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That's why after decades in a software related profession I went back to grad school in clinical psychology in my 50s. I'm retired from my 9 to 5 high-tech profession and after having spent six years working in a clinic, am now starting up my own limited private practice as a licensed counselor and board certified coach.
Those on these forums who hate their jobs seem to have a hard time understanding that some make career choices without an early retirement in mind. I hope I can continue doing things I enjoy and that have meaning for me, and learning new things until the day I die. And to those who don't want to do this: fine -- that's your choice, but it's not the right choice for everyone.
Love this! Good for you! All the best in your private practice.
Most people who "sit on the couch" after retiring have serious health issues that prevent them from enjoying their life with interesting and fun activities. Who in their right mind would want to just sit on a couch when retirement frees them from the daily work grind to explore new things? Thus, it makes sense that the couch sitting retirees don't have too long to live because of their health challenges.
I don't think it's that.
I know a lot of retirees who do very little, even if it doesn't cost that much. Even if the person is reasonably healthy, a lot of folks will just veg out in front of the TV for long periods.
I don't think it's the act of work itself keeping people living longer, but the fact that idleness for some people can really cause them to run off the rails.
Even if it takes, say, 5 years off of my life, I'd *STILL* rather retire as soon as I can to get out of the rat race. I envision my life without dealing with these corporate lackeys as heaven on earth.
When I retired early, people said, "what are you going to do with all of your time?" I was pretty amused by that considering how my colleagues talked about how little time they had, moaning about work and pretty much just hating their lives in general mostly due to "work". My response was, "remember when we talked about what we would do if we weren't working?" Well, that is what I am doing...those things that we always said we would do if we had more time. Since then, I've been traveling the world, researching my ancestry, meeting family I never knew I had, catching up on all those books, visiting some of the greatest gems; our national parks, etc., etc. I looked forward to retirement, and saved like crazy for it. I am glad to be out of the rat race and the traffic and dedicating my weekends to preparing for the next week. You can have it! Those who retire and sit on their behinds never planned for retirement, and they'll probably die younger. But, for me, I'm ticking off all of those things on my bucket list. There's more to life than a job/work/career. For those of you who have that unique job/work/career that gets you up in the morning celebrating the day, well, good for you. But, you are a minority. I worked with a lot of people over my career, and I did not know ONE person who embraced coming to work each week.
That's why you see many doctors still working into their late 60's, or 70's and even 80's. They paid off those med school loans long ago and unless they lived way above their means, probably don't really need to "work", but they love what they do!
Working does give us a purpose...as long as it's meaningful to us, at least to me. If you have children and you don't work, you can make taking care of them your purpose.
But if you don't have children, every day without a purpose is BORING and would make me extremely depressed. I wouldn't know what I would do every single day if I didn't have to work. After all, I only do things because I HAVE to.
They want you to drink the Kool Ade. Not all that long ago you retired at 60 with a full pension and healthcare. Today there is so much greed and abuse of the workers that all the people slaving away now will never have those things. So you need to embrace the idea of working till you die and learn to think about it in a positive way. Mass manipulation in a way but you have to live here. It is what it is.
That said, work if you want to. Work if you need the money. Some people are defined by their jobs and lost without them. Others thought of work as a prison sentence or indentured servitude and couldn't wait to be emancipated from the daily grind. And there is another group that keeps on working because they can't afford the outrageous prices for insurance.
You can make a valid argument that active people live longer. They probably do but there are plenty of ways to stay active without working. Lots of people say they will live longer because they eat nothing but organic kale, sprouts, and lentils. Me personally, I think it only feels like they are living longer because they are miserable. Do what works for you.
I always knew I wanted out before I was all used up. I had several strategies I used to help me get there but the one that paid off the most was having no children. But it's not a decision that works for everyone.
IME it's the people that have squatted in government jobs or pension-producing positions for 25 years just for the retirement benefits that drop dead when they retire. They didn't have a purpose in work other than to get to a date on a calendar; they don't have a purpose after that date either.
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