Retirement - why bother?
Discussion
I am in the work as long as physically able camp even though I am nearing the nominal state retirement age, 56 now.
For me it's about tailoring what you do at certain times of your life. I have had two very different careers so for, 17 years in the Automotive industry, followed by 17 years so far in the construction industry running my own property development company. The former was great for job security and learning transferable skills, the latter for financial returns and job satisfaction. However I am also getting to an age where freezing my nuts off outside whilst wearing out all my joints on various building sites is getting less attractive however fun and enjoyable this is. So my plan is career change number 3 and I have a new plan forming up which should see me working away for another 20 years or so.
I love the interaction with people, the challenge of achieving targets and the satisfaction of plans coming to fruition.
I still have time to enjoy my hobbies; mainly cars obvs, family life, holidays, reading etc etc. the only thing I don't do is watch TV much. No time!
The majority of people will over there working life will have one or more career changes just due to the pace of technological and environmental change. So grab it and make it work for you. Whatever you are doing now there is a very good chance you won't be doing it in 20 years time.
Realise that many people have a different perspective on life and retirement which is great as my next business venture might well be targeting them as prospective customers
For me it's about tailoring what you do at certain times of your life. I have had two very different careers so for, 17 years in the Automotive industry, followed by 17 years so far in the construction industry running my own property development company. The former was great for job security and learning transferable skills, the latter for financial returns and job satisfaction. However I am also getting to an age where freezing my nuts off outside whilst wearing out all my joints on various building sites is getting less attractive however fun and enjoyable this is. So my plan is career change number 3 and I have a new plan forming up which should see me working away for another 20 years or so.
I love the interaction with people, the challenge of achieving targets and the satisfaction of plans coming to fruition.
I still have time to enjoy my hobbies; mainly cars obvs, family life, holidays, reading etc etc. the only thing I don't do is watch TV much. No time!
The majority of people will over there working life will have one or more career changes just due to the pace of technological and environmental change. So grab it and make it work for you. Whatever you are doing now there is a very good chance you won't be doing it in 20 years time.
Realise that many people have a different perspective on life and retirement which is great as my next business venture might well be targeting them as prospective customers
crofty1984 said:
Porridge GTI said:
Why not live to work?
Because most of us are in a profession that is tolerable/OK at best. Or have other things we'd prefer doing. Think I'd rather be sat in an office than playing with my motorbikes?If you love your job so much you don't want to spend that time doing anything else then I'm genuinely pleased for you, but for most of us that's not the case.
I have a well paid job but I hate it. I will retire in about 2 years in my mid 50's.
Edible Roadkill said:
If work entails sitting in a office for 7.5hrs a day sorting pieces of paper into order I don't see why you can't do that well into your 70's if you want/need to it's no more taxing than sitting watching the chase in real terms.
Physically, no, although the physical condition of many office workers is not great.Few jobs are just "sorting paper". There is usually quite a bit of thought involved and a lot of checking/proof-reading, following procedures etc.
Unless you are completely absorbed in it, though, (and I'm not sure how so many people manage to be!), it can be mentally quite taxing and often "soul-destroying".
Sitting down for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week staring at a screen (then doing the same at home too) doesn't feel natural to some of us.
If I didn't get outside at lunchtime it would drive me mad, although many others seem happy to sit in the same desk at lunchtime too, and/or have a very short lunch break.
My missus took voluntary redundancy / early retirement at 52 (in one of the first rounds of public sector cuts that no-one on Pistonheads believe have happened).
She seems mad busy with various things she's up to, to the extend that some of the routine has gone out of our lives now. I'd also say a downside is that without the competition of looking smart for work she's less bothered about how she looks now. I don't mean she's a scuff, but the edge has gone.
She seems mad busy with various things she's up to, to the extend that some of the routine has gone out of our lives now. I'd also say a downside is that without the competition of looking smart for work she's less bothered about how she looks now. I don't mean she's a scuff, but the edge has gone.
