I’m a Self-Made Millionaire, but I Don’t Plan on Retiring Early — Here’s Why
Written by
Andrew Lisa
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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Early retirement is a dream that won’t come true for most in an age where people are living longer and struggling to save enough to sustain extended retirements that can last for decades.
However, some financially successful people have every opportunity to call it quits well before they’re eligible for Medicare and Social Security but choose to keep plugging away at their careers.
One of them is Christine Landis, a former CEO of a global fintech company, “empowered parent to two children,” and the founder of Peacock Parent Inc.
Her story is proof that having the means to retire early doesn’t always align with a will to stop working — even for a self-made millionaire with enough money to call it a life.
Meet the Millionaire: Wealth Through Corporate Ladder-Climbing
Christine Landis began working at National Cred-A-Chek, Inc., in 2003, the same year she graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Southern California with a degree in business and managerial economics as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the most prestigious collegiate honor society in America.
Her intelligence, ambition and work ethic propelled her through the ranks of the company, which provides information services for underwriting credit markers to more than 300 casino operators worldwide.
In 2010, she took over as CEO and grew the company from offering one niche banking product to a comprehensive service provider that streamlined the entire credit operations department for casinos worldwide. She spent eight years at the top, developing and successfully bringing multiple new products to the market, two of which were the first of their kind.
In 2018, she sold the company to NRT Technologies Inc. and walked away with a nest egg big enough to retire as a very young woman.
The 36-Year-Old Retiree Who Wasn’t
Landis knows she can retire early — very early — because she already has.
“I retired at 36 years old,” she said. “And then un-retired at 41.”
After selling her company at 36, she called the prospect of riding into the sunset at nearly half her full retirement age “one of those ‘Godfather’ offers ‘you can’t refuse’… and yet I wanted to,” she said.
Landis’ personality, however, was not compatible with endless idle hours.
“I found retirement boring, unfulfilling, and a complete waste of my brain power,” she said. “There are some people who are born to love business, and I’m one of them.”
A Passion Project Brings Renewed Purpose and More Prosperity
Landis built her fortune through her financial acumen and gift for corporate value-building, but when she came out of early retirement at 41, she had the time, resources, skills and capacity to build something new based not on profit, but passion.
She launched Peacock Parent, where she applies the principles she used to scale her company to help her fellow parents streamline their household management and parenting obligations so they can enjoy more quality time with their partners and children.
Her platform offers comprehensive guides for expecting parents, new parents and busy parents, as well as introductions to concierge services, a blog and a shop.
A Money Pro Helps Avert a Financial Meltdown and Makes Act II a Reality
Upon retiring with millions of dollars and a glut of free time that she’d never experienced in her entire adult life, Landis came face to face with the tempting traps that come with endless hours and mountains of money.
Thankfully, she had the sense to know the limitations of her own talents and expertise and sought professional help.
“I credit our financial advisor with reining in our spending before it could get out of control,” she said. “Meaning he scared the [expletive] out of us. We bought one car for $110,000 and that was our big purchase after selling my company for eight figures.”
One six-figure car could have easily become many — with mansions, boats and other money pits to follow. But despite spending so many years as the boss whom others turned to for guidance, Landis was willing to seek outside help, and she quickly righted her financial ship.
“The good news is that when you have a windfall of cash, you aren’t accustomed to spending it,” she said. “The best thing you can do is hire a financial advisor to help you keep living life like you don’t have millions in the bank so it can compound faster in years two, three, and four compared to if you bought all the things at once in year one.”
In the end, she has lived the “dream” of early retirement, but she’s woken up and has no intention of going back to sleep.
“Now, I am able to invest in a new business with the money we didn’t spend on a yacht in year one, and I couldn’t be happier to be investing in myself over a material object,” she said.
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