Why don't old folks retire when they can?

[BoxsterCy]

I told people I had three boxes to check to determine retiring time.

• Eligibility
• Affordability
• Desirability

I hit them all last year and did retire although I got hired back on a part time hourly basis to do some training and mentoring. Best of both worlds, being mostly retired and drawing an old fashioned pension, but still doing some stuff I like and find rewarding. Only doing the mentoring and training on stuff I am good at, enjoy and find rewarding while not having to work on any crap projects that I would hate.

 

[safmusic]

maybe they need the money..

 

[stateofmind]

My Dad is 78 and still driving semi. For him he loves to drive and see the country. Plus, my Mom died 10 years ago and I think he would really feel that loss if he was home all the time. To each their own.

 

[CYdTracked]

You have to realize the baby boomer generation is the ones at retirement age currently and some of these people have gone through hell with their retirement investments not long ago when the market crashed or lost their jobs during that rough time too. Yeah it has recovered since but for some they probably had to hold off retirement a few more years than they would have liked. Plus I just think that generation for the most part grew up where their parents went through the great depression so a hard work ethic and saving every penny you can was something engrained into how they did things. I don't fault them if some think they are not ready for retirement, some love what they do for a living and some still have to do it out of necessity. Hell I hope I can retire by age 70 some day but the path this country is on right now we probably won't have social security anymore and who knows what else financially we'll be dealing with 30-35 years from now as a result/consequences of the decisions being made today.

My dad turns 70 this January and finally has decided to retire at end of this year. Was a combination of he wasn't tired of work yet plus financial reasons after his position was eliminated in a staff reduction around 2000 after being with that organization for 24 years. He had a few years between what he is doing now and that working as a consultant and some self-employed type jobs and I would guess that a lot of the generation that is around age 70 right now probably had a lot of similar experiences with losing jobs when the economy got bad. It's easy for most of us here probably in our 20's and 30's I would guess is the large percentage of CF users to say if we were that age we'd be retired but the fact is we still have a lot of working years ahead of us and a lot can happen between now and when we hit that 65-70 age range. I'm 36 right now, spent all 12 years of my working life out of college with the same company and its scary to think that if that continues till age 65 I still have 29 more years left to work so to sit here today and say people are crazy for not retiring by age 70 is crazy because we have no idea what they have gone through during their lifetime.

 

[ClonesTwentyOne]

maybe they need the money..

Maybe, but every person I have talked to say they don't need the job. They just do it because they're bored.

 

[CyCrazy]

This is a throwback clones21 thread.

 

[CYme]

I enjoy what I do. I just don't agree with certain policies.

That whole washing your hands thing? J/k, it certainly is a generational thing. I've got an employee who is retirement age but loves what he does and has told me to tell him when he is no longer needed, until then he would like to contribute what he can.

 

[jsb]

All I see and hear are old folks working till they're dead. They don't retire when they easily can. They just work, and sometimes work hard. I just don't get it. Maybe it's their generation where they know nothing, but work. I know once I'm set for retirement I'm riding into the sunset immediately. Do these folks not have hobbies or an outside life? Are they just workaholics? Why people work into their 70s and 80s is beyond me.

Don't be so sure that all of them can easily retire.

My Dad is almost 66 and my Mom is almost 62. My Dad still works full time and farms full time. My Mom still works full time. I don't see him quitting anytime soon. He for sure won't quite until my mom can be on Medicare and they will receive the maximum amount of Social Security. I think they could probably retire and be OK, but they probably wouldn't live as comfortably as they would want.

I have a lot of friends who have parents in the same age range and most of them aren't retired yet.

It would be weird for me if my parents were retired because I don't think of them as old and two of their kids just finished with college. But....they work really, really hard. Farming and maintaining a farm is pretty much a full time when you are 30, let alone mid-60's and each person working 40 hours per week.

 

[isufbcurt]

I guess it depends on the situation:

My dad for example got bored when he retired. He is single and his only real hobbies are riding his motorcycle and helping me with my racecar. So he had a lot of free time and sitting in the house watching tv got old fast so he went out and got a part time job.

My father in-law is an engineer and when it came time to retire he partially retired. 1 because he loves his job and 2 because he was working on a pretty cool job with NASA, so he decided to stay on as part time until the NASA job is complete then he will fully retire.

