Posted on 02/15/2024 8:00:45 PM PST by DoodleBob
In an episode of “The Sopranos”, a popular television series which started airing in the 1990s, a gangster tells Tony, from the titular family, that he wants to retire. “What are you, a hockey player?” Tony snaps back. Non-fictional non-criminals who are considering an end to their working lives need not worry about broken fingers or other bodily harm. But they must still contend with other potentially painful losses: of income, purpose or, most poignantly, relevance.
Some simply won’t quit. Giorgio Armani refuses to relinquish his role as chief executive of his fashion house at the age of 89. Being Italy’s second-richest man has not dampened his work ethic. Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s sidekick at Berkshire Hathaway, worked for the investment powerhouse until he died late last year at the age of 99. Mr Buffett himself is going strong at 93.
People like Messrs Armani, Buffett or Munger are exceptional. But in remaining professionally active into what would historically be considered dotage, they are not unique. One poll this year found that almost one in three Americans say they may never retire. The majority of the nevers said they could not afford to give up a full-time job, especially when inflation was eating into an already measly Social Security cheque. But suppose you are one of the lucky ones who can choose to step aside. Should you do it?
The arc of corporate life used to be predictable. You made your way up the career ladder, acquiring more prestige and bigger salaries at every step. Then, in your early 60s, there was a Friday-afternoon retirement party, maybe a gold watch, and that was that. The next day the world of meetings, objectives, tasks and other busyness faded. If you were moderately restless, you could play bridge or help out with the grandchildren. If you weren’t, there were crossword puzzles, TV and a blanket.
Although intellectual stimulation tends to keep depression and cognitive impairment at bay, many professionals in the technology sector retire at the earliest recommended date to make space for the younger generation, conceding it would be unrealistic to maintain their edge in the field. Still, to step down means to leave centre stage—leisure gives you all the time in the world but tends to marginalise you as you are no longer in the game.
Things have changed. Lifespans are getting longer. It is true that although the post-retirement, twilight years are stretching, they do not have to lead to boredom or to a life devoid of meaning. Once you retire after 32 years as a lawyer at the World Bank, you can begin to split your time between photography and scrounging flea markets for a collection of Americana. You don’t have to miss your job or suffer from a lack of purpose. If you are no longer head of the hospital, you can join Médecins Sans Frontières for occasional stints, teach or help out at your local clinic. Self-worth and personal growth can derive from many places, including non-profit work or mentoring others on how to set up a business.
But can anything truly replace the framework and buzz of being part of the action? You can have a packed diary devoid of deadlines, meetings and spreadsheets and flourish as a consumer of theatre matinees, art exhibitions and badminton lessons. Hobbies are all well and good for many. But for the extremely driven, they can feel pointless and even slightly embarrassing.
That is because there is depth in being useful. And excitement, even in significantly lower doses than are typical earlier in a career, can act as an anti-ageing serum. Whenever Mr Armani is told to retire and enjoy the fruits of his labour, he replies “absolutely not”. Instead he is clearly energised by being involved in the running of the business day to day, signing off on every design, document and figure.
In “Seinfeld”, another television show of the 1990s, Jerry goes to visit his parents, middle-class Americans who moved to Florida when they retired, having dinner in the afternoon. “I’m not force-feeding myself a steak at 4.30 just to save a couple of bucks!” Jerry protests. When this guest Bartleby entered the job market, she assumed that when the day came she too would be a pensioner in a pastel-coloured shirt opting for the “early-bird special”. A quarter of a century on, your 48-year-old columnist hopes to be writing for The Economist decades from now, even if she trundles to her interviews supported by a Zimmer frame; Mr Seinfeld is still going strong at 69, after all. But ask her again in 21 years.
I had the exact same train of thought.
Because people who have never worked a day in their lives are dependent upon your taxes.
Did Niki Haley and mitt Romney write the article as propaganda to keep raising the Social security retirement age ?
“...their employers bringing in younger, less expensive replacements...”
