Author Topic: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early  (Read 6259 times)

bballfreakunc

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Miss Piggy

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2016, 07:13:24 AM »
"You might want to wait till age 70, when you can collect your maximum Social Security benefit."

This just makes me sad. The thought of people having to work until they're 70...ugh. Wrong in so many ways.

aschmidt2930

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2016, 08:15:14 AM »
"You might want to wait till age 70, when you can collect your maximum Social Security benefit."

This just makes me sad. The thought of people having to work until they're 70...ugh. Wrong in so many ways.

It's unfortunate that so many think of SS as the only way, rather than what it is, a safety net.

Nick_Miller

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2016, 08:40:39 AM »
"You might want to wait till age 70, when you can collect your maximum Social Security benefit."

This just makes me sad. The thought of people having to work until they're 70...ugh. Wrong in so many ways.

Yeah that's the part that got me the most. I can live with 50 or 55; at that point a normal person in decent health still probably has 15 or so "good" years left where they are fairly spry and able to travel, etc.

But retiring at 70 after working for 40-50 years? I'd feel like I had to cram everything "fun" in as soon as possible for fear that my health may soon deteriorate.

I'm aiming for FI at 52, and compared to others on these boards, that STILL feels old.

Kaspian

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2016, 08:49:22 AM »
Hahaha!!  Oh, man!!  So many bad premises and points which make no sense.

- You'll need your FULL pension.  Please don't save and take a reduced one.  (No logic given as to why or current spending levels.)
- You probably have a kid going to college.  Even though you saw them through teenage years, you've never thought about it up until this point.  However, you're going to accidentally give them all your money.
- You NEVER considered longevity in your calculations.  You were stupid to think you'd retire "early" at 55 and planned to die at 57.
- Stress doesn't kill you, like all the scientific studies show.  ...No, no, it makes you stronger.  (Because I said so.)  You will die if you leave the workforce.
- Nobody hires geezers.  So, if you're wrinkly, better keep your job because nobody wants to hire someone in Depends.

Investopedia is usually a pretty decent site but this is obviously written by someone who has money envy.  ...Fucking pathetic.

Caymanite

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2016, 09:06:02 AM »
I saw this and couldn't even bring myself to read it.  I skimmed the headings growing more annoyed all the while. 

Obviously, all of this is just complainypants, ultra-risk averse BS.  What I don't really understand is why #3 (missing work stress) is even included.  First, stress leads to many illnesses and generally can/does negatively affect many people.  Second, how the F does delaying the change in stress until 70 make it decrease!?  I would think it would be an exponentially higher due to more years doing the same thing (working everyday).  This change would also occur when the individual is in poorer health and less able to cope.

Anecdotal reference that is not all uncommon but lends credence to the author's point: my wealthy uncle sold his successful businesses to move to Florida and retire with my aunt.  I can't remember how old he was but assume around mid-60s.  A week into it, he had a heart attack and died on a bus.  My aunt now retiring by herself...

Fishingmn

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2016, 09:35:31 AM »
Here's the writer's profile on Investopedia -

Editor and writer Barbara Peck is a former executive editor of Travel + Leisure and editor-in-chief of Endless Vacation. She writes about gardening and outdoor style for Gardenista.com. Recent business articles have covered subjects in the fields of information management and the pharmaceutical industry. A graduate of McGill University, she lives in New York City and practices her favorite sport, rowing, on the Harlem River.

Doesn't sound like it's her topic of expertise.

RocketSurgeon

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2016, 09:36:12 AM »
Investopedia is usually a pretty decent site but this is obviously written by someone who has money envy.  ...Fucking pathetic.

I don't think it's about money envy so much as this person having a make-work job and "Why you can't do X" being a guaranteed click generator.
I'm reasonably confident that at least half of the 'journalism' websites would fail overnight if the bored office workers of the world had their internet access taken away.

iris lily

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2016, 09:57:14 AM »
"You might want to wait till age 70, when you can collect your maximum Social Security benefit."

This just makes me sad. The thought of people having to work until they're 70...ugh. Wrong in so many ways.
My friend "retired" at 74. A week later she was back at it, subbing for employees on sick leave. She sniw 76.

For her is it a combination of liking to work and using that money for European vacations. And since she can turn down assignments if she wishes, its not a bad gig. Her husband/ also works, and he is 80. But he sells real estate and manages condos in their building, and he says he does it fo fund his art habit. Their works comes with a lot of freedm.

But last week I stuck my foot into it. Another couple in their 70's are working, and it looks like full time work to me. I said something like "whoah, they are still working, whyyyyy??!!!" And someone else said "well yes, they need the money." Oops, I am bad.

frugledoc

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2016, 10:02:05 AM »
Surely the logical story is this.

