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.
but I wish I was still working....
Oh wait, I’ve got a better idea: GFY globalist scum.
You could retool and do something else, like a nutritionist.
Personally, I am not going to retire until I feel comfortable that we will be in a good spot. I hope that will be 15 years from now. If we aren’t ready financially, then I wont retire. My job is steady, there are some modern computer improvements, but mostly it’s the same, and it’s an office job, so it’s not hard on my body that way.
We’ve got plans to see the USA, but it will be what it will be.
Life is better lived with daily mini-vacations, where you do the retirement stuff along the way or as a side hobby during your free times.
If your job gets too much, then it's time to stop and retire.
There are plenty of other jobs where you can be productive but it's not as demanding.
Wal-Mart is always hiring. Just saying.
I retired one year before I was supposed to in 2016. Worked for the gubment. Couldn’t take the bs any longer. Worked for 4 years in the civilian world only to make up the income lost until I turned 60 and the retirement checks started flowing.
Don’t travel, we hang around at the house-live in very rural Alaska on the Kenai river. Very fulfilling.
I was a wage slave my entire career. But I kicked in 8% into my 401(k) for 30 years knowing that when I retired, I’d be better off financially than when I was working at the top of my pay grade with annual raises of $500. PER YEAR.
I’ve been retired now for two years. Do I miss the hour and a half commute? EACH WAY? Take a guess.
What a vapid article.
The notion that pursuit of money is the way to spend one’s later years is sad.
On the other hand, if people don’t have children and grandchildren about whom they care work might be a good place for them.
Don’t love something that can’t love you back.
Time and money spent on a cruise is time not spent improving your property and life.
There is no point in pointless pursuits.
I planned ahead. I have nine beautiful grandchildren. Home schooling, vacations with grandkids, I can still play baseball. I’m involved in all their lives and enjoy every minute of my retirement. My biggest problem in retirement is wasting time here.
retirement simply means stop doing things your not crazy about be cause you have to ...
and start doing things you want to .... because you want to.
It is sad that so many men die within a couple of years of “retiring”. Life is short enough ... find things that fulfill you, DO THINGS ...
I’m having a great time. GFY.
What percentage of retirees are "extremely driven"?
What a pile of BS. I “was somebody important”. Routinely making multi-million dollar decisions. But, I was working for a company that cared more about DEI and reducing CO2 than they were making a profit. I couldn’t WAIT to leave that bunch behind.
It’s been 8 months now. I’ve played a LOT of golf, been on three cruises, and played plenty with my grandkids. I’ve also been able to participate in many local events that I would have missed before. I’m NOT bored yet.
If I ever am, there will always be places to work or volunteer.
Genesis 3:23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
When mankind fell in the Garden of Eden, God gave them a purpose... and that purpose is called work.
Retirement is for the rich.
Who can afford to retire these days.
Work till your dead will be what most of us will have to do. Especially if your 60 and have a 9 yr. old to take care of.
“Don’t love something that can’t love you back.”
Sage advice. Just printed. Going on the fridge.
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