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Surely it can't be just a financial decision? What led you to make the decision? Illness, family issues?
Did you set a date and then work up to it or did you just wake up one morning and decide- it's time.
DH is 70 loves his job and won't consider retiring. I manage the money and I know we can do it so that is no excuse. I think he wants to die with his "boots on".
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BucFan
I don't think retirement is necessarily for everyone.
I would support DH and do the 'retirement' thing solo. (if mutually agreed upon)
Many reasons +/- for retirement come up, but if someone has an engaging job and is making a meaningful contribution I see no harm in letting them continue, as long as it is not adversely affecting well-being.
Agreed. It's a very personal thing. I had mixed feelings about my career; there were aspects of it that were gratifying and fulfilling, and there were times that were hell on earth. For me it came down to a financial decision; when I got to the point where my pension would provide a comfortable (if basically modest) living (in my case after 34 years of service and at age 61), I retired. It was the right decision. I still work part time for the same outfit (not for the money), but I can choose the projects I really like and I don't choose too many of them. It's the best of both worlds. There is no point in claiming that one size fits all. If someone wants to die with their boots on, more power to them. I chose not to, but then I had lots of interests and activities outside of my job, and my job had its stressful and unpleasant aspects.
The big mistake, it seems to me, would be to retire before you are financially ready; this almost assures lots of misery down the road.
I had my mind made up and my plans to retire in August of this year. In August of 2008, my wife and I attended a presentation by Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion who also wrote and presents the segments of Lake Wobegone Days. He's quite the speaker and storyteller!
At the end of his presentation he opened the floor to questions from the audience. His last question came from a relatively young woman who mentioned that he's written a number of books, has been traveling for years on authors and speakers tours and has performed the Saturday radio show of A Prairie Home Companion before live audiences for 30 years without ever missing a performance. Her question was, "How to you manage your time to do it all?"
In his droll, mid-western way, Mr. Keillor said that some years before he took stock of his life and in one hand listed those things he enjoyed doing, things that brought him pleasure, things he considered important and beneficial. In the other hand he placed those things that were no longer enjoyable for him, things that had outlived their usefulness, including old friends who hadn't kept in touch or with whom he no longer had anything in common, and things that, in the end, seemed to be a waste of time from which no one derived much, if any, benefit.
That being done, he emptied the second hand and put those things behind him. That left plenty of time for the other things he thought important and which he enjoyed and benefited from.
After his performance my wife and I walked home and I contemplated what he'd said. Once we were inside I reminded her of Mr. Keillor's words and told her I was going to retire at the end of that year, rather than two years hence. I no longer enjoyed my career and it was time for me to go. The following day I informed my employer of my decision and four months later I was gone. It was one of the best and most timely decisions I ever made!
To say that work is over rated you'd have to have had one of those jobs that bring little else but the money to your life, in his book, Working author Studs Terkel commented that very few people ever had a job that seemed all that satisfying, goofing off on the other hand almost always gets a thumbs up from the weary overworked soul.
my job was just doing the rote stuff that we all know so well in our work. Real challenges come along so seldom in life that you begin to realize the wisdom in leaving your time wide open in order to be ready for all the thoughts and dreams that you weren't allowed to indulge in during the working years. There are some financial aspects that speak to the level of comfort you want in retirement but the main goal isn't to have a perpetual vacation, its a good time to do just nothing for as long as you want, let the mind decide the days events not the boss.
Slowing down the velocitized mind isn't always done so easily, we get used to the speed of all things work, sloooowwwwly we begin to wind dooowwwn, walking on that country road just kickin rocks, stopping to watch some birds doing their fancy flying, never paying much attention to time. If those kind of days seem like something you might like, think about the time you spent working as compared to playing and you may be getting in the mood to feel like a kid again, playing........All day.
Surely it can't be just a financial decision? What led you to make the decision? Illness, family issues?
Did you set a date and then work up to it or did you just wake up one morning and decide- it's time.
DH is 70 loves his job and won't consider retiring. I manage the money and I know we can do it so that is no excuse. I think he wants to die with his "boots on".
Many people cannot imagine an alternative to the time they spend on their work. I think for those folks, dying with their boots on is the answer.
I think when you feel you no longer make a difference, or when you reach the point where you feel like you have nothing left to give, its time to go. Of course, having the money to retire has to be factored in.
Surely it can't be just a financial decision? What led you to make the decision? Illness, family issues?
Did you set a date and then work up to it or did you just wake up one morning and decide- it's time.
DH is 70 loves his job and won't consider retiring. I manage the money and I know we can do it so that is no excuse. I think he wants to die with his "boots on".
For my wife and me, it was the plan ... we knew when we started our federal careers that we wanted to retire at age 55, and we planned to do so if at all possible.
It wasn't a financial decision, although finances are obviously very important. It wasn't (thankfully) a matter of illness, nor did family concerns enter into it.
My wife had a very demanding job that kept her very busy, but was very unappreciated and therefore overly stressed. The day we retired was 27 days after my wife turned 55, and 14 days after she reached 30 years of federal service. In other words, she hung in there until she had the necessary age and years of service, and retired with a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, I had the best job of my career at the time of retirement - highest grade/pay, most responsibility, most challenging, greatest variety of tasks, best opportunity to learn new things and to pass along that knowledge to others. I could have retired almost a year before I did, but I waited for my wife to be eligible, and we retired together, and according to the plan we had made when we were both in our 20's.
And although I loved my job, I sincerely do not miss it one bit, and that has been perhaps the biggest surprise for me in retirement.
If your husband loves his work, and if he sees no reason/has no desire/does not NEED to retire, more power to him. I think that's great.
For us, looking back over the 2+ years of retirement we've had so far, I can honestly say it was the very best decision we could have made ... for us.
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