People Who Say They Never Want to Retire

[guywithashovel]

This could have gone in "Things I Hate," but I don't really hate these people. Just find them a little annoying.

I'm sure you've come across someone like this. In conversation, you'll casually mention something like, "Just last week, I set up a 401(k) plan at work."

"Oh, really? Why?"

Okay, well, I thought it was common knowledge among adults that a 401(k) plan was retirement savings, but I go ahead and answer anyway. "Well, because I thought I should start saving more for retirement."

To which the person responds: "Retirement?" Nose crinkling. "See, I'm different. I don't even think of retiring. It's a foreign concept. I guess it's just because I REALLY love what I do. I can't imagine leaving it just because I'm a certain age."

Of course, there is usually an underlying message here, and here are some of the usual ones.

1. They're tacitly insinuating that they're better than me.
2. They're trying to brown nose (especially if they say this stuff when a boss or superior is within earshot).
3. They're implying that I'm lazy, especially if they say something like "I just like to stay busy. I can't imagine just sitting around all day. I guess that's why I don't think of retirement."

Now to address some of the issues here.

First off, the fact that I'm saving for retirement does not mean I'm lazy or that I hate what I do. It's just practical. Heck, even if you want to keep doing what you're doing now well into your seventies and eighties, it's still a wise thing to do. Wanna know why? Well, you may not have the energy to work as much then as you do now, and the bills aren't going to stop coming in just because you're seventy-five or eighty-one. If you plan for retirement, you can retire, collect your pension, pay-out, or whatever you have, and continue to do what you do now part-time. Heck, a lot of retired teachers work as substitute teachers.

This kind of brings me to my second point. Why is it assumed that because you plan for retirement that you will just "sit around all day" when you do retire? Seriously, I know many people of retirement age, and I can't think of a single one of them that just "sits around all day." My grandma is seventy-eight, and she works in her yard, does her cousin's bills for her, as well as a host of other things.

[siead_lietrathua]

because people figure all old people do is nothing. it's the steriotype.
i get that from people sometimes too. they think if you are under 40 and thinking of your future you must be weird, lazy, or both.

[Andara Bledin]

Let's see... which is smarter....

Working hard and spending all my money so I have to continue working hard the rest of my life...

Or working hard and going without a couple of things so that I can sock away a bunch of money (and don't forget the free money from employer matching!) so that when I get older, I can work less hard and have more money.

People who don't put in to a retirement fund are fools, especially if their employer matches funds.

^-.-^

[bara]

Damn, Id love to live out the twilight of my years in relative comfort.

[Rapscallion]

1. They're tacitly insinuating that they're better than me.
2. They're trying to brown nose (especially if they say this stuff when a boss or superior is within earshot).
3. They're implying that I'm lazy, especially if they say something like "I just like to stay busy. I can't imagine just sitting around all day. I guess that's why I don't think of retirement."

I get the feeling you're reading more into this than exists.

I actually enjoy the work I do. I don't have anyone to brown nose to, and if my colleagues are lazy then they know I think that.

If I get to the ripe old retirement age and am able to work, I may trim down the days I do, but I'd be looking at staying active for me. Sod anyone else. They don't factor into the decision.

Rapscallion

[TheHuckster]

I get the feeling you're reading more into this than exists.

I actually enjoy the work I do. I don't have anyone to brown nose to, and if my colleagues are lazy then they know I think that.

If I get to the ripe old retirement age and am able to work, I may trim down the days I do, but I'd be looking at staying active for me. Sod anyone else. They don't factor into the decision.

I think it's still important to have some kind of contingency plan just in case that doesn't work. If you develop health problems which prevent you from doing the job you love, or if you truly begin to realize you really want to spend the last several years of your life in something less stressful, having a retirement plan might be a good idea.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to work as long into your lifetime as possible, but there's also nothing wrong with planning a nest egg just in case you have to retire from work sooner than you thought/hoped.

[Rapscallion]

Oh, I have a contingency plan. It's not as big as I'd like, which is why I reckon I'm going to have to work at least to some extent into my late sixties (provided I survive, of course).

Health problems aren't as much of a concern as I'm pretty good at a desk (I have a mixture of manual and desk work). The realisation that I might not want to work more when I get to that age - sure. My views may change, but my current opinion is that I'd be doing it for a better standard of living for me.

Rapscallion

[crashhelmet]

I often say I have no intentions of ever retiring. I may retire from a career in corporate I.T. but I plan going back to teaching music full time and doing that until I die. 3 brief bouts of being out of work over the last 11 years have reminded me how much I need to be working to keep my sanity.

[anakhouri]

Many people in my husband's field (science) never retire. One PI in another lab is over 90 years old.

The reasons usually include loving their research and being completely invested in it. Most scientists in their postdoc years have very little free time so science becomes their entire world and they are never able to drop that mindset. My husband is one of the few who actually has other hobbies and things outside the lab he likes to do.

And also for some people it may just be a bad idea for them to retire. My father-in-law has no hobbies and is a huge worrier, but with work he can put most of his anxiety into his job so it doesn't affect his home like much (my husband is in the same situation). It's said by the family that my husband's great-grandfather retired from farming and within a year had worried himself into his grave. If that's my choice I'm happy for my husband to work as long as he's able!

[Giggle Goose]

There are actually people who think like that?

Most older people I know tell me: I feel sorry for you, you'll be working for a long time! Which is probably true with the way Social Security is going, but whatever. Longer life expectancies and such.

There are plenty of ways to keep busy in retirement that do not involve working. Even though I'm only 26, I've been thinking that I would like to retire from my high-stress job as soon as I can imagine being comfortable enough. I would love to go back to substitute teaching, for instance. Which doesn't pay a lot AT ALL, especially not for a career. But it would be a great way to stay busy and supplement my income in retirement. Yeah, but I definitely don't understand people that don't want to EVER retire. They must really love their job, and for that I am jealous.

[guywithashovel]

It's not really the not wanting to retire that irks me. It's the "gold star" attitude that so many of them have, like they expect everyone to admire how hard working they think they are. Not to say everyone's like that, though.

In a way, they're a lot like the people who harp about how healthy they are and pester their coworkers and friends if they aren't exercising or eating enough health food for their liking.

[protege]

It's not really the not wanting to retire that irks me. It's the "gold star" attitude that so many of them have, like they expect everyone to admire how hard working they think they are. Not to say everyone's like that, though.

Yep, that's it. They all go on about how much they love their jobs and that they don't want to retire. My reply? "Good for you, do you want a fucking cookie?"

My boss has said that line many times. I have no doubt that he loves owning his own company, being in charge, and pushing people around. But, the amount of actual *work* is does, is pretty tiny. He really doesn't do as much as he thinks he does.

Trust me, if I could retire tomorrow, I would. My job sucks! But, I wouldn't be idle though. I'm not someone who can sit on their ass and do nothing. No, I'd probably build models for people, and recommission dead sports cars

[Bright Star]

My father retired early at the age of 58 in 2000 & he's busier now in "retirement" than he ever was while working.

[Lace Neil Singer]

If I get to the ripe old retirement age and am able to work, I may trim down the days I do, but I'd be looking at staying active for me. Sod anyone else. They don't factor into the decision.

Rapscallion

Agreed. I think I'd go bananas if I didn't work, cuz it would just be so boring. My parents are retired and working part time, for that very reason; must be inherited. XD I plan to do the same; once I reach retirement age, I'll just work two days a week or something.

Oh yeah and I've had a retirement pot going for two years now. I plan to have some money in the kitty to live off once I'm old and annoying people by pretending to be deaf.