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I had an executive that has been announcing his retirement for a long time. I only worked at this place for 7 years, but he told me my first month on the job he had only five years left.
A month before I resigned my position, he told me he had only two years to work. I left the company two months ago. He has no family, he is divorced, and he does not have any friends outside of work. Today, he is 63 years old. He makes six figures, has a great retirement portfolio, but he can’t let the job go. He would have nothing to do.
Having no family, being divorced, and having no friends outside of work does NOT mean that one automatically has 'nothing to do during retirement'!!
That is very inaccurate!
Retirement and those 3 aspects you list are not connected.
People have interests and multiple interests if a well-developed person.....and pursue those interests in retirement.
One can have a glorious, interesting, very enjoyable, very happy retirement having no family, being divorced, and having no friends outside of work at present!
This man you speak of has personality characteristics and an outlook that is totally his own and not dependent upon those three aspects for anyone except for himself, as he chooses.
Yes, and there have been successful instances of climbing Mt. Everest without oxygen. There are even climbers who do it despite being blind, or otherwise handicapped. But one gathers that these successes are difficult and rare.
Certainly, a “well-developed person” can thrive despite adversity. Such a person could endure, survive and maybe even thrive… during the Leningrad blockade, violence in Syria, a cave in Afghanistan, an abandoned Appalachian coal-mine. But how many of us, are so gifted?
Even if well-educated, smart, healthy and reasonably self-aware, most of us need to be led. We rise with the alarm-clock and go to sleep with the sign-off of the late-night news. We’re awoken on Sundays to attend a church. We complain how our evenings are dominated by chauffeuring the kids to soccer-practice… or later in life, to our meetings of our bridge-club. But these burdens, impositions, fetters and constraints also stave-off insanity. Freedom is only possible, if leavened by slavery.
The perverse irony is that we spend our careers and lifetimes building independence. The “FIRE” acronym is after all Financially Independent, Retire Early. The most successful are those who cultivate the resources for the most independence. But this is almost entirely a material independence. Behold, I am so wealthy! I own my house, I own 3 houses, I own 10! I am a billionaire! I own cargo ships, oil wells, satellites! [expletive], I own entire planets! Mine, mine mine,… me, me, me… Vanguard, Fidelity, private-wealth… my wealth manager is Croesus himself!
But succeeding in this, what if we fail in our philosophical development? The indigent man, in filthy rags, his body wracked with boils and sores, sits in a cracked and busted discarded barrel, at the edge of the marketplace. But he’s absorbed as wisdom that’s opaque and inscrutable to the merchants and shoppers, the milling crowds. His Fidelity account is empty, but his capacity to “retire”, so to speak, is full.
I was never an executive, but I was a Senior Non Commissioned Officer, so that equates to middle management in the civilian world. A step up from a front line supervisor, more of a section manager if you will.
I never thought for one second I was ever “controlling” someone. I was directing people to accomplish the mission, period, end of discussion.
As far as retirement, I tried it after 24 years in uniform. At first, I liked it. I caught up on sleep, and I read a bunch of books and I hiked a lot. But then after a few weeks, I didn’t like retirement. It became boring, monotonous, unstructured, just a life adrift with no compass. Later, I also found out that I missed the action of the military. Not just doing the job, but knowing what is really going on behind the scenes.
It used to drive me crazy, I’d watch the news and hear what they were reporting on Afghanistan or Iraq, and I knew it was complete BS. But the only way to really know what is going on is to get back into the game, get into a position where you can reactivate your security clearance and finally know what is really happening.
I remember when I landed my first defense contracting job overseas after I retired from the military. It was such an incredible day. My life was immediately filled with excitement, possibilities, and most of all, meaning once again. I’ve been going strong at this second career for a few years now.
But I do worry, eventually this ride is going to come to an end. I’m in my mid 50’s and you need to be in great shape and pass stringent physicals to keep going in a career such as this. Who knows how many years I will have left? But I’m gonna ride it out until I can’t physically do it anymore. I’m hoping for 15 more years.
But once my second career is over for good, the real trouble begins. I will be back again where I was , just adrift. It’s scary to think about, but Father Time waits for no man.
I’d be interested to read about strategies one can use to overcome the monotony of retirement.
But I do worry, eventually this ride is going to come to an end. I’m in my mid 50’s and you need to be in great shape and pass stringent physicals to keep going in a career such as this. Who knows how many years I will have left? But I’m gonna ride it out until I can’t physically do it anymore. I’m hoping for 15 more years.
But once my second career is over for good, the real trouble begins. I will be back again where I was , just adrift. It’s scary to think about, but Father Time waits for no man.
I’d be interested to read about strategies one can use to overcome the monotony of retirement.
Develop as many interests as possible!
Why do you assume that retirement is monotony? It is not monotony at all for many people, if not most people.
If you assume it is going to be 'monotony' in 15 years (or less) when you begin retirement, then you do not have enough interests and you are not interested in enough things. Expand !
.....
I’d be interested to read about strategies one can use to overcome the monotony of retirement.
You have read it numerous times on this thread, on this forum. To me retirement is just another phase of living with more freedom to set goals, pursue passions, learn, accomplish, enjoy.
I’d be interested to read about strategies one can use to overcome the monotony of retirement.
Monotony perhaps is not the correct word. But the working environment with the excitement, the possibilities, with being part of something is an adrenalin rush and the structure of that environment provides incredible security versus facing unknowns. Not working is an adjustment. For you, in the future, as you become less inclined toward the more arduous parts of the job, the answer might be part-time WFH consulting. You keep your security clearance, you stay in the 'know', and work still provides meaning and structure. Then as you become more acclimated and develop a desire to be doing things that are just plain fun, work becomes less necessary to the point of stopping. I am just at the beginning of this retirement gig but that is my plan.
When I was in college I rowed crew. The coach had a poem called "The Indispensable Man" taped on the wall by the door in the locker room. I've found it to be true over and over since then. I found it is especially true for retirees.
The Indispensable Man
(by Saxon White Kessinger)
Sometime when you're feeling important;
Sometime when your ego 's in bloom;
Sometime when you take it for granted,
You're the best qualified in the room:
Sometime when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions,
And see how they humble your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that's remaining,
Is a measure of how much you'll be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you'll find that in no time,
It looks quite the same as before.
The moral of this quaint example,
Is to do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There's no indispensable man.
Having no family, being divorced, and having no friends outside of work does NOT mean that one automatically has 'nothing to do during retirement'!!
That is very inaccurate!
Retirement and those 3 aspects you list are not connected.
People have interests and multiple interests if a well-developed person.....and pursue those interests in retirement.
One can have a glorious, interesting, very enjoyable, very happy retirement having no family, being divorced, and having no friends outside of work at present!
This man you speak of has personality characteristics and an outlook that is totally his own and not dependent upon those three aspects for anyone except for himself, as he chooses.
Not true. He told me he would not have much to do.
I’d be interested to read about strategies one can use to overcome the monotony of retirement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matisse12
Develop as many interests as possible!
Why do you assume that retirement is monotony? It is not monotony at all for many people, if not most people.
If you assume it is going to be 'monotony' in 15 years (or less) when you begin retirement, then you do not have enough interests and you are not interested in enough things. Expand !
WK91, the answer is to have other interests. That doesn't necessarily mean waste time on leisure pursuits. It means find something different to fill your life. The world is full of millions of different things to do. Even people who are competitive can find a competition circuit. There are amateur leagues for many professional areas.
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