others might think.