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When I posted about the cat, I was not thinking if I was in the correct thread. I had been reading the retirement format, sharing, learning, etc. and felt the people there were quite friendly and probably knew too much about me cuz I tend to say too much. (Guess I was wrong, huh?)
And then suddenly, I lost my cat who I had a very deep affection for. I live alone, I'm 73, and I don't have a supportive family. And yes, my second (and last) sister is dying. My emotions were quite raw. I had seen first hand what happened to my cat and it was not pretty.
Why this has been such a big deal I will never understand. How picky and small minded people show themselves to be is incredible. If I were any of you I would be quite embarrassed with myself. Don't any of you have "better" things to talk about? Apparently not. Why haven't you found your very own "intelligence only" thread and talk among yourselves. No you have more fun beating up on somebody going through a really horrible time.
I do not care how much education, money, stature, importance you have, the grave is the same size for everyone.
I learned quite a few things from cd forums applicable to my interest of finding a suitable retirement home such as the pros and cons of living in different climate, states, towns, cities, HOA or non HOA, how to prepare for downsizing, for relocation etc.
I learned few new financial related issues such as the fact that 401K either goes 100% to a new spouse or 50% even when a non-spouse is the designated beneficiary. I did not hear about the LTC partnership program with states until it was mentioned by mathjak.
It was a surprise to me to read many heart breaking stories about estrangements from children in this senior/retirement forum. I had always thought that times heal all wounds, that there would be more reconciliations as the parents get older.
Although I have been aware of potential issues which may arise with major life changing events like retirement, facing serious health issues (own or spouse's) or financial (losing jobs, divorces etc), I am quite appreciative of the 'brave' folks who shared their life challenges or difficult decisions here. Learning about these issues from first-hand accounts makes me feel more prepared to enter a new phase in my life.
Lastly I learned that as we get older, we may become more forgetful or even more fearful (I will start a thread about scientific studies of the effect of aging later) but we are still basically the same people as our younger selves. I see roughly the same distribution of personality, temperament type, religious or political leanings in the senior set as in the general population. I see the same differences between the sexes (men are from Mars, women from Venus: case in point is the current 'dispute' about what type of topics or postings should be 'tolerated' at this forum). To understand the POV of a poster (especially when it is different from mine), I usually spent few minutes learning about their background, reading their other postings. I find it interesting that a person's occupational background usually has quite an influence on their opinions, life's outlook or modus operandus in their retirement and probably for the rest of their life.
Another pleasant surprise that I found in the cd forums is that many of the posters are extremely helpful and quite generous with their time. Although I am an optimistic, the-glass-half-full type of person who believes that altruism is inherent in human nature, it is my experience and observation that there are a lot more good people here than found in the general population. This is why I have become a more frequent reader, forum participant and hope to be here in this 'virtual' senior/retirement community for a long time.
Thank you and best regards to all.
I appreciate your ability to read with a sense of objectivity and rationality. The opposite, which is all too evident in this thread, is like the crabgrass on the lawn of life.
I appreciate your ability to read with a sense of objectivity and rationality. The opposite, which is all too evident in this thread, is like the crabgrass on the lawn of life.
OK - now you have me laughing cuz boy are you gonna hear about "crabgrass" comment. I have to tend to some weeds - be back for the fun.
I have learned that some people live less than happy lives, both before and after retirement.
Some are grouchy, super-sensitive, curmudgeons, for whom life is not so good.
Others are contented, happy, and open to the free, non-hostile exchange of ideas.
Life is good for them.
Please do not feel free to explain life to me again. I doubt you have lived as much life as I have.
NYgal2NC,
I was just expressing my POV. I was raised to respect my elders and would have never thought of 'lecturing' anyone here be they younger or older than me. My sincere apology.
I was just expressing my POV. I was raised to respect my elders and would have never thought of 'lecturing' anyone here be they younger or older than me. My sincere apology.
I've been reading this forum now for about 6 months. Although many thoughts are repeats, I've become grateful to learn from the collective wisdom at this site.
...
Anything to add? Your ideas?
I have found the forum a source of extremely useful information, which has saved me a LOT of time and likely a lot of expensive errors of the "oops" variety.
1. I had never even CONSIDERED RV'ing around to the National Parks as a "Grand Tour" kind of exercise, useful to construct a wall between life in my next stage vs. life in current stage! NO WAY do I want to be hemming and hawing about doing this or doing that! With an RV tour, there is always progress forward to a destination. Thus, a really good segue into the next stage: I've been driven by deadlines and launches my entire life, so the Grand Tour will provide a "soft" facsimile thereof!
2. I had NEVER imagined the different SS approaches outlined here! Had never even CONSIDERED filing and suspending, because I had not thought of it before!
3. First time I was introduced to the utility of having a third eye troubleshoot a financial retirement strategy was here. I STILL can't wrap my head around what I perceive as the intrusion of having somebody else "manage" my financial affairs - for a fee. And, I probably will never see the wisdom in it, to be fair.
4. Needless to say, I have had zero time to travel. Therefore, hearing how others describe where they live, where they moved to, and their thought processes has been quite informative, to say the least. On the Grand Tour, I intend to visit many of the places I've heard about here.
5. Ever the stoic, I had not fully considered the practical aspects of LTCI. Duh!
6. OTOH, I do hope that the PTB NEVER EVER agree to moderation for a forum (this one) consisting of people who have learned life's lessons. I note Wisteria's thread: many of the original posters on that thread fled C-D entirely after the moderator changed the title by diktat. Those fleeing included the OP. I note that one frequent poster now makes noises about moderating the Retirement Forum. Personally, I find the comments that do not pass the criterion for cerebral content useful as well. Moderating out the "trivia" (as some might be wont to do) invites the same outcome. Inevitable stagnation and death, as only the PC and "cerebral" comments will appear.
So thank you, Retirement Forum, for the good info. Please continue your actions to curb moderator overreach.
Can't we all just get along here????
Let us stick to the topic at hand. What Did you Learn on the Retirement Forum??? (not how many people have pissed you off). Sometimes we tend to be more like kindergarteners than retirees. LOL
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