Am I in the minority about this here?

Hyperion

Hyperion

New Member
Location
Baltimore, MD USA
I'm 62 and I have no plans to retire. My wife is still working too and she's older than me and also does not want to retire. We both work from home. I have my office, she has hers and what I really like is that I can work when I want and even where I want. Right now, 10:30pm, I'm working on some stuff so that a client can test something in the morning and I just thought of an idea and want to give it a try. So much better than a legacy office in some building in a city. If I had to go to an office like that, I might think of retiring in a few years, but since I can work any time and from literally anywhere in the world, I have no plans to retire.

I call my current commute, the bathrobe commute. I wake up, go get my coffee, or if I get up first, make the coffee. Go walk down to my wife's office and take her a cup of coffee, give her a morning hug and kiss and get ready to face all the crazy clients I have to deal with. But I'm not ready to call it a quit just yet. Maybe in 10 years if I can work up some sort of part time gig, OK, I hope I can still do it! but retirement is just not for me, not yet.

My wife actually retired from 20 years of teaching, got her law degree, did that for a while and then retired again. And just about 6 months ago, she wanted to go back to work, so she did. 2 golden age, so they say it is, working peeps. Are we oddities? I don't know. If anyone else is planning to stay working, I'd love to hear about it!
 

Many people are not retiring and working into their 80s now. Sometimes it's because they really need the income and sometimes it just makes them feel vital and useful. To each their own respectfully.

I had to retire due to severe disability. I felt bad for a long time not working but I could not. Now I'm accepting and enjoying since I torned 65. Go figure how the human mind works.
 
Most of us like to keep busy but not necessarily with paid work. We don't all sit on our bums waiting for Death to call once our working days are over. I'm sure I'm not the only one who helps with charities. One of the advantages of being retired is that you can help with agencies which depend on volunteers.
 
Difficult to work as a professional photographer via Zoom :ROFLMAO:

In the Covid lockdown years I did some Graphic Design from home. Hated it. I need people!

It was Covid and my bad experience with it that convinced me to retire late last year at 58. My wife followed suit 3 months later and we sold up and moved to be closer to family. We're loving it!
 
Most of my working life has been in logistics, that's just a buzz word to try and make trucks, warehouses, delivery vans and so on, sound sexy. At 62 I called it a day then spent two years thinking how boring retirement was. A chance phone call from one of the previous major clients asked. "What are you doing?" They had a problem, someone of standing had what the medics termed, a T.I.A. I think it's like a mini stroke, how did I fancy covering him for the year that he has to take things easy?

Going back to work at 64, who would have thought? Twelve years later and I am still there and although I am now 76 I'm not the eldest, that honour goes to a hard working 78 year old.
 
you have to go with your gut ....MY .hubby is older than me , and he got offered a big design contract (hes an Architect) aged 50, but felt he wanted to do his own thing which was build his own bungalow and travel....!!!.....so he retired aged 50 and did what he wanted basically !!!
im so glad he did retire when he did, as he had a massive stroke aged 69. and has been immoble for 10yrs now....
 
Many of us that had careers and worked all our lives have trouble retiring. I think this is partially due to the fact that all we have done for the last 40+ years is our work or stuff related to our work. As many of us really know is our work and it is very fulfilling.

Many never get out of that work habit until they lose their health or actually die. Sad but true...life has more to offer.

It is scary to some thinking of leaving work for something unknown, but if you don't try you may miss out on the best part of your life. You have to mentally and physically prepare for retirement, and this should start a few years prior to retiring. Start trying things you think you might like to do, travel, hobbies, home upgrades, lifestyle changes, etc. in time you will find some things you want to do in retirement. You have to work at it to find what you love, or maybe who you love. But it is worth it, working until you live is not all there is.... much more awaits that you!
 
officerripley said:
Working past the average age of retirement is great if you love what you do and are good at it. I never was; in spite of how hard I worked, I was only considered to be average, so it was a relief to retire.
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AND if you get paid enough. For 15 years before retirement, I was self-employed. I liked what I did, and I was good at it. But my income was meager. On balance, not worth it.

I regard work as "selling my life," which seems a sin. If others find work rewarding, I'm happy for them.
 
I do miss working. Being a widower, it is just me and the dog, and of course being part of the lives of my daughters and their families. I finally sold my company last year and moved to a retirement community. I find myself volunteering for more and more activities and events here on campus with almost 300 other souls (on a not to interfere with family get togethers and help with babysitting grandchildren when needed on an infrequent basis). At age 77 now, I don't know if I will eventually say enough is enough?
 
Timewise 60+ said:
It is scary to some thinking of leaving work for something unknown, but if you don't try you may miss out on the best part of your life. You have to mentally and physically prepare for retirement, and this should start a few years prior to retiring. Start trying things you think you might like to do, travel, hobbies, home upgrades, lifestyle changes, etc. in time you will find some things you want to do in retirement. You have to work at it to find what you love, or maybe who you love. But it is worth it, working until you live is not all there is.... much more awaits that you!
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Much as I enjoy the stimulus of work, it's never been the be all and end all. Outside of work my wife and I have a good group of friends who enjoy the vintage scene as much as we do. Then there's the MG scene and all that goes with that. We used to be out every night that my wife's shift pattern allowed. Our passion was Latin & Ballroom dancing. Work fills the daytime hours perfectly, it's like having a paid hobby.
 
I'll confess that if I win a big Powerball, I'll be retiring the same day. But I like things that money can buy, right now we are home shopping for a new house, so that is a factor. At this point, I don't think I can live on SS and what I have for retirement. Maybe someday I can, or I will just wear or burn out and that will be it and I'll do my best. Right now, I'm just looking for the next best way to stay younger and will keep up that fight as long as I can.
 


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