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 travelled the world and negotiated $20-$150M deals. It was constant stress. Truly, a 24-Hr job. I had direct reports scattered around the globe. I loved it. It became my life. But, I missed so many things here at home.
At the end, I lost all respect for the company I worked for. A Swiss company, they became consumed with wokeness, DEI, and Climate Change. Really, that’s ALL they cared about. My business was growing rapidly. During my time, we became the company’s largest volume product, fastest growing, and most profitable.
Yet, getting money to finance our growth was like pulling teeth. Instead, they wasted 100’s of millions of dollars on BS projects to make “green fuels”. Those projects are shut down now. Many good people lost their jobs as a result.
Now? I don’t know how I ever found time to do it all.
I don’t miss it at all. I like reading. I write a little. I golf. I volunteer at my church. The wife and I keep our granddaughters overnight. We visit with our friends. We travel when we want. We stay BUSY! Doing things I love.
I know some people are wired differently. They just HAVE to work, or love it too much to stop. But I am loving being able to make my own decisions about what to do. I have a hard time understanding why anyone wouldn’t want to do this?
My job was cable the Cars,pit equipment and Radios which were my specialty.
The Push to Talk button on the steering
Wheel to the radio harness in the driver’s Helmet which was always fun. Antennas were
The tricky part.If it had a wire the mechanics would find away to smash it !
So much better than eating crap sandwiches.
I wonder how much media entertainment shapes the expectations for our lives.
I retired when my banker told me to retire. I am in my 2nd month and contemplating finding a job. It’s boring but the stress is gone. Someone called this the Detox Period.
There are two types of people who worry about money when it comes to retirement:
People who know how much money they have
People who don’t know how much money they have
If you do know how much you have, you should figure out if your worry is unfounded
If you don’t know, you should find out how much money you have.
And I retired when my barber told me to retire.
Regards,
None of those are on my list of plans after I retire. Reading, going to concerts, working on conventions and maybe volunteering at the local art house theater. Work has never provided my sense of purpose. Work FUNDS my sense of purpose.
“From the beginning God intended human beings to be his junior partners in the work of bringing his creation to fulfillment. It is not in our nature to be satisfied with things as they are, to receive provision for our needs without working, to endure idleness for long, to toil in a system of uncreative regimentation, or to work in social isolation. To recap, we are created to work as sub-creators in relationship with other people and with God, depending on God’s provision to make our work fruitful and respecting the limits given in his Word and evident in his creation.”
Banking. I had paid holidays. After 28 years on the job I had 5 weeks vacation. There was free medical, matching 401(k), great insurance benefits, nice working environments and more.
But I was at the top of my paygrade. That and the 1 1/2 hour each way drive was too much.
Considered he was snatched up by another tech company who kept him for another seventeen years I tend to believe him but you are certainly free to believe there is a pony in the barn if you want.
I make more in retirement than I did when I was working. It just took a little planning.
Same here. for over 25 years I put 8% away in a 401(k). 3 percent of that was matching funds by the company.
One tip for retirement....
You need to be very careful who you talk to about it.
If you have a doctor or a dentist or anybody you like it is critical that you act unhappy when they ask you about retirement....
because you do not want them to retire.
(I love retirement but let that be our little secret. :-) )
Even when an employee reaches their mid fifties corporations start ushering them to the door so they can hire a couple of new grads to replace them for less money.
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Very True. My wife was a teacher with a maxed out salary. Far cheaper to hire kids right out of college, so it happens.
Oh. I didn’t really know the meaning behind ‘wage slave’. Thanks.
Finally retired at 72...I'm 80 now.
I work more hours on my history projects than when I was working my regular job which was both mentally and physically grueling.
Secret...I understand. ;-)
LOL - yes it has touches of that...
I never heard of anyone who said “I want to return to work so I can attend endless meetings telling me what an evil white person I am”.
Lol.
I plan to retire at 62 (in 4 years) and relocate to Thailand with my Thai wife. Can easily live off my SS there and be quite comfortable. Will have to get used to the heat and humidity on a daily basis, but it’s cooler than San Antonio (lived there 15 years). If I stayed in the USA, I would have to work until 70+. No desire to do that.
Think medical availability
I had a great job—but don’t miss it at all.
One trick for folks thinking about retirement is figure out what you are not doing that you want to do—because you are working.
That is your retirement agenda.
First on my list was a unique passion—which I could not pursue while working because of potential ah issues...lol.
I wanted to become an expert on and collector of Cuban cigars. Since they were illegal in the US that meant that it might be risky while working—for various reasons.
With the Internet it was easy to gain the “book knowledge” and to order the cigars from abroad from trusted vendors.
It took a couple of years to accomplish that goal—and now I can enjoy the cigars for many years to come. The mission is accomplished and I am proud of myself.
I was fortunate that I did it pre Covid because in the past couple of years the Cuban economy has totally collapsed, prices have exploded and US Customs has decided seizing Cuban cigars is fun again—the perfect storm.
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