Would you ever consider going back to work?

DaveA said:
Let's look at it from another view. Say we remove the pay (for those working for the love of the job , not the need/desire for funds). Now we have a fair comparison. And while we're leveling the playing field, let's allow the retirees to move about rather than be glued to their computers.
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I like your parameters but still no. Even if you could wave a magic wand (I'd love you for it) and make me well and able again. Secretary paid the bills. Writing is for fun and honestly the reality of actually doing something like writing for a living (or whatever your dream may be) is that it involves other people and being limited not by just your ability but their needs/wants. Cudos to those who don't mind such but first of all, what I do for fun, if one is successful, one tends to become famous. Maybe if it were only local fame or if I could ghost write but then I'd probably get resentful of the one who was getting the credit for my writing if I'm honest with myself. Fame would suck and so would having someone else get the credit for your creation.

Let's just take my personal thing as that's all I really can address. You have to deal with editors, publishers, etc. Do book signing tours (the thought of which exhausts me) which is totally fair to ask of you. Books have to be promoted, after all. Going on talk shows or otherwise being interviewed - shudder! The job interview was always the worst part of getting the job. I hate, hate, hate job interviews and a writer has to subject themselves to countless interviews because they are now the product because it is their artistic ability.

Also you have to fit into a genre in the book biz. (This also bugs me as a reader by the way. I'm an ardent reader. Have always been a bookworm.) I am a square peg who does not fit into round holes. My stories fall between genres. My friend, in my other comment, latest critique of a story of mine he was reading and liked was that one scene was too violent for Young Adult. I was nonplussed. Young Adult? I had no idea you thought I was writing young adult. Mind you, I may be 65 but I love young adult fiction so I am not highly offended but the scene he referred (which I'm not going to decribe here as it probably isn't appropriate for this board and also giving my creative idea away) is definitely too violent for young adults which generally means teens. It's also extremely crucial to the story that it happens the way it happens. So do I tame it down and make the story worse or make the rest of the story more adult instead of young adult and make it worse that way?

No, I'll stick to writing for my own pleasure. I don't like rules that dictate what I write. Writing's only fun if I let my imagination run wild. Oddly, I'm a stickler for research and getting facts and history accurate so, again, a study in contradictions. My mother always did accuse me of having a wild imagination and, on that, at least, she wasn't wrong. Before I was taught to read, I was making up stories for my enthralled little sisters.
 

rbtvgo said:
Life ain't over till you don't know who you are and you don't know how you got here. Provided, of course that you have family that is looking out for you.
I suppose there should be a forum or topic about dealing with taking care of yourself and not being able to take care of your self. Problem is when do you acknowledge that you can't?????
just a thought
rbtvgo
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Is there? (I'll keep searching but if there is and you can point me to it, it'd be much appreciated.) This is getting difficult and I don't think offspring are willing to caregive and I'd rather die than go into a nursing home.
 
DaveA said:
Let's look at it from another view. Say we remove the pay (for those working for the love of the job , not the need/desire for funds). Now we have a fair comparison. And while we're leveling the playing field, let's allow the retirees to move about rather than be glued to their computers.
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What Dave describes is a hobby rather than work or a job.
 

rbtvgo said:
I retired in Dec of 2003. Took 3 weeks off and found a job creating custom kitchens. Eight months later called my old boss and got a job as a contractor related to telecommunications fiber optic cable.
2023 and I am still working as a fiber optic engineer.
I'm 75 and still work full time. Besides which we have a retail gift store in a vacation resort.
For me, retirement was a myth. The gold watch, golf clubs and retirement in Florida was just a way for the company to say goodbye and a good place with warm weather to enjoy the rest of your life.

The issue is that you either are or are not still relevant.
Everyone needs to decide for themselves.
rbtvgo
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I guess it's outlook and what makes you feel relevant as you put it. I don't feel I need to work to be relevant. I have much to give besides grinding. I think if that's what gives you satisifaction, however, more power to you and enjoy it in continued good health. To each their own.

Just curious. It may be the personality. I'm artistic and read deep meaning into far too many things that shouldn't even be that deep. I wonder if what makes you feel like a part of things yet depends on how artistic or practical one is. Though again, I'm weirdly both. I'm a Pisces. Guess for me the two fish swiming in opposite directions is accurate though I don't hold much stock in horoscope as I find it silly to assume everyone born in the same timeframe to be the same. But are you perhaps a practical person who feels more substantial with a visible output and by working with others as opposed to independently? That might be the difference between you and those of us who don't feel the need to work. In any case, carry on and enjoy living what you find fulfilling.
 
timoc said:

