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Old 10-07-2017, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,262,507 times
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Perhaps our species will evolve and find ways to change how work is accomplished. Maybe in a century it'll be completely different than how work/employment is accomplished today.....

In Japan, woman's 'death from overwork' causes government stir - Business Insider

There are progressive companies out there who address quality of life in its employees as part their mission statement. That's a good thing, imo. You improve productivity and often attract/retain better employees as well.
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Old 10-07-2017, 12:16 PM
 
20,650 posts, read 8,401,663 times
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OP, that's what lottery tickets are for.
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Old 10-07-2017, 12:34 PM
 
6,844 posts, read 3,920,915 times
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Worked 35 years in NYC.

Two best peices of advice I have gotten in life.

1. You can get pretty much anything you want in life, it just takes a lot longer to get than you want it to.

2. In work, not everyone is suited to climb the ladder of management. Find a niche that you enjoy in a technical area.


Both of these turned out to be absolutely true for me. Enjoyed the last 20 years of my working life. Retired at 62 with SS and a pension. Paid off and cut up all my credit cards and have been debt free. Retired for 9 years now. No money worries.
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Old 10-07-2017, 01:32 PM
 
1,978 posts, read 1,544,729 times
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The title of this thread, immediately brought to mind my beloved father. He began working for his father at the ripe age of 5 or 6 driving a team of horses, working the fields, later, as a teen hired on to help build roads, furnishing his own horse and getting paid a dollar a day. After that worked for a man driving trucks and serving the public, long hours and physically demanding. Bought into the business at some point and when I was about 10 or 11 I began to work with him and realized how hard he worked, how long he worked and I kind of felt like it was just too much. I used kind of badger him to spend more time with me, go fishing, don't work so hard etc. He would always tell me that he did it so I wouldn't have to. His youth and early adulthood was during the depression and the dirty thirties and I know that shaped his thinking. He knew that hard times could come at a blink of an eye. Anyway, he kept working, finally decided to sell his share of the business at 65, kept working there, helping out, then suddenly a major heart attack and death. That was almost 40 years ago he died at 67. I retired at 65 and am now 70. No one will accuse me of working near as hard as my father did. I don't know what the point of all this is, but, I miss my father and mother.
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Old 10-07-2017, 01:42 PM
 
Location: Kennett Square, PA
1,793 posts, read 3,334,039 times
Reputation: 2935
Quote:
Originally Posted by chronic65 View Post
The title of this thread, immediately brought to mind my beloved father. He began working for his father at the ripe age of 5 or 6 driving a team of horses, working the fields, later, as a teen hired on to help build roads, furnishing his own horse and getting paid a dollar a day. After that worked for a man driving trucks and serving the public, long hours and physically demanding. Bought into the business at some point and when I was about 10 or 11 I began to work with him and realized how hard he worked, how long he worked and I kind of felt like it was just too much. I used kind of badger him to spend more time with me, go fishing, don't work so hard etc. He would always tell me that he did it so I wouldn't have to. His youth and early adulthood was during the depression and the dirty thirties and I know that shaped his thinking. He knew that hard times could come at a blink of an eye. Anyway, he kept working, finally decided to sell his share of the business at 65, kept working there, helping out, then suddenly a major heart attack and death. That was almost 40 years ago he died at 67. I retired at 65 and am now 70. No one will accuse me of working near as hard as my father did. I don't know what the point of all this is, but, I miss my father and mother.

I hear ya. A beautiful but sad story. My parents were "Depression Kids" as well. Can you imagine today's youth putting in that kind of a day? Not "picking" on them; merely a dubious question regarding how things have changed. As a substitute teacher, I thought a teen was going to throttle me the other day when I told him to put his smart phone away and attend to his assignments. He pretty much went into a rage. But that's an entirely different topic.
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Old 10-07-2017, 01:56 PM
 
7,211 posts, read 4,484,205 times
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My co worker worked from 17 to 60 at the same place. In the course of her time there she had been the bell of the ball and a manager and also... demoted for some reason that was never clear. She put up with all the crud that we all do. She, like the rest of us all stay for one reason.. that pension. So, at age 60 where she finally would be able to retire.. she woke up one day and had severe metastasized cancer. Not only did she not get to use her pension... she didn't even get to use the massive stores of sick time to fight her disease. She was dead in three weeks from being diagnosed.

