i've just read this in the local paper and i just had to share it.

"for over 65 years leitha cartwright has worked at the ****** cemetery. remarkably, she is still going strong today.
this has been a big part of my life, said cartwright, 92, who has no plans to retire anytime soon.

can you believe this woman?! :cool:

its not uncommon. a lot of people in my area work well into their 80s simply because they cant fathom sitting around waiting to die, which is all retirement is really.

its not uncommon. a lot of people in my area work well into their 80s simply because they cant fathom sitting around waiting to die, which is all retirement is really.

Wow, not me. I can't wait to retire. I'll fill my days, swimming, gardening,cooking, brewing, writing, cracking shit jokes, babbling on Sci.

Too much to do.

Many people don't know what to do with themselves after they stop

working for that's all they really know about. Many people die after they

retire because they lose the will to live because they have no purpose in life

any longer. I've been retired for quit awhile and can say that some days are

very hard to get through for I've lost many of my long time friends who I

visited with to enjoy the day or went out to dinner with. It just gets more

difficult as time passes and there's less and less that you enjoy doing over

and over day after day. That's why I take off around the world to see other

countries from time to time but it does get rather expensive and many

people don't have the incomes to afford such luxuries.

Jesus, all the people I know who've retired lately are having an absolute ball.

I often run into them at the beach, they're all suntanned and fit and travelling and playing music and doing things with friends and community.

I'm planning to retire in ten to fifteen years and growing as many tropical fruits as I can, catching lobsters and fish and prawns and becoming a gourmet cook, learning all kinds of stuff about all kinds of things, coaching kids at soccer, sailing boats, kayaking, being a wacky eccentric old dude, growing a big beard, shouting myself some dreadlocks...how boring could it be?

There are many people that don't have enough money to retire and with

Social Security only giving them about 1,000.00 a month it isn't much to live

on. Don't forget that many people don't have any savings or didn't work and

were housewives who got divorced and don't recieve SS. You might not

think its boring but after 10 to 15 years of being retired you find yourself

doing the same things daily and as I have stated you lose your friends.

I plan to technically retire around 60 but remain a consultant. I wonder who will be POTUS then? :confused: Or if we'll even still be here?

I think most people desire to be productive members of society. And many want to still feel "valuable and needed", so they work into their later years. Most people I know who are retired are very happy. So are the ones who are still working past 65 because they want to. Not because they have to.

I plan to work as long as I'm able. Sure, I'll probably work less as I get older. But I like what I do.

I remember my wife's grandfather. A smart guy, an executive with a large corporation. He retired at about 62 and immediately began developing alzheimer's. It was horrible. By the end, he couldn't even talk anymore.

On the other hand, I see farmers still working and apparently quite healthy well into their eighties. I think, without any purpose to your life, you deteriorate quickly.

...I think, without any purpose to your life, you deteriorate quickly.

I always think of Bear Bryant. Retired end of '82 season. Dead by January.

I always think of Bear Bryant. Retired end of '82 season. Dead by January.
Exactly. You hear that kind of story all the time. Back in the days when working meant backbreaking labor and anyone over 65 was incapable of doing it, retirement might have made sense. But in modern times, with people living longer and longer, retirement at age 65 seems a waste.

Work was great but retirement is even greater. I always tell people that work was fillet mignon but retirement is pheasant under glass.

Of course retirement is best when you have enough money to do what you want. My wife and I retired together, she with a fairly good pension and me with a very good one. In addition we both get maximum Social Secuity benefits and pretty good savings (we saved as much as we could throughout our working careers).

We retired and went looking for a warm place to spend winters. We tried Hawaii but it was too far from the kids so we bought a nice condo on the ocean in southern Florida. We have become the quintessential snowbirds, spending summers on Long Island and winters at the beach in Florida. We also do quite a bit of traveling, both within the States and abroad.

My advice to the younger posters is, save, save, save. Put as much as you can into a 401k. Remember the power of compounding interest.

Retirement without money probably sucks but retirement with sufficient money is wonderful.

Keep yourself in good health also for if your sick and getting older it really is

a bad problem to overcome.

