The End of Retirement

[imagep]

I retired in 1993 and I have. I've fished and traveled. By God I earned it. I worked in Oak Ridge around all kinds of toxicity and radiation for 41 years. My wife worked there for 43 years.

Yes, you have "earned it"

We're gonna blow it out our asses till we die. We've been to Las Vegas four times in the last eight years and are trying as best we can to spend our kid's inheritance...

Amen.

 

[imagep]

I know many people with lots of money who work their asses off. No, they don't lay brick, pick vegetables or run a cash register at the fast food place. They do pursue their careers 12 to 16 hours per day, many well into later life - even though they don't need to hit a tap at much of anything. The folks you're talking about have never worked, and likely have no idea what's involved. What happens to them most don't care about to start with.

They do so because thats what the want to do. Not because they have to. Thats pretty obvious because you said that they have "lots of money". If someone choses to work 16 hours a day, despite the fact that they have no financial need to, then I don't exactly feel sorry for them. They are actually opportunity hogs. They should retire and let someone else have a portion of their income and work opportunity.

A lot of times I suspect that what they call "work" wouldn't be considered that by many people. Donald Trump, in one of his books, claimed that he is constantly working. He gets up early in the morning and reads periodicals. He claims that is work for him because part of his job is to be knowledgeable about current events. He claims that even the time he spends on the golf course is work because "most business deals happen on the golf course".

Hey, if you love your "work" so much that you would rather work than to do other stuff, then more power to you, but please don't confused reading the morning paper or playing golf with work.

My wifes grandparents owned a small neighborhood grocery store, and they would tell anyone that they worked 16 hours a day six and a half days a week. And they did work really hard, a few of those hours every day. But much of that time was just relaxing in the store, watching tv, while they waited for a customer to come in. The time actually spent doing anything productive was far less than 16 hours a day.

 

[imagep]

How many of those people you reckon operate the way you envision they do?

A right good percent of the super rich do. Not all of them, but a lot of them, possibly even the majority.

 

[imagep]

well we want to open an ex pat bar...

Sounds like work. I thought you were discussing retirement.

 

[AlabamaPaul]

Sounds like work. I thought you were discussing retirement.

Running a bar is never work. I put myself through school doing the same and had a blast...

 

[Higgins86]

Sounds like work. I thought you were discussing retirement.

its not going to be a very successful bar lol

 

[imagep]

Yep. Retirement is a baby-boomer scam. The generation before Boomers lived large off the labor of that huge group of workers. And, now that the bulk of those workers are retiring, the money is running dry.

Not true at all. We are now far more productive per work hour due to technology, and in 20 years we will be even more so. Our biggest issue in 20 years isn't gonna be having to work to an older age, it's gonna be finding enough jobs for people who are of normal working age.

All in all, it's going to work out OK. As more and more of us baby boomers retire (technically, I am one of the last few weeks of the baby boomers to be born, my wife was one of the first baby busters to be born), we will create more jobs for younger folks simply by us retiring and using our savings and ss to fund our retirement. As we become more productive due to better technology, our children and grandchildren will find it easier and easier to produce lots of goods and services, including an ample supply for us old folks.

What we will end up with is a series of offsetting factors.

 

[imagep]

Running a bar is never work. I put myself through school doing the same and had a blast...

So if you were rich enough that you didn't need income, would you work in a bar for free?

 

[Hard Truth]

The world's population is still growing. Nothing to worry about except for food and water shortages.

 

[imagep]

The world's population is still growing. Nothing to worry about except for food and water shortages.

Water isn't being distroyed, it's constantly recirculating through the process of evaporation and rain. And our farms are becoming very much more productive. Currently we only farm a fraction of the land (per capita) that we used to, and you don't exactly see a lot of Americans starving to death.

 

[radioman]

They do so because thats what the want to do. Not because they have to. Thats pretty obvious because you said that they have "lots of money". If someone choses to work 16 hours a day, despite the fact that they have no financial need to, then I don't exactly feel sorry for them. They are actually opportunity hogs. They should retire and let someone else have a portion of their income and work opportunity.

A lot of times I suspect that what they call "work" wouldn't be considered that by many people. Donald Trump, in one of his books, claimed that he is constantly working. He gets up early in the morning and reads periodicals. He claims that is work for him because part of his job is to be knowledgeable about current events. He claims that even the time he spends on the golf course is work because "most business deals happen on the golf course".

