Retirement? No thanks!

[Jamesqf]

Interesting article on a company where the average age of workers is 74: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june13/makingsense_01-02.html

ROSA FINNEGAN, Vita Needle worker: I can still walk up the stairs as long as I have a little support. I don't want to fall backwards.

PAUL SOLMAN: No surprise that, at 100, Rosa is the oldest worker at this needle and tube manufacturer. The next oldest, Bill Ferson, is just 94.

[Phoebe]

Very interesting.  It sounds like for many of them it is a social experiece..."most of my friends are in the ground."

I can relate to the difficulty in making new friends even in my late 20's, as I no longer have school where I meet new people each year.

I know that we're all about FI and early retirement here, but I think if you choose to work and it brings you pleasure, purpose, or friendship, more power to you.  And Rosa looks great at 100.

[Jamesqf]

I don't know that we're ALL about early retirement.  I know I never have been (and it's getting a little late for me to do really early retirement).  Frugality, yes.  FI, definitely.  But the point for me has never been to retire, it's been to do congenial work (even if that's not the highest paying), have flexible hours &c - and know that if I ever do want not to work, I can.

[James]

Same here, I'd say actual retirement itself is quite a ways down the priority list for me.  Priority items are FU money, spend less and more consciously, finding enjoyment outside of consumerism, FI, etc.  I find great satisfaction in my career and will probably continue some form of employment well into FI in order to fund priorities and maintain skills.

For others who don't enjoy their employment I can see focusing on retirement, but I also assume they will continue to work in some way, just called different names.  It's all a grey area, and everyone is different, but I like the focus not being focused on retirement around here.

[BlueMR2]

I don't really want to retire.  What I want is more vacation and reduced hours in general.  Unfortunately that's something that's simply not available in my profession.  So, I'm trying to get to the point where I can retire whenever I want, so that I'll be all right when I finally reach the point at which I can't take it anymore.  :-)  And then try and scrape up something part time to keep myself busy...

[Skyn_Flynt]

I've seen enough people in their 50s cling to a job they can't stand, for fear of having to look for something else and overcome age discrimination. It's another motivator for me to save now.

[sheepstache]

Yeah, thinking of my future self I feel very different watching Rosa, who thinks it's "the most wonderful place on earth", and Howard, who "needed the money."  I can easily see myself enjoying part-time work at any age, but am miserable contemplating still having to work at 78. 

78!  So he started working there when he was 72.  I was like, 'you still needed money when you were 72? What was your plan??'  Of course, they may have glossed over details like how long he was out of work before then, but still.

[meadow lark]

My goal is about freedom.  Most of them sound like they are freely choosing to work.  So more power to them!  My plan is to retire at 50, but I may pop in and out of the workplace many times.  It's only bad if they have to for financial reasons.

[chatsc]

I totally agree.  We thought about our life plan and priorities and we decided that buying a cottage while our kids were stilll really young (all under 5 years old) meant more to us than early retirement.  We have quite a hefty mortgage now, but we are plugging away at it.  We plan to retire at debt free 55 (or earlier if there is a package offered), which is pretty average; not early, not late.  Retiring at 45, and regretting not having a cottage to go to over the past 17 Christmas breaks, summer vacations, long weekends, etc was not worth it for us. 

I am glad that I saw this post because I felt that maybe my different priorities did not match the MMM community.

[happy]

The difference between "have to" versus "want to" seems to be  a central theme for this forum. I think the article is just great: both the employer and the employees.

Now that I'm semi-retired, I'm feeling much better about my job.  Recently I realised that if something "very bad" ( not sure exactly what this might be) happened, if I completely re-organised the way my net worth was allocated and made major changes, at a pinch I could retire FI. Maybe my definition of "enough" is finally starting to shrink spontaneously.  Just knowing that I've moved from "have to" towards "want to" is very liberating.