Work was great but retirement is even greater. I always tell people that work was fillet mignon but retirement is pheasant under glass.
Of course retirement is best when you have enough money to do what you want. My wife and I retired together, she with a fairly good pension and me with a very good one. In addition we both get maximum Social Secuity benefits and pretty good savings (we saved as much as we could throughout our working careers).
We retired and went looking for a warm place to spend winters. We tried Hawaii but it was too far from the kids so we bought a nice condo on the ocean in southern Florida. We have become the quintessential snowbirds, spending summers on Long Island and winters at the beach in Florida. We also do quite a bit of traveling, both within the States and abroad.
My advice to the younger posters is, save, save, save. Put as much as you can into a 401k. Remember the power of compounding interest.
Retirement without money probably sucks but retirement with sufficient money is wonderful.

Great post. I would add "invest, invest, invest." :)

Both my husband and I sink 15% of every pay check into our 401k plan. He's luckier, he has an employer who matches a large amount.

I am not gonna be one of those old ladies waiting on tables.

It's a great time to buy real estate too. I'm seeing people buy up millions of dollars in real estate and renting the properties out. When the market comes back (and it always does), these people will have made millions.

It's not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years.

Some people have careers that they love, find fulfilling, are appreciated for, and don't suffer from the effects of aging, whether its teaching, management consulting, or playing music. They continue to be active after formal retirement, sometimes (but not always) just slowing down a little.

Other people have jobs they hate and other interests that have been languishing, such as hobbies, sports, travel, writing letters to their congressmen, ministering to the homeless, rescuing dogs, or MPRPGs. (I have a friend who's 79 and spends about 60 hours a week on Second Life or one of those virtual universes, having the best time of his life with his new friends.)

Others discover a new calling. I did needlepoint when I was younger but eventually stopped because it's very time-intensive and competing demands kept encroaching as I became a manager, a member of a band, and a homeowner. At a crafts show I met a man about my age who retired a few years ago and just immersed himself in needlepoint. He developed new ways of working with the canvas, invented new stitches, does his own totally abstract designs and transcribes the patterns with geometry formulas. He had a booth full of huge pieces that were selling for as much as $3,000. It probably takes him a month to complete one so not only is he having a good time but he's pulling in $20-30K a year.

An inspiriation.

My work is not physically demanding and can be done increasingly without leaving home. I probably won't stop working completely until a major health problem stops me.

To me, the real problem is: what do you do with your life when your health prohibits you from doing ALL of the things that make it worth living? My generation watched our parents fade away sadly in nursing homes. I don't think most of us our going to be willing to do that.

My parents lived fairly well into their 80s, traveling, gardening, going to the theater, visiting friends, my father even played tennis. Then they each went through about three years of steady deterioration. That's not bad compared to some of my friends' parents, who spent ten or fifteen years wasting away.

There's an entire industry that thrives on keeping people clinically "alive" who don't want to be. That's wrong.

There is no reason you have to stay employed in order to stay active. Keeping a job on the excuse that you need something to do in order to stay active is nonsense. Retire as early as you can! Then, do whatever activities you want to do! Learn to do other things if you get bored and in a rut. A job is never the example of a good life.

It's a great time to buy real estate too. I'm seeing people buy up millions of dollars in real estate and renting the properties out. When the market comes back (and it always does), these people will have made millions.

Not in a million years. The real estate market has crashed here.

There is no reason you have to stay employed in order to stay active. Keeping a job on the excuse that you need something to do in order to stay active is nonsense. Retire as early as you can! Then, do whatever activities you want to do! Learn to do other things if you get bored and in a rut. A job is never the example of a good life.There's a big difference between a JOB and a CAREER. A job is what you do. A career is what you are.Not in a million years. The real estate market has crashed here.What, forever? Where do you live, Detroit?

So buy property in another location. That's a wise thing to do anyway, you don't want all of your investments in the same market. We have property on both coasts.

Unless you think the whole country is going down. In which case your focus should be on getting out of it. But eleventy-million immigrants and wannabe-immigrants say it's not. Hungry immigrants, with a different point of view, looking for a better life, have always been the engine that propels the USA forward as the native-born folk become complacent and constrained in their thinking.