.

.

----------------

Dang.....maybe that's why the Donald has had to file for bankruptcy so often.
He's just lounging around and, somehow, thinks he's accomplishing great things.
Nice work if you can get it.
In defense of Trump, I've had many construction workers tell me they work everyday.
When I've shown up on jobsites on the weekends, the "work" seems to consist of beer drinking.

 

[GottaGo]

Nonsense. Medicare is so heavily subsidized that retired people age-70 pay less for healthcare than workers who are 30.

I believe that was the reason for MCare, so that in a person's prime working years they build up the fund to help those on fixed/limited incomes. At the same time, people should be putting away for their actual living costs in retirement. Depending solely on SS to live on is a pretty meager existence.

 

[specklebang]

The whole idea of saving is to plan for retirement. You work hard, make as much as possible and stash as close to 50% as you possibly can. Then when you are tired of working, you can retire.

I mostly retired when I turned 50. I'm going to be 70 next month and other than my rental properties, I'm still joyfully retired unless you count waiting on the cats 24/7/365 as working, in which case, I'm overworked. I see many of my contemporaries still working because they don't know how to retire. I'm very good at it:roll:

I still live modestly, its my preferred lifestyle. I don't feel deprived of anything. If I didn't support my ex-wife and help out my friends and cat-friends, I could live on my Social Security.

Maybe the OP is an argument for immigration. My (very loved) Mexican neighbors are pumping out new kids in a steady stream. They will do my yard after their parents retire.

 

[Campbell]

----------------

Dang.....maybe that's why the Donald has had to file for bankruptcy so often.
He's just lounging around and, somehow, thinks he's accomplishing great things.
Nice work if you can get it.
In defense of Trump, I've had many construction workers tell me they work everyday.
When I've shown up on jobsites on the weekends, the "work" seems to consist of beer drinking.

Old Bud....you should watch the young men who remove and replace roofs on east Tennessee homes in August when the temperatures run in the 90's for $10 an hour and no benefits.

'Course the average income for a family of four in several of our 95 counties is less than $25,000 per year.

 

[ocean515]

A right good percent of the super rich do. Not all of them, but a lot of them, possibly even the majority.

Well, at least you are willing to illustrate how bias invents personal reality.

 

[windowdressing]

The whole idea of saving is to plan for retirement. You work hard, make as much as possible and stash as close to 50% as you possibly can. Then when you are tired of working, you can retire.

I mostly retired when I turned 50. I'm going to be 70 next month and other than my rental properties, I'm still joyfully retired unless you count waiting on the cats 24/7/365 as working, in which case, I'm overworked. I see many of my contemporaries still working because they don't know how to retire. I'm very good at it:roll:

I still live modestly, its my preferred lifestyle. I don't feel deprived of anything. If I didn't support my ex-wife and help out my friends and cat-friends, I could live on my Social Security.

Maybe the OP is an argument for immigration. My (very loved) Mexican neighbors are pumping out new kids in a steady stream. They will do my yard after their parents retire.

I see the bigot is up, refreshed and ready to go after a good night's sleep ... good morning ... btw, one of those kids may be the President of the United States one of these days ... I hope you live long enough to see it and croak on inauguration day: President Joaquin Jesus Martinez ... has a nice ring to it, no?

 

[AliHajiSheik]

Yeah...the jackwads who were part of the middle class which no longer exists thanks to the last thirty years of Republicans.

I've been around this country a lot longer than most and I have seen the upper 1% take over everything and they will not be satisfied till they have their Lord/Serf society. If you can't see it you're part of it.

If only the upper 1% were a static group. If they had taken over everything, you wouldn't have money to afford a computer. I'm sorry that all you see in others is evil.

 

[Campbell]

If only the upper 1% were a static group. If they had taken over everything, you wouldn't have money to afford a computer. I'm sorry that all you see in others is evil.

LMAO.....really

 

[specklebang]

I'm happy you are up and refreshed. Now that you are awake, perhaps you'll be clear minded enough to read my post in context.

I see the bigot is up, refreshed and ready to go after a good night's sleep ... good morning ... btw, one of those kids may be the President of the United States one of these days ... I hope you live long enough to see it and croak on inauguration day: President Joaquin Jesus Martinez ... has a nice ring to it, no?

