Posted on 02/20/2012 3:21:53 PM PST by IDontLikeToPayTaxes
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When Paula Symons joined the U.S. workforce in 1972, typewriters in her office clacked nonstop, people answered the telephones and the hot new technology revolutionizing communication was the fax machine.
Symons, fresh out of college, entered this brave new world thinking she'd do pretty much what her parents' generation did: Work for just one or two companies over about 45 years before bidding farewell to co-workers at a retirement party and heading off into her sunset years with a pension.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I’ve essentially given up on retirement, even if I get a job that gives me enough money to save for retirement (and I’m only 25). Outside of winning the lottery, by the time I have the money, the dollar will probably be worthless or one will have to get permission from big brother to retire.
For now, I’m putting my money into surviving the approaching crunch.
I see, you spend time at two ranges".
Work is not a job...work is what you do because that's what you're good at and enjoy doing. You do it with dignity and would rather starve than belittle it.
It may take several occupations (not jobs) to survive. Better get prepared...because it looks like tough times are coming!
And when you look at life from a negative POV...you are already dead!
Come on, brother...live! Wake up and live!
If you don't see it now...go seek it. It is out there.
Or just pray...He will tell you that you are alive in HIM!
Last few years?! I've been working 60 hour work weeks since 1995. I'm coming up on 50 years old soon and I'm just getting warmed up for crying out loud.
Yes, the last few years have been hard. The economy SUCKS, Obama's ruining the country, and everyone (including me) seems to be living in 'fear' as to what this sorry sock monkey POC is doing to this country.
But c'mon. We're American's. We don't whine - we buckle down, do what needs to be done to take care of ourselves and our families - and when the time is right we'll fix this problem.
What have we become, a nation of whiners?!
They’re bores because everything in their lives revolves around that damn job. I’ve seen a lot of them.
That's a little harsh but having a fear of the unknown is probably common, I know I faced a little of my own even though I knew I was prepared financially, I still had to get my mind "into it". It didn't take any consideration at all to know I didn't want to run my life according to someone elses schedule any more.
Having a fear that one is going to die soon after retiring is irrational. Exercise, eat right and you'll do well whether in the rat race or not. I stay exactly as busy as I want to stay, no more and no less and I have stated before, I have zero regrets, having been retired for 12 years.
That trite saying, "different strokes for different folks" applies here. For people considering retiring, I say, jump right in, the water's fine!
My twin grand daughters sleep 11 hrs straight. :- )
And they stayed here a week so I know it’s true.
Boeing must be one Baaad place to work...
Well, I want to home school my grandkids. Travel. Finish a couple of painting. Read. Get up when I want to.
Ok, back to reality. Luckily, I like my work.
Some folks I have seen die too soon after retirement. My dad for one, but not sure it was retirement as he kept active, but the leukimia finally caught up to him.
My mom kept the books for my dad and raised us kids. So I guess she “retired” as well. That was many moons ago. At the age of 93 she still travels, drives, etc. She wonders how she could be so old and still not have enough hours in the day to do all that she wants to get done!
I hope that my length and quality of life genes come from mom! Although she has noticed old age creeping up on her. “I never thought I would see the day when I would think ‘Oh - to be 85 again!’”
“And then do what”? Oh I don’t know, let’s see, what to do....hhmmmmmm....hobbies maybe? Okay, golf, (6 months a year), senior men’s slow pitch, (3 months a year), bowling league, pocket billiards league, target shooting, hunting, fishing, hiking/camping, prepping, photography, reloading and traveling. Any of those interest you? They sure do me, and I do ‘em all. No work to screw up my hobby schedule. Ret. is great, try it sometime and you will find out you will not be asking, “do what”? Oh, did I forget to mention sleeping in late if I feel like it?....
When I was working, I was good at it and I enjoyed it more often than not. One thing that helped was having some really good managers to work for over the years.
Now that I'm not working, I'm enjoying this too. When I was working I found that there were some good days and some bad days. Now that I'm not working there are no bad days... but some days are better than others.
Find what you love...and you'll be very good at it! And make a living in the process.
One thing I've discovered over the past few years is that what a lot of people call "making a living", I call "buying a lot of crap they don't need (and after the thrill of the purchase wears off, don't use at all), as some sort of reward for all the effort they had to put forth to earn the money". People are filling storage units with stuff they bought and don't use. They have to rent storage units because every square foot of space in their house is full of unused stuff, and they need to find some place to put it so they can go buy some more new stuff they won't use.
“BTW, I’ll be just over 55.”
There you have it folks, we HAVE BECOME Greece......
And fun too!
God bless...and good luck!
God bless you! Keep kicking and providing a good example for the rest of us!
I guess I was unclear. I don't have a business of redistributing stuff.... other than auctioning off some of my own ill-advised purchases that I made over the years. Get rid of one of my tents and keep two, get rid of a couple of my archery bows and keep one, that sort of thing.
What my attempted point was is that most of what people are doing is not what I would call "living". They're working just to buy "stuff".
Not that I haven't done my share of that myself over the years. Sure, I could get my resume up to date and try to find a job. Once I had a job, what would I do with the money? Buy a $20,000 telescope? I've already got one. I don't need another.
One thing I've noticed over the past couple of years is how many people are in that trap of working just to buy stuff. Another thing I've discovered too though, is just how many people in my neighborhood are not working... by choice. For some reason the people spending their time relaxing around the lake here during the day are a lot more likely to have smiles on their faces than the ones that I see heading past my house going to or from work. When the people are heading to work, I've NEVER seen any of them smiling, and when they're heading home from work they just look worn out.
The people that aren't working are just as active in their hobbies as the people that work. They just go out fishing with a modest boat and motor, instead of a $25,000 outfit rigged up with all the latest electronics. The people that aren't working go out and catch fish. The people that are working go out and buy boats, and then don't have time to use them because the weekends and evenings are burnt up doing necessary home and yard maintenance.
“One thing I’ve discovered over the past few years is that what a lot of people call “making a living”, I call “buying a lot of crap they don’t need”
That, my friend, is the other side of the wealth equation, and it is not discussed enough in relation to retirement. There is a lot that you can do to reduce expenses without reducing your quality of life. But retirement planners and related BS artists don’t make commissions by selling you on moving to less pricey quarters and cooking at home more often.
This thread prompted me into checking out Blue Cross rates for the first time in a few years. $168/mo for an HSA based plan. Going Galt is looking better all the time.
Retired at 55, 35yrs Airline industry. Now I love getting up every morning, go work when and If I want, or don’t. Now have time to spend doing what I want, Farming, hunting-fishing and playing fiddle Friday and Saturday nights.
In my case, I found that by eliminating 500 miles per week commuting to and from work I saved a lot on gas, oil changes, and car replacement costs.
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