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Old 03-06-2015, 05:45 AM
 
31,672 posts, read 40,940,324 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
Is there life after retirement? Retirement IS THE LIFE YOU MAKE NOW.
Well, the next stage after retirement, somewhere, someday, someway, is DEATH. Then you become part of the "dearly departed"!
Is that what you were after? Somehow I don't think that was what you meant.

"Retirement is retirement", no matter if short or long. Maybe you can be classified as the "traveling retirees", or the "stay at home retirees", OR you could go do volunteer work and become the "volunteering retirees".

The cable channel RLTV is FILLED with ideas for RETIRED LIVING. So check them out for shows like "Second Act" or "What Next", and the like. The cover medical issues for senior and how to cope, what to do, etc In the medical shows. They even have a book show if you are heavily into reading books! They also cover issues with second jobs, what to do to enhance your marketable skills to an employer for later in life jobs, if you aren't already, the shows will "bring you into the 21st century". There are even traveling shows for senior travel. We don't watch it all the time, but certainly enjoy the shows we do watch! One guy on a show called "What's Next" was in his 50s and HAD NEVER TOUCHED A COMPUTER. He said "I got through all my life without touching one and I think I can finish life without ever touching one"! BOY WAS HE WRONG! HE ended up learning some basic computer skills, and doing volunteer work at a senior center to fill his void, as he thought "paying jobs define you" {he was a manual mchinist}!!

I am "early medically retired" {TG for insurance}, but MOH {My Other Half} is still working at two jobs. I still consider us the "working class stiffs", so to speak. I am actually thinking about going back to work, but don't know if anyone would hire me, my computer skills are somewhat crappy and I DO have physical limitations. Even sitting at the computer for about an hour or two is taxing to me. Four hours a day is about all I can handle if I go back to work. I have always worked hard and had more than one job, I'd be lucky to score a part time job now. I STILL have working time "ahead of me" and would like to have "something to do". Of course I am in the "no hire 50's" now, but I can offer a company some added benefits in hiring a handicapped person. I CAN offer something, I am sure, maybe I'll start back by volunteering again. Give me something on my resume that is better than the dead space. I DON'T expect us to be "retired" until 70 at least. I need to find a niche an fill it, for pay preferably then. Or volunteer at something that can work into a paying job. There MUSt be something I'll fit into.
AND for someone who has always worked two or more jobs, it will be a challenge ! AND I LOVE challenges!
THEN: we'd LIKE to be the "traveling retirees"! OR the DUAL Climate zone retirees! But that is still about 14 years off...Hence the reason I'd like to go back to work. We'd like to pick up a property in the warm zone for winter, even perhaps a tropical country for some international flair. I don't know and won't know until we are fully "there".

IN short, RETIREMENT IS what YOU Make of it! Don't look for definitions, and DO something YOU'D LIKE To do, but never "had the time". DO something wild and crazy sometimes, just to say you did it! DO something creative, like take an art class.... Or take a trip-day trips- around your area looking at things in your own backyard you didn't know where there!

RETIREMENT IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT TO BE.

For us when you make that post retirement life, retirement ceases to be a relevant operating concept. Still there but with little if any actual relevance. The intent of my OP was to suggest that there could/was life after retirement if you move on and make as you suggest a life that exceeds the concept of retirement as it so often gets presented.
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Old 03-06-2015, 05:46 AM
 
247 posts, read 242,698 times
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When I was 39 I was fired. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Even though I was unemployed for over a year, two important things came out of what most would consider a bad situation.

1. I learned that my self worth would no longer be defined by the work I did.
2. I vowed to do everything I could to put myself in a position where I had to rely on a company or others for my wellbeing.

Years later when I retired at a relatively young age, I used the word retired proudly. To me it ment I was free to pursue my own interests, without the constraints associated with employment. I felt as if I had successfully graduated from the working world to a place where I could do what I wanted, when iwanted within reason.

The interesting thing is that what I have actually done in retirement is a lot different than what I thought I would do in retirement. I still have lots of unachieved goals, which I believe are still attainable, mostly related to travel, but I am happy with the life I have had for the last 14 years after graduating from the working world.
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Old 03-06-2015, 10:27 AM
 
2,429 posts, read 4,005,862 times
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Quote:
Once you're "out there" as a retiree and meeting someone the subject comes up naturally if you look to be of retirement age, or the question of "what do you do" comes up, and you say "I'm retired", either way you're looked at with a sense of dismissal, be it subtle or not. You have assumed the identity of the non person.
Hasn't happened in my circle. All the friends I have, and acquaintances I've met. who are still working are envious of the ones who've retired. They're eyes light up when they hear are person is not constrained by a job, and is free to enjoy their own pursuits. Those of us who are still working every time we are together for any extended period of time....trust me....at some point our yearning for retirement is a part of the conversation.
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Old 03-06-2015, 10:43 AM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,246,121 times
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Why ask "Is there life after retirement ?"

