Retire, then kick the bucket?

[Telly]

Johngalt in another post gave an example of the wide age range that he has seen in his local obits.
I've noticed the same thing. Not that I make a habit of it, but if I'm flipping through the section of the newspaper that has the obits, I look at the ages. Sure there are some real old folks, but there is a big spread of ages. And some that are

I thought of John's post as I was using some old newspapers as a dropcloth. A story on one of them caught my eye. Dated Feb. of this year, said Ron Zeigler was dead at age 63. RZ was press sec. during the last years of the Nixon regime. A name that was in the news a lot. Age 63... If he had started S.S. @62, he would have had a year only.

We all know stories of, or know first hand, people who kicked the big bucket right after they retired. A few, just day(s) after official retirement. When I was in my 20's, we all (all the other people in 20's - 30's) thought that just showed that people lost their reason for living when they retired. And retirement was so far away for us, so who cares.

But I have changed. I see that the habits of people, including their work world, can help lead to their early demise. Bummer. Slave away, then kick the bucket. But there can be a bright side if its not too late. I am in much better health NOW, than when I was working. The stress, long hours, and more stress, was eating me up. No time for exercise. If I wanted any time for something I wanted to do, it had to come out of sleep time, or had to be hurried. More stress. But I'm in much much better shape now!

So what am I getting at? I don't know, maybe that we may have less time than we think. Not to go overboard and do something foolish, but I am surprised at the number of people that die "before their time".

I'm sure that is helping the Social Security Trust Fund :P

Yes Ted, I know Actuarials already have worked that into it

[Ted]

Yes Ted, I know Actuarials already have worked that into it *

I basically agree, but the "actuarials" are actually "actuaries."

A person's "life expectancy" is a weighted average that means that roughly half of people of that age and sex will probably die sooner than that, and roughly half later than that. To me, a practical implication of the fact that many people will die sooner is that retirees should start withdrawing their Social Security payments as soon as they can, because once they die they (or their heirs) get no more. (Of course, if everyone caught onto the logic of this, then the Social Security System would be financially stressed sooner than it otherwise will be.)

The most important conclusion from these comments, however, is the one that holds the key to a win-win situation in which everyone leads a longer, more happy, and more prosperous life. That is that people as individuals -- and society as a whole -- should devise ways of working longer at a moderate, declining pace, rather than working like mad up to some arbitrary retirement age and then abruptly quitting. The prevailing attitude towards work is not healthy for individuals, and will lead to increasing political conflict between younger and older people.

[MRGALT2U]

I was one of those who worked like mad right up until
I made the ER decision, then I quit just as soon as I could. I agree taking your SS as soon possible is a no-
brainer. This is an area where my wife and I are in 100% agreement. We recognize the uncertainties
involved in staying alive and thus we don't count on being here until any particular time. Decide where you
want to be and start today, that's my admonition.
Oh, we plan ahead. We just don't assume that we
will still be around to see our plan to fruition.

[Ed_B]

Retire, then kick the bucket sounds like a great plan to me. For one thing, it beats the heck outta kicking the bucket first.

The only thing is, retire first, enjoy life for 20-30 more years, and THEN give that old bucket a good kick.

[Ol_Rancher]

Many of those we read about that die so soon after retiring were in fact dealing with a life threatening condition that led to the retirement.

The retirement did not contribute to an early demise, but was forced by physical decline and/or an attempt to have some time to get one's 'affairs in order'.

In any case I say retire as soon as feasible..

the Ol'Rancher

It wasn't the people I knew who retired and then
"up and died" that made the biggest impression on
me. It was all my friends and acquaintances who hadn't even started to think about retiring.

I set little goals for myself. I've passed Gen. Custer
(37), J. Caesar (56) and now I'm shooting (no pun
intended) for Hemingway (61). If I make it, I guess
I'll go with Bob Hope next .

John Galt

I think with our combined views on mortality and our
"do it today" attitude, my wife and I are probably as
attuned to this issue as 2 people could be. Also, my wife
works in a nursing home, so......................

I have a story that is similar to cut-throat's. Before I
retired, a good friend used to invite me on his group's annual fishing trip. I love to fish, but was always too busy. After I retired, when he called I did not even ask
where they were going. I just said, "Count me in!"
I tell all my friends, if it involves fishing, boats
or motorcycles be sure to give me a call first. I missed
some adventures back in my "nose to the grindstone"
days. Making up for it now though.

John Galt

[Jack]

Boy, was that a disappointing story, John. I was SOOOOOO hoping you were going to integrate Buffet's admonition regarding sex with your fishing story!

[unclemick]

The Phd who hired me in Denver - divorced his wife, took ballroom dancing, goes as a 'guest' on cruises - still lives in So. LA. My eye doc. who had a giant Tarpon on his office wall closed his practice about the time I ER'd in 93, teaches part time and goes all over the world hunting and fishing. One engineer I worked with took a job with sporting goods company and travels the world testing their eq.

Sex? Fishing? And hunting as a bonus.

Sex, fishing and hunting............yep, that's my life .

I was thinking that I hardly know anyone personally
who did what I did, i.e. retired very early just because
they felt like it. There was one guy in my high school class who beat me by a few years. He had a real
back woods subsistance lifestyle which helped I am
sure.

A lot of people I know have expressed envy over my ER
status. I always thought (to myself) "You could do it too if you wanted it badly enough." The comment I recall that impressed me the most was from another
high school friend. We were discussing my situation
fairly soon after I made the leap. He said, "I wish I
was you!" Imagine that!

John Galt

[Stephen_C]

You guys are exactly right, I believe. I got to thinking one day about how much I make an hour; got impressed with myself - wow, I'm doing ok!

Then I started thinking about how much I would pay for just one more hour of life, one more hour to do what I wanted, one more hour to spend with family and friends, one more hour...

On that basis, I couldn't afford to work one more hour than absolutely necessary. So I'm working toward ER. Won't be the high life, but will be a good life.

best,
Steve

PS is that fishing and hunting for sex? Licence required or any bag limit?

[wzd]

Steven - ROFLMAO