Do you want to retire early? If yes, are you saving enough money in order to achieve this?  If yes, then you can retire early. 

If answer no to above, cannot retire early.


MgoSam

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2016, 10:37:48 AM »
Me retire early? That's unpossible!

wkumtrider

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #11 on: September 23, 2016, 10:54:14 AM »
One of my co-workers is 76 years old.  She works 55-60 hrs a week.  Has her entire adult life.  She has no family or really any hobbies, all she does is work.  She is a huge motivator for me to FIRE.

meg_shannon

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #12 on: September 23, 2016, 11:04:01 AM »
One of my co-workers is 76 years old.  She works 55-60 hrs a week.  Has her entire adult life.  She has no family or really any hobbies, all she does is work.  She is a huge motivator for me to FIRE.

My husband has colleagues like this. Their families are gone (divorced, estranged children, another workaholic spouse), they have no hobbies, and therefore cannot really retire because they have nothing else to do. Eventually his employer is going to have to do more than offer a nice "early" retirement package because some of these people have to go. The organization is bloated at the top, and it's difficult for younger people to get promoted. (They don't have tenure exactly but it's pretty close, so they can't just be fired).

dougules

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #13 on: September 23, 2016, 11:09:32 AM »
"You’ll miss the work stress."  Wha?!?  Sure, stress is great for you. 

Sadly the rest of it is probably all true for most of the folks reading it.  Nobody seems to have made the seemingly obvious leap that it's all about your spending not your previous income.  How could I be happy without the latest Porsche SUV or my beautiful house with 500 sq ft bathrooms?

Cassie

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2016, 03:04:19 PM »
The problem with this article is that it does not take into account that some people will become disabled or die long before 70. I have seen it happen with my friends. So if they don't retire or travel they never get too. No one knows what life has in store so it is silly to keep working f.t. if you don't have to.  I work p.t. by choice because I teach college online and love it. It brings meaning to my life. My f.t. job got very stressful and I retired at 58 and never regretted it one bit.   By age 70 many people can't travel much due to physical problems and the desire to travel decreases by age probably due to the effort it takes.

MarciaB

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #15 on: September 24, 2016, 01:28:58 PM »
Well there go all my plans! Sadly, I'm 55 and have given notice at my job already. Maybe I can call HR and beg to rescind my notice and just grind away until I'm 70. Because that's what's best.

nobodyspecial

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #16 on: September 24, 2016, 04:47:58 PM »
We had one academic.
He had retired from his professorship at 65
Then went to work for a government lab until they had to kick him out at 75 (rules)
Then he became an emeritus (honorary) prof at our place until he died at 95, coming into work everyday.

He was the world expert in a field that had become a bit niche since the 1940s, because everybody thought you could do it digitally.
Which you could until you REALLY needed a good quality signal.

Fortunately he had the foresight to see that he needed to train the next generation, and so had a series of students in his 20year 2nd retirement.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2016, 11:16:27 AM by nobodyspecial »

Papa Mustache

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #17 on: September 25, 2016, 10:51:51 AM »
Here's the writer's profile on Investopedia -

Editor and writer Barbara Peck is a former executive editor of Travel + Leisure and editor-in-chief of Endless Vacation. She writes about gardening and outdoor style for Gardenista.com. Recent business articles have covered subjects in the fields of information management and the pharmaceutical industry. A graduate of McGill University, she lives in New York City and practices her favorite sport, rowing, on the Harlem River.

Doesn't sound like it's her topic of expertise.

...she retired early at age 58... j/k

Papa Mustache

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Re: Uh oh mustachians...it's not possible to retire early
« Reply #18 on: September 25, 2016, 10:55:54 AM »
One of my co-workers is 76 years old.  She works 55-60 hrs a week.  Has her entire adult life.  She has no family or really any hobbies, all she does is work.  She is a huge motivator for me to FIRE.

My husband has colleagues like this. Their families are gone (divorced, estranged children, another workaholic spouse), they have no hobbies, and therefore cannot really retire because they have nothing else to do. Eventually his employer is going to have to do more than offer a nice "early" retirement package because some of these people have to go. The organization is bloated at the top, and it's difficult for younger people to get promoted. (They don't have tenure exactly but it's pretty close, so they can't just be fired).

DW and I both have a couple of coworkers who can totally afford to retire today - but have nothing else to do - so they just come to work and soak up a paycheck, They work but the fact that they don't NEED to and aren't "star performers" leading the way forward means that they aren't contributing much either. They aren't training the young employees. They aren't socializers who greet everyone each morning or function as work place grandparents.

I SO wish each of them would retire and seek some adventure for themselves. And clear out some positions for other folks to move into.