“This was set at a time when the average life expectancy was about 61 years old for men and 65 for women.“
Bullcrap. That is an artifact of crazy levels of infant and child mortality. The fact is if you made it safely to adulthood, people commonly reached the same ages as today.
For me, retirement is a financial number not an age number.
I will be at that number at 57, but not going to leave the work force until I am 60.
It’s re-inventment and I’ve been at it for 15 years. It’s great.
I’m enjoying retirement just fine. Don’t miss the rat race at all.
I wonder if they would give that advice to roofers?
My wife and I have been retired for 12 years and we’re fine with how it’s turning out. I like the freedom of not going to work every day.
Biggest observation, divorced three years ago, I've noted women my age and they remind me of my parents, not my peers. Definitely understand and increasingly appreciate why men find younger women.
4. Starvation
My 1st reason... I’ll starve
I did manual labor all my working life. I’m done.
I don’t know anyone who regretted retiring. Some who died soon after probably wished they did so earlier.
Also there is confusion between retirement and sense of purpose. One can retire but still find purpose in life besides sitting around trolling the internet.
I’ll be 73 this month and I retire in December at 73 and a half.
I don’t have wife at this point, so….senior discount day at Harris Teeter - like shooting fish in a barrel.
Bull dump. I’m retired for 9 years now. Busier than ever keeping up the place. As far as social life goes, it’s much better than when I worked with a bunch of phony wannabe professionals.
I'm turning 66 and work for a major defense contractor.
I work from an office I set up in my home - 4 days/week, ten hours/day.
They pay me a nice salary and I'm very frugal.
I like what I do, and they like me doing it.
I have a ton of vacation time, but I'm a home-body - my only outlet is a 21 foot camping trailer we tow into state parks and chill for a few days at a time.
I will retire when God makes it apparent it's time to ride off into the sunset, (I ultimatley work for Him).
Being retired means doing whatever the hell I want. My oldest brother taught me well, and now, every day is Saturday. I have downloaded hundreds of books, and have even more physical books, and now I have the time to read them. I can read fast, or take my time. I can study stoicism, or reach for the stars with Robert Heinlein, Arthur c. Clarke, Asimov. I can read the amazing Will Durant histories. I can walk, run, bicycle and swim when I want to, instead of shoving it into a crowded schedule. I can drive across the fruited plain for months on end, or remain near home and sleep in. I can volunteer, or not.
As Jackie Gleason said, the world is my oyster.
I spent a lifetime helping, teaching,and inspiring thousands, and those thousands will go on to help and inspire millions, and all of it will echo through eternity. I received and learned much more, and will continue because I was lucky enough to have been born in the greatest nation on God’s green Earth.
21 years ago I retired, got married and had a kid.
My wife is 15 years younger than me and loved her job.
My daughter kept me busy.
I tripled the size of my house doing most of the work myself.
That gave us enough equity to buy horse property because my daughter loves horses.
I’m outside all day long building things and maintenance.
I started 3D printing over 10 years ago and love it.
Some people make a living with 3D printing.
I was an aerospace and tool designer.
When I turned 62, I got an extra $1,000 a month for my daughter from Social Security.
We joke that my wife can’t kick me out because she would owe spousal support.
My wife still loves her job.
My wife and daughter are like best friends, they go everywhere together.
Now that I’m 73 I’m in better shape than when I was 50.
I know I’m in the minority in thinking this way, but I hope to never retire. I like working. I like the staying busy, having a purpose, having problems to solve/challenges to meet. I like getting a paycheck too. I suppose if you just hate what you do it might be one thing, but I like the work I do.
bkmk
Bite me.
I can’t wait to retire.
I retired at 62.. earlier than I expected to but work wasn’t fun or enjoyable anymore. I traveled worldwide for DoD but I was with some awesome people. Near the end my time home was miserable and I hated going to work. Hated the majority of people especially so called upper management and definitely didn’t need the social interaction.
The final straw was a mandatory reassignment to clean up the mess in another department. Not my problem so the day I was reassigned I dropped my retirement papers. Payback so to speak.
Never been happier.... Been called a few times over the past 7 years and even did some consulting work for the old job but on my terms only.
Retirement is awesome.