The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: ClaycordJCA on October 12, 2015, 10:07:09 PM
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Had to laugh and just shake my head at today's column. A 50 year old woman wrote to say her friends were criticizing her and suggested she needed therapy because she decided to retire after losing her job a few years ago. Mind you that she has no debt, owns her own home and has an income of $60,000 per year off of investments and an inheritance. Abby's response was to note that "50 is young to 'retire''" and suggest the counseling should be used to determine why the writer lacks "the motivation to be a contributing member of society." So, I guess we all owe the world a living.
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The only people dumber than Jeanne Phillips (aka Dear Abby) are the people who take her advice.
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Made worse by the fact that Abigail van Buren has been dead for two years. Talk about not knowing when to call it quits!
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Had to laugh and just shake my head at today's column. A 50 year old woman wrote to say her friends were criticizing her and suggested she needed therapy because she decided to retire after losing her job a few years ago. Mind you that she has no debt, owns her own home and has an income of $60,000 per year off of investments and an inheritance. Abby's response was to note that "50 is young to 'retire''" and suggest the counseling should be used to determine why the writer lacks "the motivation to be a contributing member of society." So, I guess we all owe the world a living.
The humorous aspect of this aside, think of what the implications of Dear Abby's response are. It's abnormal to retire earlier than (what??) 65... 70. It's so abnormal that it calls for psychological therapy. Also, the primary purpose of one's life is not to be happy and self-fulfilled. Rather, it is to keep busting one's chops whether one needs to or not in order to be a "contributing member of society." (And, pray tell, when does that obligation end, if ever??)
How would you like that claptrap legislated in some way?
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That poor woman (not literally, of course). I hope she didn't go out and get a job because of all the social pressure.
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Sounds like she should get some new friends.
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OMG, that is just SHOCKING!!
So hard to believe...
Dear Abby thinks her fluff is contributing to society!!! The GALL!
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I can't recall her age, but I think she just assumes----as does most of society----that you 'have' to work or....what will you do?
Sad.
I hope the woman doesn't get a job she hates just to please a quasi-literary persona.
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I'm actually pretty skeptical that all jobs actually do contribute to society... so perhaps she's better off retired? As a retiree you can either take on jobs you previously couldn't afford, volunteer for things, show up to town/city/etc. meetings and advocate for things that you think are important for society, etc. All of those things are possible while not-retired, but a fair bit harder to work in around a full-time job.
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Psych counseling is better than being referred to a death panel.
I think.
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I'm actually pretty skeptical that all jobs actually do contribute to society... so perhaps she's better off retired? As a retiree you can either take on jobs you previously couldn't afford, volunteer for things, show up to town/city/etc. meetings and advocate for things that you think are important for society, etc. All of those things are possible while not-retired, but a fair bit harder to work in around a full-time job.
Pretty sure my job has a net negative toward society consider its paid by public tax money and yet my department is so unorganized and inefficient that I spend the majority of my time surfing the internet and/or looking for a better job.
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As a retired person you could easily contribute more thorough volunteering and community service, you would have much more time! Much more than most jobs, except for one at a well run nonprofit.
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+1
As a retired person you could easily contribute more thorough volunteering and community service, you would have much more time! Much more than most jobs, except for one at a well run nonprofit.
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As a retired person you could easily contribute more thorough volunteering and community service, you would have much more time! Much more than most jobs, except for one at a well run nonprofit.
+2. Since I've retired I volunteer and do more to help others now I have the time. It's sad that people have the mentality that you must work an actual job in order to be a productive member of society.
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Oh my goodness, I wonder what ailment she has, because I think I have it too. Perhaps I should find a counselor. My absolute worst case scenario has me stopping work at 50. More likely it'll be 40, so I must have a severe case.
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Had to laugh and just shake my head at today's column. A 50 year old woman wrote to say her friends were criticizing her and suggested she needed therapy because she decided to retire after losing her job a few years ago. Mind you that she has no debt, owns her own home and has an income of $60,000 per year off of investments and an inheritance. Abby's response was to note that "50 is young to 'retire''" and suggest the counseling should be used to determine why the writer lacks "the motivation to be a contributing member of society." So, I guess we all owe the world a living.
Wow! I really want Dr. Doom to write a response to that Dear Abby. His latest blog post is probably about as close as we'll get: http://livingafi.com/2015/11/06/done-detoxing/
Abby apparently thinks TFB and being busy in general is a good thing. Not surprising, given our society. Too bad that's the advice given though. Like one can't have a fulfilling life without a formal "job."