I like being retired but I think in later life I wouldn’t mind going back to work
I was fortunate (through hard work) to retire in my 30s so enjoy just travelling and being with friends but as I get into my late 50s I could see me wanting to work again to ‘keep young’ and keep socialising with others of all ages but who knows
Main thing is whether retired or not just don’t do a job you hate!
I was fortunate (through hard work) to retire in my 30s so enjoy just travelling and being with friends but as I get into my late 50s I could see me wanting to work again to ‘keep young’ and keep socialising with others of all ages but who knows
Main thing is whether retired or not just don’t do a job you hate!
Brads67 said:
Can`t even imagine working any longer than I have to.
anyone who does not have enough of a life to fill a non working lifestyle has got it all wrong in my view.
Yes, I really struggle to see how people can prefer working after retirement to going out in the wide world, seeing sights and enjoying life - but it takes all types.anyone who does not have enough of a life to fill a non working lifestyle has got it all wrong in my view.
Robertj21a said:
Brads67 said:
Can`t even imagine working any longer than I have to.
anyone who does not have enough of a life to fill a non working lifestyle has got it all wrong in my view.
Yes, I really struggle to see how people can prefer working after retirement to going out in the wide world, seeing sights and enjoying life - but it takes all types.anyone who does not have enough of a life to fill a non working lifestyle has got it all wrong in my view.
Sheepshanks said:
My missus took voluntary redundancy / early retirement at 52 (in one of the first rounds of public sector cuts that no-one on Pistonheads believe have happened).
She seems mad busy with various things she's up to, to the extend that some of the routine has gone out of our lives now. I'd also say a downside is that without the competition of looking smart for work she's less bothered about how she looks now. I don't mean she's a scuff, but the edge has gone.
If she could afford to take early retirement from a public sector job at the age of 52, one can't help thinking that that firmly confirms the notion of the public sector being overpaid, which nobody outside Pistonheads seems to believe has happened.She seems mad busy with various things she's up to, to the extend that some of the routine has gone out of our lives now. I'd also say a downside is that without the competition of looking smart for work she's less bothered about how she looks now. I don't mean she's a scuff, but the edge has gone.
How old are you OP?
If you're young, don't assume that things will always be the way they may appear today.
A lot of the 'happy to work forever' responses^ are from people who are self employed, have achieved a comfortable 'consultancy' status or are independently wealthy. For the remaining 98% of us PAYE slaves, life's very different, and ambition is a very front-loaded curve.
And it's not just our attitude to work that changes. I'm in my early 50s, I can now look back and see distinct shifts in my overall mindset and approach to life at 30, 40 and again, last year, at 50.
Significant changes in priorities and how work does or doesn't support them.
If you're young, don't assume that things will always be the way they may appear today.
A lot of the 'happy to work forever' responses^ are from people who are self employed, have achieved a comfortable 'consultancy' status or are independently wealthy. For the remaining 98% of us PAYE slaves, life's very different, and ambition is a very front-loaded curve.
And it's not just our attitude to work that changes. I'm in my early 50s, I can now look back and see distinct shifts in my overall mindset and approach to life at 30, 40 and again, last year, at 50.
Significant changes in priorities and how work does or doesn't support them.
98elise said:
Exactly. If catching the 8:15 to Cannon Street and filling in spreadsheets for 7-8 hours per day floats your boat then fine, but that's not for me.
If that is your current routine before retirement and it isn't what you want from life ditch it and do something that makes you happy. Life is too short to spend your days in misery and drudgery, why do you need an arbitrary age value to tell you that?V8mate said:
How old are you OP?
If you're young, don't assume that things will always be the way they may appear today.
A lot of the 'happy to work forever' responses^ are from people who are self employed, have achieved a comfortable 'consultancy' status or are independently wealthy. For the remaining 98% of us PAYE slaves, life's very different, and ambition is a very front-loaded curve.
