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I disagree with the "nobody talks about" comment. People are always talking about every aspect of retirement. Just look at this forum as an example.
There are a few posts on it. I know I feel like it is pessimistic and tend not to discuss it much outside the forum. The anonymity (I know it is not anything close to airtight privacy) makes it easier to discuss concerns here though.
I'm over 70, and still working. Not because I have to but because work gives me purpose and identity. I could never see myself retiring when I was in my early 60s as the mental change and conflict that it would have brought would have killed me before I reached 70. It's different for everyone, and I would never say my philosophy was applicable to all. I am grateful every day that I have work coming my way, and more importantly that I have the physical and mental ability to do it!
Yes, I know what you mean. Work gives you a useful purpose. If you ever find another activity that gives you as much satisfaction as work, you'll do that instead.
If I have to read that quote again about nobody ever wishing they'd spent more time at the office, I'll scream. Believe it or not, folks, some people love their work. It makes them happy. Happier than trying to keep busy every day during retirement.
Work? Wait wait I just had to pick myself off of the floor. I will make my first anniversary of not working on July 31st.
Yes I want the money. That's the only reason I went to work. I don't need it so I won't go back to work.
I love the freedom and it's wonderful to actually be able to start a project and finish it without waiting for your next day off.
I'll be taking an upholstery class in the winter. I have lots of decades old deferred projects because I was too busy working.
Early retirement has been an amazing gift for me. I can't imagine living on some one else's timeline again. I'll be 60 in January and who's going to hire me anyway? My only option would be to go back to the place I left and either work 12 hour shifts on nights or days. Or go back to another awful place that turned into a factory. Yeah no thanks. It's not worth it at all to me.
I'll take my freedom, imagination, and go where ever my whims take me for the day. Hmmm I'm feeling the beach today
Retirement doesn't have to be a slide into anonymity. Many people start anew after retirement, finally free to pursue their passions. Many view retirement as a second chance to have the career they WISH they could have had if it weren't for those pesky things like mortgages and bills. These folks take up new skills, or finally have the time to hone the skills of their previous avocations like music, art, gardening, woodworking, or other forms of craft. Others donate their skills to helping others through charity work, fundraising, computer training, assisting educators, providing services to the more elderly retirees, running for local office. The possibilities are truly endless. You have the skill. You have the time. The only thing holding you back is you.
My wife retired at about 57 and I retired at 52 (was younger). She died when I was 58 but we had memorable and happy years together. I would have retired alone if I had not retired early.
What an in-depth 6 paragraph "article"....sorry for the sarcasm about this fluff piece.
But doesn't everyone WISH they could have retired earlier (except for a few workaholics). Does that mean that they were actually ABLE to but consciously delayed? $100k-250k doesn't sound like much in investable assets to me.
Were these people asked 1 year after retiring? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? It'd be good to know if it was long enough for them to KNOW the consequences of their decision to retire later. Maybe even though they'd have liked to retire earlier, if they were asked later they'd say "it was a good thing I DIDN'T follow my inclination because I'd have run out of money!".
I'm over 70, and still working. Not because I have to but because work gives me purpose and identity. I could never see myself retiring when I was in my early 60s as the mental change and conflict that it would have brought would have killed me before I reached 70. It's different for everyone, and I would never say my philosophy was applicable to all. I am grateful every day that I have work coming my way, and more importantly that I have the physical and mental ability to do it!
This^.
Everybody is different in our goals and satisfaction.
For me, I chose a career/business path that's been fun, entertaining, and rewarding. So I don't have the 'tude about "working in the office" and counting the days on the calendar until I could get vested and retire.
At that, we took on a farm/ranch for our "retirement" years. Raising livestock and alfalfa has been very rewarding ... mentally and physically. We plan on doing so for at least another decade.
And yes ... I had the financial ability to retire to my 2nd home in Vail CO and live off investments and retirement income years ago. But as I reached that time in my life, it simply didn't appeal to me as much as continuing on other adventures which presented. Other business opportunities have been highly entertaining for me and I'm having a blast with my time being productive and financially rewarding. My work gives me a lot of opportunities to travel via my airplane, RV, or car throughout the region, camping out & enjoying the outdoors.
Thankful that I've got the physical and mental abilities to continue this way for awhile. Having had a near death car wreck years ago puts a lot of life in perspective. I'm not interested in playing golf, tennis, or being a spectator sports fan, nor sitting around playing cards and "relaxing".
oops ... gotta' run. Customer just showed up to take a load of alfalfa, a semi-trailer load of big rounds. Payday! for me after all the work of raising, harvesting, baling, retrieving and stacking the product.
Never were a person's last words: "wish I had spent more time in the office."
I do think that some very old women who are statistically more likely to be living in poverty might have wished they spent more time at the office (or more effort at making/saving money). I know a few myself.
I look at it this way: if you won the lotto and money were no longer a factor, would you still work or would you retire? For most people, the answer is that they would quit working even if they spent their time on other activities such as volunteering, etc.
If the above is true, then whether one chooses to retire without winning the lotto is a function whether you have the means to sustain a reasonable lifestyle without working. There are few people who work just because they love working ...... and for those who do, all power to them.
So it really becomes an issue of financial security. I don't use formulas to determine how much money one will need as savings before retiring. I think a realistic budget of what you expect your expenditures to be after retiring and co-relating it to your retirement income plus savings is the most accurate and realistic. Though what is really key both when saving for retirement and then expending those savings during retirement, is to be disciplined financially.
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