Oh, you're not working, why not

debodun said:
I took an early retirement incentive in 2010 when I was 58. I get 80% of the last three years of salary (averaged) as a pension and with SSI, I'm making more than I was when I was working. The only drawback is that I lost my vision and dental insurance. I just pay OOP for dental. The premiums for dental insurance for 1 year is more than I would usually spend in 3 years for regular visits.
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@debodun , if my math is correct you should be eligible for S.S. + Medicare as you are 72, no? That said, even with Medicare I pay out of pocket for dental, as none of the dentist that I would care to use will accept the HMO Delta Dental that my Senior Advantage coverage provides. Pretty much the same with vision, although I'll get my eye exam paid for, and fill my eyeglass prescription elsewhere.
 

I do work. For a good boss that treats me well. No micro management. I do the tasks I feel are important on any given day and I take time off when I feel like it.
No fancy attire needed. No timeclock. All that's required is initiative and a good attitude.
I have been compensated already by working 50 years outside the home and by squirreling away like a hobbit.
 
LoveTulips said:
I don't know why but people around my age who are still working will ask me why am I not working still? I will be 70 years old very soon. I look 70 years old because I don't bother with make up or color my hair, etc. When I'm in a bus, I never have any trouble getting a seat, so I must look my age. I'm only saying this above because I don't look younger than my age.

So I'm in Fabricland (but it has happened elsewhere) and we get chatting a customer, a sales rep and me. And they ask me if I'm working and I say no I'm retired. And they say, oh, you don't want to work?? When did this happen?? Why would I want to work? I worked as a receptionist or admin support all my life. Some of the horrid bosses that I worked for, you would not believe. At one company, my boss smashed the wall with his fist because I had asked a question about creating printed labels. That is one of the crazy people I worked for in over 52 years of working.

When my mother retired and she was much younger, no one would say to her, oh, so you don't want to keep on working?? When did this happen and why should I feel guilty at being retired, well, I actually retired at 67....but regardless....
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I'm over seventy now and retired in my late 50s, early retirement, just as I planned. We saved and worked toward that goal since we were young, and when it came time I was very happy.

People seem to envy me because I'm retired, and they didn't even know when that happened. IMO, we work to pay our bills and buy the things we want or need in life, it shouldn't be a work until you die thing.

I've known too many people from the workplace that retired as late as possible, only to pass away or become immobile and not enjoy any life pleasures in their golden years. Glad you retired, congratulations......never, ever feel any guilt for it.
 

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There are a few recent year similar threads on SF. Few here proclaim a preference to continue working past SS age and many have retired earlier. Have never had any strangers ask that question.

That noted, there are certainly plenty of members both here and generally that have trouble staying occupied and interested because they never developed much of a non-work life during their working years. And of course, many seniors health and fitness due to genetics, wear and tear, and or neglect can no longer do many things they did when younger. So minus money for frequent travel, struggle, often just watch TV and enjoy food or if social, join groups and volunteer.
 
nahi said:
Work is to earn money to make a living. If having enough money to make a living, why work?
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well that seems the sort of loaded question but in reverse, that people who are retired dont like being asked.

I am working, not just to make a living now but to have more in my superannuation when I do retire - And I like my job and I am good at it and I would not be easy to replace

But again, just as people don't have to justify why they are retired - neither should people have to justify why they are not retired.
 
I stopped working when it was no longer enjoyable. I was 55 yo.

The other reason was that I had three elderly relatives who needed my support much more that the girls that I was teaching at that time. With income from money invested in superannuation and a part pension, no debts to worry about and no rent or mortgage to meet, why not retire?
 
I retired from the state at 58. 7 months later I was asked to teach a university course. I did that for 8 years and loved it hence my username.

Now I consult in my previous field because I love helping the clients and I set my own appointments. I only take referrals from one counselor so last year I worked 200 hours. I’m 70 and will keep doing it as long as I enjoy it.
 
It was always my goal to retire at 56, not 65 - the state pension age in the UK at that time. Mrs. L is 3 years younger than me, but we both got the opportunity to quit at the same time due to reorganisations in our work. We've never regretted it and now with our pensions and no mortgage etc.. we're comfortably retired. We too have known colleagues determined to work till they dropped, and some did, literally.

