Early Retirement Blog

Pope Benedict announced his sudden early retirement today, citing poor health, sending shock waves through the Catholic world.  85 year old Pope Benedict, is the first pope in 600 years, since 1415 to retire early.  All the other Popes never retired, they literally died at work, and were carried out of the Vatican on a stretcher.

What is it about the Catholic Church that it promotes workaholic Popes?  The response to Pope Benedict’s early retirement announcement has been harsh.  “Pope John Paul II decided to stay on the papal throne until the end of his life because he felt that it is not right to come down from the cross,” said the cardinal of Krakow, Stanislaw Dziwisz, the personal secretary of Pope John Paul II.

Apparently, many Catholics believe “work” is a cross, good Christians must bear.  However, it appears that Pope Benedict, has always been an early retirement dreamer.  Committing a cardinal sin in the eyes of some  Catholics.

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When Benedict was elected pope at age 78 — already the oldest pope elected in nearly 300 years — he had been already planning to retire as the Vatican’s chief orthodoxy watchdog to spend his final years writing in the “peace and quiet” of his native Bavaria.

Unfortunately for Pope Benedict, due to retiring in ill health, it seems that he will not get his early retirement dream of writing in peace and quiet in his native Bavaria, but will instead spend his remaining time on earth in the noisy Vatican nursing home.

The lesson here, the moral of this story, is don’t be like Pope Benedict.  Don’t delay your early retirement plans to please others within your organization.  Don’t be a workaholic.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be like Pope Benedict, and bear the cross of work.  We have the free retirement tools you need to avoid the path the Pontiff has taken.  Free retirement tools which enable you to live your dreams on earth, because, you never know what comes next – it could be work.

Free Retirement Tools:
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