Retirement is life after working for so many years.
I for one totally enjoy it.

When asked about what I do I answer with "Whatever I want. I'm retired."
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Old 03-06-2015, 01:48 PM
 
Location: SW Florida
14,871 posts, read 12,012,506 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gandalara View Post
I'm not a philosophical person at all.
I'm just a self-supporting bum.
LOL, there you go! I guess my husband and I are "old bums".
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Old 03-06-2015, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,854,783 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post

When asked about what I do I answer with "Whatever I want. I'm retired."
I've always thought that your answer (a very common one, by the way) was sort of rude. People are curious what you do, and in effect you refuse to answer. It's like if someone asks "why", we respond "because".

The question still remains, unanswered. What are some of the things that you "want" to do? That is what people wish to know. What would be so difficult about saying something like, "Well, I take a walk in the neighborhood most mornings and I have been taking a few day trips to see the sights and visit the museums around here that I had always neglected."

I am just making up that content, of course, which may have nothing to do with you personally, but I think you get the idea.
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Old 03-06-2015, 02:27 PM
 
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
15,293 posts, read 17,603,080 times
Reputation: 25230
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gandalara View Post
I'm not a philosophical person at all.
I'm just a self-supporting bum.
For some portions of my life, I defined myself as "independently poor."

I have always just done what I had to do, followed by whatever entertained me. Retirement has not meant an end to things I have to do. I am caretaking my dying mother. They just found a suspicious lump in my wife's breast and she is going in for a biopsy on Tuesday, so there may be other responsibilities surfacing there.

That doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself. I go shooting at least twice a month. I have reservations for Sasquan - 2015 Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane, Washington. I have tickets to https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/sh...i/default.aspx. I putter my tractor around my 93 acre home.

I still have wishes. I cancelled taking my wife to Paris because of my mother's final illness. I still want to take her to France. She majored in French literature in college, but has never been there. I know about 12 phrases in French, but have been there and had a great time. Life will never be long enough for me to do everything I want to do. That's actually a nice thing. It gives me something to look forward to.
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Old 03-06-2015, 02:52 PM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,246,121 times
Reputation: 27718
Quote:
Originally Posted by Escort Rider View Post
I've always thought that your answer (a very common one, by the way) was sort of rude. People are curious what you do, and in effect you refuse to answer. It's like if someone asks "why", we respond "because".

The question still remains, unanswered. What are some of the things that you "want" to do? That is what people wish to know. What would be so difficult about saying something like, "Well, I take a walk in the neighborhood most mornings and I have been taking a few day trips to see the sights and visit the museums around here that I had always neglected."

I am just making up that content, of course, which may have nothing to do with you personally, but I think you get the idea.
They don't want to know what I wish to do. They want to know what I do for a living.
So far none have taken it as a rude answer. Actually they tell me they are jealous.
And then I tell them to retire as early as you can so you can enjoy it longer.
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Old 03-06-2015, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,854,783 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
They don't want to know what I wish to do. They want to know what I do for a living.
So far none have taken it as a rude answer. Actually they tell me they are jealous.
And then I tell them to retire as early as you can so you can enjoy it longer.
O.K. I was thinking they knew you were retired and were asking what you do now that you no longer work for a living. Some working people - perhaps those with few outside interests and little imagination - are genuinely interested in what retirees do with their time.
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Old 03-06-2015, 06:49 PM
 
13,754 posts, read 13,232,704 times
Reputation: 26019
I have a few years before I retire. I had a conversation yesterday in which I expressed complete thankfulness and contentment with my life so far. It almost feels like dumb luck to have lived the life I've lived. If I died today, I've told my kids they can rest assured I lived a great life and am totally happy.

So the person I was talking to asked "How many people can say that?"

My response was "If they can't they need to do something about it!"

Seriously. Before it's too late. People assume things because I'm female. I leave them in the dirt, scratching their heads. Those who know me appreciate who I am and what I can do.

I love this song - the lyrics say so much. I sent it to my son "this is your life...are you who you want to be?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA2CpQWg2pA
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