100% agree. Does anyone know of a word that means "retirement" without the "not working" connotation? I'm in the same camp as someone who is aspiring to "retire early", but it will be more of a "work on whatever I want to" kind of retirement and not "move to Florida" type of retirement.

Don't use the term "retirement." Instead, you're doing a solo startup. Add that it's in stealth mode if you don't feel like talking about your current focus of attention. If I'm reading your comment correctly, it's not even a lie; it sounds like you'd be happy turning a hobby into a business if that's where fate took you.

I "retired" about a year ago after almost 25 years in the industry. My story since then is a lot like that of the author of the article. I've written more code this year for love than I bet I did in 10 years for pay. It's been exactly the retirement I wanted: one of the most productive times of my life.

Maybe a really easy solution is to incorporate yourself and then just say you started a software company.

That's if you're like me, and you find this question really annoying to explain, and it gets asked constantly.

"Self-employed" sets off a lot of bullshit detectors, because...well, lots of bullshitters use that one.

Or maybe just keep saying programmer, if that's what you're doing. No need to explain in detail how the compensation works (or doesn't exist).

"I retired from corporate, doing my own thing."?

"Independently wealthy"?

Living my best life

Self-Employed

Indeed. There's plenty of wife swapping up for grabs in the Bay Area.

The lack of symmetry bugs me - if a couple swaps wives, why isn't it ever called "husband swapping", and wouldn't the (technically, and politically) correct term be "partner swapping"?

Or maybe it can all be subsumed under "swinging" or whatever the modern term is?