Would you ever consider going back to work?​


Y'mean like getting up in the morning, waiting at the bus stop, getting drenched in the rain, then the bus's wheel hitting the deep puddle in the gutter sending a tidal wave of dirty water all over me. Then having to clock on and having some horrible sod barking orders at me, and not being able to go to the lavatory every 10 minutes because I pee a lot. Not being able to watch TV or log onto SF....... do you think that I'm a bloody lunatic? 😊
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I do miss the crow that used to walk me to the bus stop but that I lost to a move long before I retired. Used to be this crow that would caw at me every morning when I stepped out to go catch the bus to work. One morning, after about a week of this, I looked up at him and said good morning. From that morning, until I moved, that crow would fly behind me talking to me - and me being the weirdo I am happily chattered back - and would light on a street light pole when I sat on the bench and keep me company 'til the bus came no matter what the weather. That was pretty awesome and cool. I miss my feathered friend.
 
rbtvgo said:
Going back to work really isn't the issue. Money concerns are but, that is not the real issue. No one has enough money these days unless your rich or the lottery pays off.

rbtvgo
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That depends on how high off the hog you want to live. I like a simple life and the last thing I want is a house to be responsible for. I don't do maintenance, my landlord does and I love my apartment (tho I'm beginning to wish it wasn't in New York). My debts are paid off and I have a pension and Social Security and no desire to travel or go out on the town or dress to the nines. Yes, I do have enough money. If they end Social Security, I won't but at present I do. I'm actually doing the best I ever have financially. If they don't end Social Secuirty at the scary predictable near future, my savings will have built enough so I might just be okay. I can't work if I wanted to so let's hope so. If I die, well, daughter and gandson inherit the savings and my stuff which will lkely mostly go to chairty.

Note: Not only is the daughter grown and independent; the grandson is. This may be why I now have adequate funds.
 
rbtvgo said:
Going back to work really isn't the issue. Money concerns are but, that is not the real issue. No one has enough money these days unless your rich or the lottery pays off.
Going back to work is more about who we are and not wanting to lose it. I am this, this is what I am, this is who I am.
Give it up and....................who am I?
It's a question that we would never have considered when we were younger but now it's starring us in the face.
Who am I now???????????
I don't know the answer. I know the clock is ticking.
I either come to grips with an answer or I die not knowing.
just my opinion.
rbtvgo
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I understand what you are saying and feeling. When I first retired 7 years ago, I went through much of what you mentioned. When I retired, I had been with the company for over 10 years. It was a large international consumer electronics company, and I was GM for its Service Parts and Call Center. We had around 500 employees. The company decided to consolidate their manufacturing inventories and service parts inventories operations. I was the odd man out, they treated me fairly on the way out, but I was too old to find a new opportunity at 66. So, I retired!
I had a number of things I wanted to do in retirement, which I did!

I bought a guitar, taking lessons, and have been working at playing a guitar since. I enjoy playing it a lot. As I get better, I will take more lessons, so that I learn correctly. I also wanted to go back to building model airplanes, which I did as a young adult, except now I can actually afford to do it. That is mostly a winter project as weather dictates more time inside. I also enjoy oil painting and mainly do landscapes. I can be as busy as I like with these activities.

I have done some temporary work generated from people I worked with in my past. This then has brought others to ask for my help. Finally, I spend a lot of time with my adult kids and their kids. This includes hunting, fishing, camping, etc. This of course is a fair-weather activity, limited to weekends and some holidays. And as the kids get older, I show them all the things I enjoy. They all seem to find one or more that they want to try. I then teach them all I can.

I am as busy as I want to be and can slow down anytime, I want! So, no I would not consider going back to work, full time!
 
My last day at work was in June, six months ago. Finally, aged 77, I was retired. Yesterday, I went back to work. It followed one of those: "Can you help? We are in the sh*t!" Calls.
I checked with my lady, "you don't have to look too excited," she said, smiling. So yesterday I was back in the thick of it, and they have asked me to cover three days next week. To be fair to my former manager, I did say on my last day, that if a situation arose where they couldn't get the cover or help needed, call me. Yesterday my day was full, truth be told I was all but rushed of my feet, it left me tired, so much so that I went to bed an hour earlier.
 
Yes. But I don't really want to for many reasons. I keep up with the licensing requirements every two years just in case.
 
To be honest, I am too busy doing the things I enjoy, I just wouldn't have the time to work as well! :)
 
I have been back to work part time for a year and absolutely love it. I have no boss and schedule my own clients. I will do this as long as I enjoy it. Of the 11 years of retirement I have worked part time for 8 of them. It’s the best of both worlds.
 
I still have a lot of recruiters calling me trying to get me to take a job in some distant town (Not where my home is) and many of them demand that I will accept the slave position and like it. For some reason, they don't understand my answers of 'No' and 'Hell, no'.

I only work for myself now.
 
I hope I am never faced with the scenario of having to go back to work.

Lots of men I worked with took early retirement and then came right back as consultants. While I understood that the math made sense - it never appealed to me.

I always said that I would work until we were ready to retire. I did in fact work until I retired and I hope/pray to stay retired.

I would have like to have retired afew years earlier, but was scared of having to go back to work.

Retirement is wonderful :)
 
Too busy retired to find time to work. But I do consider winning a few bucks every week doing side bets when golfing with my buddies as my part time job.
 

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