That rocked me. I will guard my health until 60 and retire the first moment I can. No matter what the benefit is. I will make it work.
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Old 10-07-2017, 02:12 PM
 
12,999 posts, read 18,819,508 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crashj007 View Post
My first corporate job was with Westinghouse. In one of our early HR meetings it was said the average pensioner received 18 paychecks.
That is sad. It is probably better today, but then again, how many actually get enough years to get to the pension?
Since then the IRA and 401 plans have kicked in, so the chance of a decent retirement is better.
It's a statistical aberration, I know, but my 99 year old FIL has been retired longer than he worked.
i've already had over that in unemployment.
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Old 10-07-2017, 03:51 PM
 
3,857 posts, read 3,120,500 times
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It all boils down to the person , in charge of their own destiny.
i Have an uncle, who could not wait till 62, to move his butt to the carribean, find a younger 2nd wife, bought a house with acerage in cash, dabled in local politics for kicks, helped out the school with funding, grows some fruits and veggies to barter with neighbors and staff, still keeps himself active, but all at his pace.

Have another uncle that waited until 72, only to suffer mental illness because of the shock, he is better now, but does not know what to do with himself. Still living in the 5 boros.

So have a dream, and a plan, and stick with it. Get out of nyc , and move at a slower pace. You aint missing nothing, but king size rodents, and the odor of urine in the subways!
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Old 10-07-2017, 04:31 PM
 
3,187 posts, read 1,494,380 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coloradomom22 View Post
I have thought about this same topic as I have kids who will soon enter college age and I can hear the fear when they talk about the future. There is this enormous pressure for earning perfect grades in high school, doing enough sports, enough volunteering, so that you can enter the "Hunger Games" and get into a good college with hopefully enough scholarships so that you don't graduate with massive debt. Then you must have perfect internship experiences in the right college major because companies don't offer training to new employees anymore and they will only hire those with experience which is this great Catch 22. So then if you are lucky enough to make it through all of those hoops then you can work your whole life and hopefully own your own home and make enough money to live yet save enough for retirement and health care until you have enough to stop working and die.

I think opportunities to be as successful as the older posters on this forum just don't exist like they used to. Government regulations, skyrocketing college, healthcare and housing costs are limiting factors as are disappearing pensions. It does make you question the big rat race we have accepted as normal.
I just want to say to anyone who has kids: I have the UTMOST RESPECT for the stress that you are going through to give them a good life. I grew up poor, though I have bettered myself somewhat but have no children. I have had the fear myself in the past that any child I might have would look at me and ask the same question as the OP. I was afraid I would not have enough money to support a child through college and I didn't want to bring a future "Walmart slave" into the world as I may not be able to prevent it no matter how hard I tried.

Sorry if that sounds crass, but I feel it is reality for a lot of people. I really respect others who are doing the best they can. It IS hard FYI, for anyone reading this who think some may be whining. Based on the statistics I posted, it is a monumental task for some just to save $5K. Well, if your furnace breaks (a necessity) that is the approximate cost of a replacement. New ones don't last 20-30 yrs like the old ones. My HVAC repair person told me I would be lucky to go 10 years without a major repair. The list goes on and on for similar things that need repair or replacement in our homes (or with our cars) at a very high cost that eats away at savings.

I totally believe as others have stated that we should forget about "keeping up with the Jones's" and live frugally. Your freedom is worth a LOT more and you can't get it back when you are old. BUT I am just pointing out that it's not luxuries but basic necessities like a new roof, furnace, etc. that can set a person WAY back.

A lot was summed up very well from Colorodomom22 in the last line I bolded.
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Old 10-07-2017, 04:31 PM
 
Location: Houston
1,187 posts, read 1,408,387 times
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I want to comment without having read through all of the 12 pages of posts, so I apologize I'm if repeating something that someone has already said.

I'm recently retired, but the topic reminds me of conversations I had with older co-workers back in the 90s. One in particular used to cite a statistical study that (supposedly) was based on employees of IBM, which obviously would be a large data set.

The take-away message was that people who waited too late to retire tended to die sooner after retiring. The presumed reason was that such people were less able to readjust their lives. People who retired younger still had the flexibility to adapt and therefore lived longer.

I know that not everyone is financially ready to retire young, but what do people here think about this notion?
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