Retirement, the state of having worked in the past but now being done with working, is a troubled concept. Given that it is a marginally possible golden carrot dangled in front of working life, how do you prepare to make it happen, when do you want it to happen, and how can you craft a post-work identity - when it happens or otherwise? For a lot of people, not working is the thing people talk about with the most anxiety. In this episode, we look at the history and concept of retirement in order to understand how it works, how people make it happen, what’s weird about it, and what early retirement – the alternative retirement timeline – is about. Bottom Lines Top Dollars is a podcast about all the money things you suspect might be ruining your life, hosted by Hadassah Damien from Ride Free Fearless Money, and Laura Boo MacDonald, CPA. This episode was recorded in March 2022, and edited by Erica Ricketts. More information about us and this podcast can be found at ladieswhocrunch.club. Please follow us on Instagram (@bottomlinestopdollars) and if you want to send us questions or episode ideas, email us at [email protected].