My uncle’s somewhere between 75 and 80, and he’s still working, mostly because I think he really does enjoy his job, and somewhat because he doesn’t have much else to do since my aunt passed away earlier this year. It’s kind of sad in one sense, but I’m sure if he quit working, that would be the end of him, so I’m glad he owns his own company and can continue to work as long as he wants.
He was on my list for 2012 - he was already out of a job, and a broken man. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d chosen to eat a bullet.
I assume I’ll do what a lot of people in non-profit work do - right now I work full-time at one place, part time at a second, and volunteer for a couple others. I’ll probably drop the PT job in 10 years or so, somewhere in my 70’s the full-time job will go to part-time and the volunteer hours will increase. Eventually, assuming my health and brain stay fit, the paying work will stop and the volunteer hours will grow until I’m too feeble to manage. The should take care of the remain 30-40 years I can expect (most women in my family enjoy good health and active lifestyles well into their upper 80’s and early 90’s.
Why would I want to retire when I can do useful, enjoyable work and hang out with people I like? I work with interesting, artistic people of all ages and backgrounds. I would always rather be doing that than puttering around talking only to people my own age.
The problem, as I recall from brief stints where I was not working or working from home for extended periods of time, is that while you are not at work, the rest of the world is. I’m sure most people can find hobbies or whatever to occupy their time. But it’s tough to find other people to do stuff with. That can be pretty isolating.
OK, OK, I’m going, I’m going!
Actually, I can’t get out of here fast enough to suit me. And some folks here are in for a world of hurt by what I see shaping up to “take my place” when I’m gone. I’m no longer complaining out loud, and I’m trying to make a few people a little more self-reliant in places where they can be, so they don’t have to rely on those other (unresponsive) resources so much.
Apparently, I have been providing “white glove” service all these years to my department (and other departments from time to time) and it is something they will have to learn to get along without, because I have become a luxury the company is no longer willing to pay for.
I am sure I will have no problem with how to fill the hours in the day when I have retired, in fact I’m sure there will be times, at least in the first 10 years or so, when I can’t get it all done. My work has been somewhat satisfying, but many of the managers and executives I have to deal with now are the type that will drive a rational person into mania and rage, and I don’t want to be that person.
My father will be retiring on June 30 at the age of 82. He is financially secure and presumably still enjoys my mother’s company (they just spent a 3 week vacation together). Apparently he just really loved his job (as a professor), and saw no reason to stop doing it. He told me that he finally decided to retire because it wasn’t as much fun anymore, and it’s getting harder to get up in the morning. He will still be working on his books, and I’m sure he’ll find other activities to take up his time. My mother has been retired for many years, and she still manages to fill her days up with one thing and another.
I’m 6 years past the point where I could retire on a full pension, but still enjoy my job and my department wants me to stay, so it will be a while before I actually do retire. When I do, I’ll just expand the time I spend on gaming with the other retirees in my group and on my hobbies. I don’t expect to have any problem with boredom.
It’s a personal preference. Some people like working, and some people NEED to keep working. Maybe they need 100% of the pay. Maybe the house isn’t paid off. Maybe they are paying for their grandchildren’s house or supporting middle aged kids, who knows.
For me, I can’t relate at all to the idea of “not knowing how to fill 40 hours.” There aren’t enough hours in the day to perform the tasks I feel like I NEED to do (or that someone I support needs me to do), let alone leisure. Hell, I don’t even come here that much, but I could hang out on an internet message board 40 hours a week if I felt like it. I can think of so many mundane, free/cheap, unexciting things that could fill the day. Could always sleep more, too. Nothing wrong with that, and most people probably could use it. Just having a fairly healthy leisurely lifestyle (sleeping, eating well, exercise) can fill a whole day. Sleeping, cooking, eating, lifting/running/whatever, gardening, surfing, checking up on family/friends, errands, watch a couple shows, read some news…= 24 hours easily.
We have faculty in their 90s. Still sharp, still pulling in the enrollments.
Now that’s a motto.
Now forgive me for throwing this in, but many retirees are sitting on jobs a younger person needs. So them retiring allows others to move up the ladder.
