Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Working in retirement, on your own terms, is still retirement. Working because you have to is just an extension of your working life.
This is 100% how I feel....exactly!
There is a HUGE difference between being employed knowing that you don't really have to work, and going to work ever day, or a few days a week because you want to keep busy doing something that you find at least mildly interesting.....vs. going to work because you HAVE to work to pay your bills and if you don't work, you'll be living on the street.
Vast difference in attitude and mental comfort between those two "jobs".
I still don't see how that is retirement, if you're still working, especially full-time or even half-time.
Well everyone has a right to their own opinion.
For me, "working" is what I spent my life doing in order to pay the bills and save for my eventual retirement. My boss held all the cards in that relationship.
Retirement is what I do when I no longer have to work to pay the bills....but I perhaps choose to work to keep busy, mentally sharp, for entertainment or whatever.....and I am the boss. If I'm asked to do something unreasonable, or that I'm unwilling to do for whatever reason, I'll just leave that job on my own terms when I choose to. I hold all the cards in this relationship.
For me, retirement is a state of mind, not necessarily judged by what I'm doing or not doing.
my personal definition of retirement is "retirement does not have to mean not working , it can mean just not having to work so whether you do volunteer work you enjoy or do something you get paid for you enjoy they meet my definition .
I do a mixture of part-time consulting with travel, and volunteer work. Keeps me busy, and the plus side of it all is that the activities are both in areas that I enjoy. Time passes rapidly because I am kept so busy. We each have to define for ourselves what our retirement will look like. It is, after all, a state of being that is specific to each of us! For me, as long as it meets my needs, and makes me happy and ready to get up and meet each new day, that's a good "retirement"!
Yes, you may define retirement as you wish, of course! As point of information, though, here are the definitions from three dictionaries. I realize that the official definition of retirement has no meaning to some of you (which is fine!) especially those who are working full-time in 'retirement' but still say you are retired. The original meaning of retirement is evolving for some, and the definition is changing for some.
re·tire·ment
noun
1. the action or fact of leaving one's job and ceasing to work.
retirement
NOUN
1The action or fact of leaving one's job and ceasing to work.
‘a man nearing retirement'
2The period of one's life after retiring from work.
retirement
noun
the point at which someone stops working, esp. because of having reached a particular age or because of ill health, or the period in someone’s life after the person has stopped working
Last edited by matisse12; 10-18-2017 at 01:18 PM..
Personally, at age 69, I keep working (sort of) because it is easy and I like the money. It pays for travel and kitchen remodels.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.