Even if you like your job, there is life outside the workplace and anyway, who wants to be the richest corpse in the graveyard?
 
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Capt Lightning said:
It was always my goal to retire at 56, not 65 - the state pension age in the UK at that time. Mrs. L is years younger than me, but we both got the opportunity to quit at the same time due to reorganisations in our work. We've never regretted it and now with our pensions and no mortgage etc.. we're comfortably retired. We too have known colleagues determined to work till they dropped, and some did, literally.

Even if you like your job, there is life outside the workplace and anyway, who wants to be the richest corpse in the graveyard?
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My BIL worked till he dropped. He did not get a chance to enjoy his pension, retirement savings, etc.; they were passed on to his heirs.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Even if you like your job, there is life outside the workplace and anyway, who wants to be the richest corpse in the graveyard
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Unlikely most people on ordinary wages would end up the richest person, dead or alive.

But anyway one can have a job and also have life outside the workplace - they are not mutually exclusive.

I'm happy for anyone who has retired and is happy with that. They don't need to justify that.

But likewise neither do those of us who choose to keep working
 
Re: the OP, my thought is that some people's identities are wrapped up in their work and they can't imagine what they would do with themselves if they left. Perhaps that is the reason for the strange question.

I retired at 62 due to my company laying off 50% of its' staff due to Covid. I just decided I was in the financial position not to go back into the work force and deal with the hassles. Since I retired during Covid, my unemployment checks also included Covid payments for almost a year. My company gave me my severance in stock. I've sold some from time to time to pay for extraordinary expenses. I still have quite a few shares over 4 years later. They also paid for my health insurance for 6 months after my termination. It was a no-brainer.

No one has ever asked me why I haven't gone back to work. Especially those in my industry. Those that are still working WISH they could retire.
 
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Capt Lightning said:
It was always my goal to retire at 56, not 65 - the state pension age in the UK at that time. Mrs. L is 3 years younger than me, but we both got the opportunity to quit at the same time due to reorganisations in our work. We've never regretted it and now with our pensions and no mortgage etc.. we're comfortably retired. We too have known colleagues determined to work till they dropped, and some did, literally.

Even if you like your job, there is life outside the workplace and anyway, who wants to be the richest corpse in the graveyard?
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Compliments to you for achieving your retirement goal. Without wishing to sound contradictory there are those for whom their work is as enjoyable for them as any pastime. That they get paid for it is secondary. Go along to a heritage railway and speak to some of the volunteers, you might be surprised to find many are retired railway workers, still doing, what they did all their working life, pro bono. (Ha Spell checker just freaked at Latin!)
What those railway workers enjoy as well as the work, is the purpose, the friendship and the structure that it gives them in life.
Go, enjoy your retirement, do whatever you want, go wherever the whim takes you, I sincerely hope that you have many a happy day of retirement left before the grim reaper knocks on the door.
 
Thanks, Horseless Carriage. I can well understand your example of railway workers, or others in 'craft' occupations. I spent my working life in electronics and I.T. , both hardware and software. In later years, it involved travelling widely to work with clients, staying in hotels etc..
No matter if it's a 5 star hotel, or you have executive lounge access at the airport, it eventually takes a toll that a good pay cheque doesn't fully compensate. To an extent I miss the company, but many of my ex colleagues have retired too.
 
I retired at 53.5 years. I am now almost 78.5 years. In the last 25 years I have really enjoyed my retirement and would never want to go back to work. I have traveled to many places in those 25 years. Been on a cruise to Alaska in June and planning to go on a cruise visiting 8 islands in the Caribbean this December.

Unless they are poor and broke, I think anyone working beyond 65 or 70 must be either a workaholic or completely mad!
 
Packerjohn said:
I retired at 53.5 years. I am now almost 78.5 years. In the last 25 years I have really enjoyed my retirement and would never want to go back to work. I have traveled to many places in those 25 years. Been on a cruise to Alaska in June and planning to go on a cruise visiting 8 islands in the Caribbean this December.

Unless they are poor and broke, I think anyone working beyond 65 or 70 must be either a workaholic or completely mad!
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Actually, my brothers who are doctors do not want to retire at all. They thoroughly enjoy their work. That is why they could not understand when I wanted to retire, but then I had to explain it to them, that being an office support worker, at times, was hell on earth with horrid bosses to work for.
 

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