Quote:
Originally Posted by tbill
OK, here is my situation. Will be 67 in Sept., and still working in my 101 year old family retail business. Wife wants me to retire, but I have no hobbies. I work. 90-100 hours per week. Done this for 45 years and only had 2 vacations in those forty years of marriage. That was for our daughters trips to Disneyland and Disney World.
Tried golf, lost interest. Nothing else appeals to even explore. Father lived to age 97, he quit work at age 90 (so I have 23 years left, LOL) Family business will close upon my retirement or death.
I have gone thru the "Hobby" section, but don't see anything that would appeal to me. Looking for ideas...I know-volunteer, but to what. Thanks for any input.
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Well in some ways you sound like my husband but not to the same degree. Or I should say he isn't to the degree you are. He did take an early retirement, not by choice but a poor economy at the time and he
was over qualified for so many jobs. When he finally hung it us,, he started doing part time jobs or whatever In our case money was also an issue but that is for another thread. Anyway he still, at 80 has a small business. It is very small, but it keeps him busy. He is a pet sitter. Though the business has slowed down, partly do to his clients being older and not replacing their pets when pets leave this earth and partly because he doesn't solicit new clients like he used to. For us, this is working out well. We have the freedom to do what we want, we have a few $$s coming in and he feels needed.
We also do volunteer work. There are so many things one can do: work through you church; work with your political party, volunteer at something in your community that is sponsored by say, AARP or even join Lions Club or Rotary. Maybe you can help out at the nearest thrift shop. I know we stay plenty busy and could do even more. For me, it has been easy, I love to play bridge, so I have both volunteer work and bridge to stay almost too busy. Does your wife have hobbies or what does she do to stay busy?
If nothing really appeals to you, can you just cut back your hours, find someone to help you in the business and start enjoy life away from work as well as at work. I totally understand your feelings, but I understand why your wife would want you to give up. I am guessing part of the reason you can't find anything that appeals to you is, you haven't tried. You have been to tied to the family business.