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Many times the things people do or love the best can't be an avenue for supporting themselves. I always wanted to be a stage actress. I was good at it, performing in community theater and other amateur shows. It's very difficult to make a living off it though and I don't think I could have done that. So instead I spent my working life doing office work. I didn't hate it but when I didn't have to do it any longer I was happy. Now I'm in a senior's play reading group and it's great. I have lots of time for it.
The idea is no one has to love their job and no one has to give up what they do love. It's possible to do both.
Minerva, I am envious of where you live. The place that I live in has absolutely nothing going for its residents. Nothing. No picnics, no coffee/donut day, how did you find such a nice place??
I have no regrets associated with retirement. My regrets are more associated with aging. There are a few healthy things I could have done when I was younger that would make things easier now. Too many years behind a desk.
So do you think your wife went to work after you retired to get away from you?
My sister brags about being married for 50 years but is so happy that her hubby is gone for days at a time.
And don't tell your wife that you like being with her because it is better than working! Tell her it is because you love her and only her and couldn't go a day without being around her -
I told her that since she played housewife during my career, the least I could do is to be housewife during her career. This is my bit for Women's Lib.
She did not think that we could support our family on my pension. We needed the extra income until our children came of age and we moved to a lower cost area.
Minerva, I am envious of where you live. The place that I live in has absolutely nothing going for its residents. Nothing. No picnics, no coffee/donut day, how did you find such a nice place??
I searched a lot. I originally found it on the Internet along with a whole bunch of other places. The one I really wanted had a 2-5 year waiting list so I passed it by. They had tons of activities including trips.
Well, one thing I learned is that not all places are easy to find when you go online. I used GOOGLE and put in "senior housing" in various ways like "senior apartments," "subsidized housing" "retirement communities" and so forth. Each different search came up with slightly different places.
After I was released from the hospital two years ago, I had to have a visiting nurse, a social worker and a home helper come to the apartment I was living in prior to this one. I picked their brains about independent senior housing. I figured they have seen it all. The nurse recommended the place where I'm living now. The others agreed it was the best of choices.
For those who can afford them, there are some really nice ones that have every amenity imaginable.
I didn't realize it at the time I decided to relocate from Portland, OR to the Cleveland area that one other positive aspect of my move would be that the senior apartment living options were way better here than there. So I guess what you can find depends upon where you live.
've been retired since April of this year and have absolutely no regrets at this time. We've had occasion to travel, visit family, spend time with the grandkids, go to the beach during the week (weekends here are a nightmare), read tons of books.
I will know about #6 (receiving SS too early) when it's too late, right now I'm very happy to be getting the Supplement offered to Federal retirees which will stop at 62 at which time I will file for early SS (unless the government has other plans).
I am surprised at the number of people who mention being around their spouses too much. I enjoy my time with DH but we both have plenty going on and are not the least sick of each other.
At this time, I am thrilled about having been able to retire at 60. After 35 years of professional work in the public sector I was drained and a day at home with little to do beats a day at the office !
Because we all don't have those opportunities but we do have requirements to be met. ...
...And what if you find THE THING you are made for and actually get to do it? But it doesn't pay well enough? Then you're a bum, lazy, "not pulling the wagon," either down and out or getting some sort of "welfare" and will be castigated either way.
The real advice is “keep your wits about you, when you’re 13 or 14 or 15 years old. Excel in high school, taking classes that are both challenging and interesting to you personally. Then get into a top college, in a major that’s going to be both interesting and lucrative. The rest will take care of itself”.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fallstaff
... hard, dirty, dangerous, tedious, or soul crushing. OOH! I want to do a tedious, dangerous, taxing, soul crushing thing for a living! No such demographic...
Well, the very concept of retirement is a "luxury good". In the modern Western World, we're all infused with the germ of an idea, that we're all middle-class, that we all deserve comfort and security. Those who have failed to achieve this, goes the narrative, were indolent or irresolute. They planned poorly. But in truth, even in the most advanced countries, the majority of the iceberg must be below the waterline. Anything else is unstable and unnatural. The idea of being an enterprising and smart teenager, so that one could have successful career-progression as a young adult, so that one could amass a healthy portfolio in middle-age, so that one could enjoy a rewarding retirement in old age - is and ought to be moot for a large number of people. But we can't tell them that, can we? We can't tell future ditch-diggers that their subservient and impecunious position in life, is necessary for the good of society - can we? No, of course not. Otherwise our most cherished values, as a society, would come into question.
Your superb post is a needed counter-balance to the many posters who write about their jobs as if the jobs were a prison sentence, and as if one only starts to live life when one is retired. I always wonder if the job was that bad why didn't they put serious effort into finding something better?
AMEN! I had some of those sucky jobs when I was young. So I quit. One time I quit a job so I could go to the '84 summer olympics. 20 something with no ties.
You only live once. If you hate going to work, why stick around and count down the days till you can retire.
What if you die before you hit retirement age.
AMEN! I had some of those sucky jobs when I was young. So I quit. One time I quit a job so I could go to the '84 summer olympics. 20 something with no ties.
You only live once. If you hate going to work, why stick around and count down the days till you can retire.
What if you die before you hit retirement age.
Some really sucky jobs offer a 20 year pension with a great healthcare plan. Get shot at and exposed to some nuclear radiation and hazardous biological and chemical agents then you get to retire while still 'young'.
I always wonder if the job was that bad why didn't they put serious effort into finding something better?
Quote:
Originally Posted by foundapeanut
AMEN!
I had some of those sucky jobs when I was young. So I quit. One time I quit a job so I could go to the '84 summer olympics. 20 something with no ties.
You only live once. If you hate going to work, why stick around and count down the days till you can retire.
What if you die before you hit retirement age.
Not everyone has flexibility of choice, financial resources, lots of opportunities, ability to know they would dislike their job(s) so much, certain talents, education, forethought to see themselves in more interesting jobs, happens to live in economic advantageous geographic areas.......
some tedious jobs or jobs with drawbacks or jobs that do not make your soul fulfilled pay quite well and one feels it would not be beneficial to throw it away, especially if one is supporting children and a family.
65 to 70 percent of people in the U.S. do not have college degrees.
I just don't think it is as simple as to say 'just find another job which you like better'. Also, someone has to do all the less than interesting jobs or physically laborious jobs or unsafe jobs.
just my opinion.
Last edited by matisse12; 08-09-2017 at 11:18 PM..
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20 something with no ties. 