I’ll be pushing up against 60 in a year or two, and I for one have no plans to retire. I love the work I do, I love the people I do it with, and I love the structure and social aspects of having a job. I have plenty to do outside of work – I write songs and practice my baritone ukulele several hours a day. I play out occasionally. I am involved in the scooter scene and spend hours doing maintenance on and fiddling with my 3 babies (Coquette, Buzzy, and Pepper). I go GT riding with my sweetheart on my days off. But my working life is the scaffolding that supports everything else I do. I intend to work at least another 10 years – 15 if they’ll let me. One of my fears is that I’ll be forced to retire before I’m ready, and I might never be ready.
Interesting thoughts.
I have a few employees who are getting on and we’ve had a transition to retirement plan going. A couple, once they reached a certain age or point where their superannuation was all good, they reduced their hours. Once lady now only works 2 days per week, revering the normal working week.
For me, it’s a while away yet but I have no desire to work late in life, I’d rather retire while i’m physically and mentally able to do other things. Problem is working full time and having been a single parent means I don’t have a lot of other things to do when I’m not at work other than relax.
I’m gonna need to start developing some hobbies or other interests .
My FIL was forced into retirement after being laid off for the second or third time in maybe 7-10 years? He job-hopped a lot (common in his industry) and never was anywhere long enough to be part of a pension program. The company where he worked when my husband I started dating for changed its profit sharing to a 401K, then they unceremoniously laid him off. Got another job…same thing. Third job…same. He finally threw in the towel.
And, OMG, as much as my MIL loved having him around (FIL traveled a lot when he was employed), anyone could tell that FIL was a wreck and a half. There was only so much he could do in the yard, only so many times he could drive to the local coffee shop/barber to chitchat with others. Plus I think MIL drove him nuts after awhile (shhh). Eventually FIL started failing. He passed last year. I’m still convinced that if my MIL had let him find a PT job or something where he felt useful, he’d still be here.
I think it’s been covered here, but I’ll toss in my opinion. Some people have really invested their identity in their job, and apparently it’s tough to walk away from it. Another group can’t quit due to financial pressures.
I’m approaching 60, and have most of the retirement prep done and ready. I’ve been working steadily since 1973 and I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a day of it. It’s just something I’ve had to do to pay the bills. As soon as my youngest finishes college there will be nothing but a slowly spinning chair and drifting papers in my office. I can’t imagine spending an extra minute at work beyond what’s financially necessary.
But, I work with people in their 70’s who (if my math is right) are actually working for nothing. For some inexplicable reason, they actually *want *to spend time in a sea of cubicles. I sometimes wonder if it’s a mental illness. :rolleyes:
Some companies offer some pretty good buyouts. I think my father got $30k 15 years ago. In my company they offered $15 k buyouts about 4 years ago and many took it.
Some people can’t afford to retire , other people enjoy their work and there’s another group that enjoys the status they get from their jobs. While they’re working, they have a title that is important and respected in their workplace, even if it isn’t that important in the outside world. They hold positions in outside organizations (like professional organizations) that are based on their employment. For them, retirement means giving up all that and becoming a “nobody”. I’ve known lots of people at my job like that, and it’s pretty often someone who could retire, collect their pension, take a part-time job or open a private practice as a social worker or attorney and actually end up with more money. This is a little different from those whose jobs are their identity.For a somewhat extreme example, look at politicians ( and by this I mean anyone who runs for office, from a Senator to the county sheriff or district attorney) . It is not at all uncommon for them to continue to run for office well past retirement age.
It doesn’t have to be about your identity being pathologically tied to your job. For some lucky people, their job enables them to do the stuff they’d like to do on a scale they’d never be able to achieve on their own puttering around.
If I didn’t work, I might try to start a small charity or something. But honestly, that feels like a waste of time and resources considering that I currently work towards the same goal that my small charity would, but I have an entire organization behind me with brilliant people, strong teams, carefully cultivated partners and lots of funding. I don’t always love every part of my job, but I’m also never too sad when Monday rolls around.
Maybe I’ll feel differently in a few decades. But I’m working next to a guy who is thinking of staying for his fifth “one last year” at 70.
That’s how it is where I work. A lot of people retire by leaving their desk in an ambulance.
True.
But just to say, many articles in this area paint a picture where, if all potential retirees were to do so, unemployment would be lower. It doesn’t work like that. Old people working increases productivity, which (in a roundabout way) increases the number of jobs.
Otherwise an ageing population would be a boon. Instead most countries are progressively increasing the retirement age, trying to maintain the velocity of productivity gains.