Wharton Business School: "Work until you drop"...

[Midpack]

So, they haven't returned to "work", but they definitely work! They are busier now than when they had real jobs! I don't see why the assumption is that you have to work to contribute to society. How about all the retirees who volunteer countless hours of their time? One could argue that that is more valuable than bringing home a paycheck.

I agree. Fortunately most posts on this forum have some balance. I try to keep in mind this is an ER forum, but I get sideways with posts here from the 'all work is evil, all employers are bad' crowd that openly denigrate those who choose to work once FI, whether PT, full-time or volunteering. Some of the 'all work is evil' crowd were/are undoubtedly the co-workers we all couldn't stand working with.

And I get sideways with posts that suggest that those who choose to relax and putter around should feel guilty.

To me FI is the bigger point, to me it represents the freedom to do whatever DW and I choose. There is no "best" or "right" - it's a continuum of options just like all of life that precedes "retirement."

 

[RonBoyd]

Immigration...

Yes, thank you! Tell that to people who believe that immigrants simply steal our jobs.

Interesting article:

Immigrants Make Paths to Suburbia, Not Cities

They show a portrait of a rapidly changing America, whose young population is much more diverse than its older one.

About 48 percent of newborns last year were members of minority groups, compared with just a fifth of those over 65, a statistic that raises questions about possible generational tensions for the United States in coming decades, particularly over the cost of education and health care, said Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. [Poorly constructed sentence but nevertheless...]

In the last large immigration wave, in the late 19th century, immigrants took several generations to assimilate into American society through education. But the United States cannot afford to wait that long as its declining economy struggles to compete with developing countries like China, said Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, co-director of an immigration research center at New York University.

The data also showed an increasingly pinched middle class. Median income declined by almost 5 percent in the past decade, with a few exceptions, including Maryland, Rhode Island and Wyoming. The deterioration was worse in counties dependent on manufacturing, where income dropped by 9 percent.

 

[winger]

My investments work so I don't need to.

 

[BigNick]

my brief discussion with some Dutch people when the Greeks were fomenting over their issues this summer showed me that they were horrified at a retirement earlier than age 65.

They may not have been a representative sample. Only 22% of Dutch 60/64-year-olds are in employment, which is half the figure for the US (source).

 

[ziggy29]

The philosophy of "work until you drop" is utterly incompatible with a society that has 16-17% real unemployment, especially when you add in rampant age discrimination in employment and hiring.

Isn't it better, if one is inclined, to jump off the hamster wheel when they can afford to do so, and provide a job opportunity for one of those 16-17% who need the job a lot more than they do?