 

[cycfan1]

not judging. I just don't understand. I guess I just wouldn't want to put up with the bull **** of bosses and management at that age

It is possible at that age to either

1) be a boss or manager
2) found a boss or manager that they enjoy and enjoy working for daily

Not sure what I would do for 24/7 free time during retirement. For sure could see some part time work just for social interaction and something to do - albeit I have a long ways to go yet.

 

[CYdTracked]

No one should dedicate their whole life to a company

I agree with this, I will never let myself get into a situation where I am consistently putting in long hours such as 50-60+ hours a week (I currently work 40 hours with very minimal OT) but for some people that is their way of life they have no choice to because they can't afford it financially if they don't. I've had this conversation many times with my wife who at one point was putting in 60-80 hours a week plus occasional travel and basically felt like she couldn't take time off else things at work would fall apart that the company is not going to go out of business if you take a day off or work less hours. Our lives don't revolve around the company you work for and she eventually realized this when we were ready to start a family and now is so much happier in a new role where she works 40 hour weeks and can spend time with our daughter. She has said she would never go back to that now because the time with our family means too much. Not everyone out there thinks this way but I'm pretty sure God did not put us on this planet to work long hours and be miserable and most can find ways to find a good balance between work and family while surviving financially.

 

[cowgirl836]

Engaged into what? I'd keep my mind engaged into family and grand children. As well as my outside hobbies. There is soooo much to do instead of work

well, you'd have to find a woman for that and yeah........


if you are retirement age, your kids have jobs and their own lives. So do your grandkids. They aren't around to entertain you 24/7. It's hard for someone like you to imagine, but some people like what they do and get a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from their career. Makes sense that they wouldn't want to quit that if they enjoy it.

 

[alarson]

Things used to be a lot tougher than what they are today. You earned what you got. If you didn't want to work, you didn't get anything.

I'm not sure i'd go that far.

There are multiple completely valid reasons why baby boomers often arent retiring right away, but the idea that 'kids these days have it easy' when costs of everything that one needs to get started in life, from school, to housing (whether buying or renting- rental prices have skyrocketed as lending criteria have tightened), and other basic expenses has risen much faster than the rate of minimum and average wages, which hits this generation the hardest when they are trying to get on their feet with such things.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/a-dose-of-financial-reality/

 

[cowgirl836]

there is also this assumption that just because they've hit an age, they can retire. Huge percentage of retirees don't have the money to retire. So it's not even an option for many. They have to keep working.

 

[00clone]

My dad is 65, retired from driving a fuel truck, thought he might drive dump truck part time just to keep from being bored (my mom, same age, works full time...figures if she likes her job and it's income, might as well work). Found he loved the decreased stress so much, he's working more than full time with it. With the fuel truck, if a farmer is out of diesel at 6 PM on a Saturday and he's planting, he wants you to come now, plus he had to hassle with billing, etc. With the dump truck for a construction company...he goes here, picks up, goes there, dumps...hits quitting time, parks the truck and goes home.

 

[CycloneErik]

well, you'd have to find a woman for that and yeah........


if you are retirement age, your kids have jobs and their own lives. So do your grandkids. They aren't around to entertain you 24/7. It's hard for someone like you to imagine, but some people like what they do and get a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from their career. Makes sense that they wouldn't want to quit that if they enjoy it.

There wasn't a less rude way to say any of that?

 

[cowgirl836]

I'm not sure i'd go that far.

There are multiple completely valid reasons why baby boomers often arent retiring right away, but the idea that 'kids these days have it easy' when costs of everything that one needs to get started in life, from school, to housing (whether buying or renting- rental prices have skyrocketed as lending criteria have tightened), and other basic expenses has risen much faster than the rate of minimum and average wages, which hits this generation the hardest when they are trying to get on their feet with such things.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/a-dose-of-financial-reality/

absolutely agree.

 

[CyArob]

There wasn't a less rude way to say any of that?

The cave has changed her. :v_SPIN:

 

[cowgirl836]

There wasn't a less rude way to say any of that?

are you going to post this to the multiple others who gave him a sarcastic response?

 

[flynnhicks03]

Engaged into what? I'd keep my mind engaged into family and grand children. As well as my outside hobbies. There is soooo much to do instead of work

Kids have jobs and hobbies; grandkids go to school and have sports. Winters can get pretty long when you're retired. Your perspective will change in 20 years.