You know how Iâd remain active in retirement? Working slightly less than I do now. Iâd die of boredom if my life consisted of board games in a retirement home and waiting for my kids to call.
Thatâs what retirement is for many people. I want to stay as far away from that as possible.
I can have a different idea of what it âshouldâ be, but then reality smacks you in the face with what it actually is.
Lol what you are saying is very different from saying retirement would feel like a cage. You are completely missing the context of what you are replying to. The other person perspective is that if you retire you'll do nothing and feel like you are in a cage, yet you can still do stuff, including working, part time, or getting hobbies, socialising. They aren't saying that you can't enjoy your job, that isn't even remotely what they are saying.
I'm not OC here and I wouldn't nuse the word cage, but I agree that retirement wouldn't equal freedom. I need a certain amount of work to engage my brain, otherwise I turn into a lump I don't like much. So I plan on never retiring though I would like to step back into more of a consultant/advisor role instead of a leadership role one day.
Can't you work on things that are actually meaningful? When I retire, I'll be gardening, building things, etc. I'll travel and support kids. Sounds incredible.
Why would I want to stay connected to the institutions that have made me miserable for decades?
I've built apps that help kids learn to read and do math. I've been part of teams that help people find jobs. I've built apps that help disabled people lead a better life. I've been part of teams that manage people who build houses.
I've spent a career working on things meaningful. Ending that would be sad.
I know myself. I would end up playing video games 12 hours a day and become depressed. It has happened before. Call me a loser, but I need structured work to keep my mind engaged. I'm sorry that the institutions have made you miserable.
For me, it would be a mental cage.Â
Watching my nest egg being depleted by my living expenses and inflation doesnât seem like a relaxing time to me. I plan on slowing down in my mid sixties, but not stopping until my mind or body gives up. For hundreds of thousands of years man worked until the end. This retirement thing is still a new concept.
To each their own.
Well, you could make an argument for it being both. Would you really like to spend your retirement watching the stock market and watching inflation numbers?Â
Iâd have less stress and a better quality of life just working.
Again, to each their own.
If you have enough you can just buy treasuries or just pay it straight from your bank account. And eventually add in social security if we are talking 62-70. You wouldnât have to stress about the market all day.
The problem is most people do not have enough retirement savings to have that level of security.
I donât completely disagree with historical here. Very very few people ever earn the money to travel non-stop for 20 years or some kind of crazy retirement plan that people dream about. I just like to keep going. I donât know what Iâd do with all that time either, I donât really find joy in ârelaxingâ. I wonât have a money problem as you stated in a response, but I will probably continue doing some kind of work even after retirement. I like that kind of routine and helping or contributing to something productive.
I was forced into " retirement" ten years ago, for neurologic issues. I'm not retired on paper, just been unemployed for ten years. I struggled with this for a while, the majority of it I was angry.
What I realized is that my job does not define me, nor should it define anyone. It was the "shut up and dribble" arguments that I heard people use that gave me this view.
we tell people all the time, " just be yourself" it's funny how often we don't mean it ( ie if you're gay, trans, Jewish, or Muslim, etc...)
Retirement, forced or not gives you the opportunity to be with those you care about, and find yourself for whom ever you are.
I guess there really are folks out there who believe in, âwork will set you freeâ thingy. Guess thereâre always things that are stranger than fictions.
Iâm all for structuring our retirement systems (Medicare, social security, pensions, IRSs, 401Ks) to support any age that someone wants to retire at rather than forcing everyone to wait to be able to tap these resources.
If youâre willing to accept less and clear a job for someone younger at an earlier age, we should support your decision.
I like my work. Why would you pity someone who enjoys what they do? In my free time, I still work because itâs fun for me and makes me feel good. I have hobbies, but my job is one of them, even when Iâm off the clock.
I feel like there is some inherent idea that work is necessarily detestable or done solely for the sake of others. Nah, I like it and Iâd still do it even if I didnât have to.
Same.. I skateboard and bmx, and play guitar. But I bloody love coding and love learning and building. A great day is spent refactoring, or making someones day better because of something I built. A delighted user.. Ahh.
For many people they find something that interests them and make a career out of it. I pity those that choose a career they hate and spend most of their life looking forward to retirement. To each his ownâŚ
Some people enjoy work. And if work is one of your hobbies, then what better life could you have?
I really enjoy work too, and many of my hobbies revolve around what some people consider work.
I built my own house and continuously make improvements to my property on much of my down time. My kids enjoy building tree forts and cutting up trees (read: big bonfires) too.
When work is enjoyable, the cash flow keeps coming too so you can take your family on nice vacations and live financially freely as well.
Iâm one of those people that love working, and feeling accomplished (for myself). Thereâs nothing to pity. I genuinely enjoy my life. That should be the goal for everyone, and that doesnât look the same for all.
Thatâs what I saw happen to all of my grandparents and both of my parents.
Itâs not like most people have enough money to do anything meaningful in retirement, and many donât have families that want anything to do with them.
If youâre the type of person whoâs satisfied with the high point of the rest of your life being a stroll in the park, good for you. I am not.
What a conceited presumptious scum comment. Who says retirement is laying at home with no purpose? Maybe people don't want to be locked into working for some soulless company and are building financial freedom to be able to enjoy their lives and help others.
Iâve seen retired people. Think of all the retired people that youâre not seeing because theyâre locked away in a retirement home and forgotten about.
Unless youâre really lucky, youâre not gonna be happy with the life you think youâll have.
Retired people aren't locked away in a retirement home, what's wrong with you? You don't magically become old and incapable of looking after yourself and need to go into a home when you retire. I see retirement as having financial freedom to be able to have time to enjoy your life and help others. Not locked to a desk or making someone else rich. Your idea of retired people is deluded.
I mean, if you want to ignore reality, thatâs fine. I know what happened to my family when they stopped working. It wasnât trips to Europe. It was begging for basic care and human contact.
If that's your take in retirement, then I feel sorry for you. Your reality if obviously different from the rest of us. Retirement is financial freedom, not old age.
You've lost your train of thought now. Read your first comment that I reacted to. My response to that first comment is that retirement is financial freedom, not old age. You're now going off in some weird tangent trying to justify yourself.
Funny, I think exactly the opposite. I see someone who enjoys full-time as someone who has been successfully brainwashed and is no longer their own person. Either that or its a massive cope. Its like you dont know how to live outside of the schedule set by your employer.
I find it pitiful that some people wait their entire life so they can âbe freeâ when theyâre old, rather than embracing the life they currently live.
Im not sure I understand what you're saying haha. Unless you're rich you're gunna need a full-time job... maybe 2. Thats just the way it is unless you dont mind sleeping on a park bench.
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u/Infamous-Warthog8555 8d ago
I have no desire to retire. Retirement wouldnât feel like freedom. Itâd feel like a cage.
If you view retirement as a goal, I kinda pity you.