And it's not just our attitude to work that changes. I'm in my early 50s, I can now look back and see distinct shifts in my overall mindset and approach to life at 30, 40 and again, last year, at 50.
Significant changes in priorities and how work does or doesn't support them.
That’s a fair point. If i was doing what i do for the benefit of someone other than myself and my family, I probably would be disenchanted.If you're young, don't assume that things will always be the way they may appear today.
A lot of the 'happy to work forever' responses^ are from people who are self employed, have achieved a comfortable 'consultancy' status or are independently wealthy. For the remaining 98% of us PAYE slaves, life's very different, and ambition is a very front-loaded curve.
And it's not just our attitude to work that changes. I'm in my early 50s, I can now look back and see distinct shifts in my overall mindset and approach to life at 30, 40 and again, last year, at 50.
Significant changes in priorities and how work does or doesn't support them.
As it is, I have the freedom to run things how I want and I try to do the right thing for the people working for me too. They don’t always see or understand the constraints, but that’s only natural. I would like to think that most of them are quite happy in work
Robertj21a said:
Yes, I really struggle to see how people can prefer working after retirement to going out in the wide world, seeing sights and enjoying life - but it takes all types.
Does your job not involve getting out in the wide world, seeing sights and having a laugh? It also helps meeting lots of interesting and talented people, and getting money off them. I struggle to see how trying to fill your day on a fixed income feeling useless can top that.OldGermanHeaps said:
If that is your current routine before retirement and it isn't what you want from life ditch it and do something that makes you happy. Life is too short to spend your days in misery and drudgery, why do you need an arbitrary age value to tell you that?
Much easier said than done for so many including myself - I've built myself a life and obtained myself a bunch of responsibilities that require a minimum income that could not be achieved by jacking it in and trying something new - I'm not saying this isn't my fault, of course it is my fault and i'm not blaming anybody but myself - That said the idea that everyone can just jack everything in and try a different approach at the drop of the hat is naive and impossible for the majority of people who are unhappy in their working lives. I do absolutely agree with you in principal, life is way too short, however reality bites and I think it's important to realise that many are trapped in a working life they hate by the life they've created that they love.
Porridge GTI said:
I’m coming to the view that it’s better to keep working.
I’m 32 and do a job that I love but I’ve no doubt I will retire as soon as I can. At the moment that’s when I can draw my work pension which is 58, that may move in either direction depending upon any number of factors.Retirement will offer me the chance to spend a lot more time travelling. I won’t be limited to spending a maximum of a month at a time abroad, the idea that I could go head over to the Far East on a flexi ticket and just see how things go is a major attraction. I also see how the people in their 50’s at work think, after 30+ years they’re ready to go, very few stick around after they need to, I’ve no reason to think myself any different to them.
OldGermanHeaps said:
Robertj21a said:
Yes, I really struggle to see how people can prefer working after retirement to going out in the wide world, seeing sights and enjoying life - but it takes all types.
Does your job not involve getting out in the wide world, seeing sights and having a laugh? It also helps meeting lots of interesting and talented people, and getting money off them. I struggle to see how trying to fill your day on a fixed income feeling useless can top that.garyhun said:
I asked him at 9:42 but he appears to have gone to ground!
Because i'm not on the internet all day like some sad canopy of s
te i'm out ducking and diving all day and having a blast.Many of my customers are sheltered housing complexes, I spend a fair bit of time among retired people. It doesn't agree with a lot of them, they really miss their graft. Some are delighted to be away from it. I would definitely fall into the former category, so much so that I can't even imagine what it would be like to fall into the latter category. Which is what I said. Just because my experience is different than yours doesn't make it any less valid.
I quit my depressing but reasonably well paid job to start my business after I had a mortgage and a kid and another on the way, it took a lot of planning and a lot of bottle but its doable.
Lots of the succesful people I come across didn't make the jump until later in life too, but they are very glad they did. That being said I probably dont encounter the ones it didn't work out for because they aren't seeking my services.
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