Been there, done that.
However, I never let the door hit me in the butt, and did the 15 years of the skiing in SW Mont. that the rest of America didn’t want to do [except on Saturdays].
Epic passes have ruined the plan.
YMMV.
Way too many peeps live in Colo.
Corporate America (and likely elsewhere) has had it good for at least the last 30 years. Quite frankly, those who "make stuff work", with a work ethic, just might be looking for the exits. DEI departments and similar make work functions do not generate income. And years of Harvard MBAs regarding manufacturing/product developments functions as 'cost centers' have helped export what has been called 'tribal knowledge' overseas or out of the workpace all together, with age discrimination being very real (albeit technically illegal).
Playing with money may be fun, but if its worthless paper, that fun doesn't last forever.
” golfing is time not spent training at the range”
Ya ... I like the way you explained that ...
clear.. to the point and right on target
Very glad to do so as the pressure was enormous.
Not pressure from management, they left us alone, but internal, to not screw up.
I troubleshot and repaired CNC machines and other production equipment.
A screw up could kill someone and/or cause millions of dollars in damage and lost production.
Now I will never "retire" until I am unable to, as I build my own business further.
I enjoy it, and as a side effect I also help reduce pollution more than just about any environmentalist wacko ever will while improving performance and fuel economy.
The ability to keep up with inflation is a nice thing too.
How will orders of magnitude improved AI affect your job?
Look for a job that is a natural extension of your experience as an RN. My late aunt, also an RN, became an administrator of nurses at her hospital, and later the key professional reviewing complaints against nurses for the state medical licensing board. There are health insurance companies, hospitals, casualty insurers, and even large plaintiff’s law firms who may be eager for someone with your experience to assess personnel and claims and to review medical files.
“Do I miss the hour and a half commute? “
My daily commute is now a five mile, 10 minute commute to the local National Forest to have my cardio rehab dog trainer take me me for a couple of miles hike and then drive 5 miles back to the compound.
As always, YMMV.
still looking for that tombstone that sez-
i wish i had spent more time at the office
That was the impression I got: keep working to keep OTHERS well off. Who needs to retire anyway?
Less expensive, Desi replacements.
2 yrs retired and I’m not as fit But I’m working to “Graduate” Well. I immediately moved from leftist insanity to a rocking chair-— so be it.
.
I drove fast cars
Kissed pretty girls
Won the Indy 500
I’m Retired.
But always keeping a few on the down low who actually know what is going on or to work 'clean up'.
He never said it was about pursuing money. Staying in your job can provide purpose and challenge not found elsewhere. Think Aramani and Buffet are in it for the money?
I’m prejudiced against The Economist because whenever I picked up to the read the magazine (two years ago) it was filled with horrible — and wrong-headed — commentary on American politics.
It strikes me as a publication by snotty Brits who look down on “those heathen” Americans.
Fake News to the max. They hate Trump. And if the author of this piece aims to stay at the Economist forever, then he’s tool of the Deep State, MI-6 or whatever the equivalent is there.
Sorry Bartlesby, but you brought this curse upon yourself.
i retiredfrom s life of temp jobs before 2015.
I WAS a fed worker performiing the tasks of an $8.25/hr. Admin Asst. ay the fedetal rate of $13.25/hr., furloughed out in a reorganization post-Hurricane Katrina. That, and I was not under 35 years of age.
At the time of my retirement, I owned no homes, no vehicles, I was divorced with np hint of children (sterile), and no divorce monetary obligations.
So, as to purpose, to ne a voice of ‘sanity’ and join other voices in forums, websites, and when the whim hits, youtube.
I have acquired medical issues, that any one of them could be the one ‘ that does the trick’. So, waking from sleep in my walmart rocker, gives me that day to this stuff, and be chief cook, bottle washer, etc.
I am interested to see how much my country turms out all :the schmutz” that has been going on for a bit.
IMHO, the democrats know that they cannot take over the country, so they initiate a real war with Russia, to pick up the pieces.
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