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There is no recipe for what you do in your 60's, 70's, and 80's. Call it work, call it hobbies, call it sitting on your ass watching tv all day....as long as its what you want to be doing, then is perfectly fine. If your life is your work, and you want to keep doing it, then do it. Many people work until they die, its what they wanted to do, and wouldnt have it any other way. Some quit work at 30, they hated it.
Working in the old steel mills or on the docks, hot, hard and nasty work that had it's own kind of retirement incentive and the worker seldom saw any reason to want to continue any longer at it than was absolutely necessary. The OP obviously has none of that disproportionate grief of work when compared to his off time, so, he'll most likely continue to work until he doesn't, or can't, and at that juncture he'll be facing a future possibly filled with trepidation and remorse, an ending rather than a beginning. Personally I feel a bit of sadness when reading such posts as the OP's, and to think that retirement could be sodaunting a thing for others while it has been a kind of salvation for me leaves me bewildered, I hope he finds his own solution and peace of mind.
Yep I think most of us struggle to make sense out of attitudes that are diametrically opposed to our own, hence a lot of the incomprehension or "bewilderment" (a damn good way to put it) that we find in this Retirement Forum when the issue of lifestyle ("what to do when retired") comes up.
Like you, I looked forward to retirement and it did not seem daunting because I always had various interests, activities, and hobbies while I was still working. Whether I would go so far as to say retirement was my "salvation" I'm not so sure, but there was no "trepidation or remorse", and nine years later I'm still of the opinion that I retired at the right time.
What bewilders me are those who claim to fill their retirement time smelling the flowers, lingering over a third cup of coffee, etc., and also claim to be perfectly happy in having nothing to do. If they are truly happy, then they are doing the right thing, but I remain bewildered. (Disclaimer: I, too appreciate and enjoy lazy moments, watching a sunset, taking an afternoon nap, and such things. I do not engage in a continuous frenzy of purposeful activity. It's just that I crave some degree of purposeful activity; I believe it keeps me vital, energized, mentally sharp, and fulfilled.)
i am with you on that one. when we tried the rural life that walk along the lake and walk in the woods wore thin awfully fast. we needed more things to do and keep us entertained and busy .
You love your work. I'd also suggest "retirement" is defined individually and is not some universal mandate that at 67 or so you go play golf.
Given this: "I work. 90-100 hours per week." maybe a good first stab at finding your personal definition of "retirement" would be to try working 9-5 Monday-Friday and not working outside of that. Once you get used to that you can contemplate whether less would be more. I can see why you might think you'd be miserable if you just stopped altogether.
A couple of questions.....
1) Do YOU -- WANT -- to retire? (Not what others want, what do YOU want.)
Are you tired of working or not? Do you want to keep getting up and going to work every day?
2) You honestly -- honest to Gd - can't think of ANYTHING you'd rather do than go to work?
No one says ONE thing has to occupy all the same amount of time working has.
Once you retire your can explore all kinds of things, if you want.
You'd be surprised how a person can fill their time...social engagements, hobbies, volunteering, travel, sleeping late -- or NOTHING.
You can also work part-time. That would of course then be semi-retirement, I guess. Why not try that?
On your death bed are you going to wish you'd WORKED more -- or spent more time with your family and friends, and traveled or done whatever else?
You have the skills of 30 gov workers who are happy with their pensions and weaving baskets and taking photos.[/b] (and checking their account every day to be sure the cherished pension arrives). [b]
Bung! You couldn't be more wrong, or maybe you could. We despised government workers educate children, are first responders during emergencies actually saving lives, provide health care, fight fires, suppress and arrest criminals, maintain jails, prisons, hospitals as well as facilities for the care and treatment for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled, do our best to keep the country safe, protect the environment, maintain the infrastructure and after 25, 30, 40 years, gratefully retire, many to pursue other interests their professions didn't allow the time for. In fact, some of us actually take care of disabled spouses, adult children and other family members. And, yes, I know the family history you relate. Perhaps that part of it is even true!
OP, as one of those basket weaving, pension receiving, account checking civil servants (the checks arrived yesterday), I heartily encourage you to do what feels right and comfortable for you. I do think arranging a way to spend more time with your wife would be a plus. I'm sure she deserves that consideration. Otherwise, why be married at all?
Last edited by Curmudgeon; 08-30-2014 at 01:24 PM..
Update: still working and commuting monthly. One of the businesses is scheduled to close at end of the year (retail store). I will continue to run our wholesale entity for the foreseeable future. Still no hobbies or plans after the final move to NC in 4 to 5 years (age 75?)
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.<>
Retirement, in your case, would be like skydiving with a chute failure. It's not the fall that kills ya, it's the sudden stop there at the end.
So I'd suggest you search for your replacement, say 40 years old or so, and train them. Make sure all your final arrangements and estate planning has been done; figuring out what you want done is part of the fun. Stress is the big killer at our age. Make sure your mark in life is a good lasting one.
Then take a good look around and make a business plan for what happens when you're gone, because you can dodge taxes, but as the famous economist, John Maynard Keynes said,
"In the long run, we're all dead"
Update: still working and commuting monthly. One of the businesses is scheduled to close at end of the year (retail store). I will continue to run our wholesale entity for the foreseeable future. Still no hobbies or plans after the final move to NC in 4 to 5 years (age 75?)
NC is a great location. Subscribe to "Our State" magazine to help figure out what to do when you get here. https://www.ourstate.com/
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