 

[windowdressing]

I'm happy you are up and refreshed. Now that you are awake, perhaps you'll be clear minded enough to read my post in context.

I only had a problem with one part of your post and addressed it ...

 

[specklebang]

Sure. I know what sentence bothers you. But which part of that sentence?

Maybe the OP is an argument for immigration. - Isn't that related to the OP? Isn't immigration a valid source for younger people to provide the services for the aging generations?
My (very loved) Mexican neighbors are pumping out new kids in a steady stream. - do you doubt I'm telling the truth? I'm very friendly with my neighbors and they show their kids off to me.
They will do my yard after their parents retire. - I have a lot of work because I'm a landlord. I use their extremely handy and mechanical teenage kids right now. Indeed, I am so grateful to have them around because I can fix my tenants problems almost instantly. Maybe they'll become politicians later on.

Your entire basis for accusing me of bigotry was because I identified their racial origin. I didn't demean it. It had a place in my post. I'd be just as happy or unhappy if we elected a Hispanic President.

I only had a problem with one part of your post and addressed it ...

 

[Hard Truth]

Water isn't being distroyed, it's constantly recirculating through the process of evaporation and rain. And our farms are becoming very much more productive. Currently we only farm a fraction of the land (per capita) that we used to, and you don't exactly see a lot of Americans starving to death.

Human population growth is exponential.

Water is destroyed, at least for awhile, when it is too polluted to use or goes into the ocean. Yes, polluted water and sea water can be used, but it requires a lot of resources to to clean and/or desalinate it. This will be more of a problem with much of the population growth happening in poor countries lacking water and sewage treatment facilities. With subsidized water provided for big agribusiness, there is little incentive for efficient agricultural water use at this time. Fracking for oil is also starting to destroy ground water supplies and the practice is growing. We are building cities in the desert, reducing water efficiency. Also, the trend of privatizing water supplies will make make water less accessible to lower income people.

New technology and better practices will help, but chances are we will resort to the use of the traditional population control method (war) to address food and water shortages. It will work, and humanity will probably survive, but it will be rough for a long time.

 

[Northern Light]

The biggest problem facing young people today is an increasingly neoliberal economy that is exporting all the jobs and challenging worker rights, the outrageous cost of education that may or may not increase employment prospects, and the retirement age increasing as a reflection of people not having enough money to live on in retirement.

When the only jobs available to you are minimum wage, and you see your country going down the tubes all around you, it's no wonder that many young people are becoming completely disillusioned with the system. They can't afford to participate, and even if they could it's becoming pointless to do so. As long as the older generation clings to power, economies will stagnate.

We need innovation badly. The dinosaurs who won't let go need to be removed from their thrones already.

 

[windowdressing]

Sure. I know what sentence bothers you. But which part of that sentence?

Maybe the OP is an argument for immigration. - Isn't that related to the OP? Isn't immigration a valid source for younger people to provide the services for the aging generations?
My (very loved) Mexican neighbors are pumping out new kids in a steady stream. - do you doubt I'm telling the truth? I'm very friendly with my neighbors and they show their kids off to me.
They will do my yard after their parents retire. - I have a lot of work because I'm a landlord. I use their extremely handy and mechanical teenage kids right now. Indeed, I am so grateful to have them around because I can fix my tenants problems almost instantly. Maybe they'll become politicians later on.

Your entire basis for accusing me of bigotry was because I identified their racial origin. I didn't demean it. It had a place in my post. I'd be just as happy or unhappy if we elected a Hispanic President.

I'll need a while to imagine a post from you along these lines ... "My (very loved) White neighbors are pumping out new kids in a steady stream. They will do my yard after their parents retire." Once I do, I'll send you a private message or post something apologizing ... but I have to warn you, my imagination is not what it used to be ...

 

[specklebang]

If that were the subject and it was appropriate, I would have said that.

My (very loved) White neighbors are mostly elderly and are not pumping out any kids anymore.

I prefer you to not think of me as a bigot but that is your privilege. My advocacy of immigration might have indicated otherwise to you but you are the one who must decide.

I'll need a while to imagine a post from you along these lines ... "My (very loved) White neighbors are pumping out new kids in a steady stream. They will do my yard after their parents retire." Once I do, I'll send you a private message or post something apologizing ... but I have to warn you, my imagination is not what it used to be ...