Suze Orman – A Wet Blanket on FIRE

[tb001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I am not in total disagreement with you, but people most certainly "do care" about what you do.

Totally agree. And this is much harder in your 40s/early 50s when the vast majority of your peers are still working and also much harder for men I think. Adding in a working spouse and I can see it being difficult.

Of course it doesn't matter, but it's easier to say that as you get closer to retirement age.

[walkinwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormy Kromer Not to burst anyone's bubble, but nobody really cared that much about your identity when you were working. If you need a job title or profession identity to get someone's respect, something is missing with either you or the people you're trying to impress.

Ever had a teacher who you still look up to? What about a pastor? A mentor at work?

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett One thing that we have experienced on cruises is that you will inevitably dine with some who seem desperate to know what you do or what you did. It goes far beyond normal inquisitiveness. It really irked me and we would both toy with these people. It was not enough for them to know the generalities. Their goal was really to judge you by you position, profession, etc. At first we found this surprising, then plain irritating.

One wonderful thing about moving to our 55+ neighborhood is that almost everybody is retired, like being retired, and don’t give a hoot about what you did in a prior life. The most common question is whether you traveled anywhere recently.

[bclover]

Suzy Orman is a wet blanket on life.

lol, I watched an episode of her show where she berated an 8 year old little girl for wanting to spend her birthday money on an American girl doll.

Jeez lady, if an 8 year old can't have a little fun then we're all doomed.

Never have I seen a supposed financial guru who looks at life as one long tragedy waiting to happen.

[Red Badger]

It's not just Suze that's giving questionable advice. I watched Ed Schott on PBS yesterday while putzing in the kitchen. He was plugging his stuff while participating in PBS fundraising. According to Ed, ONLY a Roth IRA is suitable. Period. And, you NEED an annuity. Absolutely MUST have one.

The next goobnob was pontificating about a healthy diet and how the medical community had it all back asswards. Based on the sage advice of Suze and Ed, I had to ask myself if this dietary gasbag was just as wrong.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkinwood Ever had a teacher who you still look up to? What about a pastor? A mentor at work?

Isn't that more about how they helped you/made you feel rather than their job title or status?

I truly find it hard to believe that 'most people do care' about what I did for a job.

My job had a lot of responsibility and paid exceptionally well with tons of bennies. A very few may have found it interesting but 'care'?

[bclover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I am not in total disagreement with you, but people most certainly "do care" about what you do. . When I was still in Atlanta (we have recently moved) most of the folks that I associated with knew of my retirement status, so the "what do you do" question didn't really come up that much. However, now that we are moved and busy figuring out what we are doing home buying/building wise, I have had to meet a LOT of new people and when the question of "what do you do" comes up, I really cringe. Sure, it shouldn't bother me, but I don't want to lie but I don't want the awkwardness of the truth, either. I know I am rambling, but I just wanted to make the point that identity can be a tough thing when society puts a VERY HIGH value on your vocation.

I'll disagree with a caveat, hopefully by the time you get to retirement you've gain a lot of common sense and you realize that the people who care what you do are usually morons.

The people I know who are like that all work in Washington DC and use it as a tool to "name drop". I prefer if they stayed in DC.

Anyhoo,
I had a young manager name Jarnigin. lol horrible boss. we called him "wrong again Jarnigin".
He got laid off from the company during the 2008 and the only work he could was entry level. He took his life 6 months after. That was my eye opener and immediately told my kids that no one is impressed by what you do or where you went to school, so do not identify yourself by your school or your profession.

lol, I got my doctorate in Chemistry and when people ask what I do I tell them I bake.

[bclover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marko Isn't that more about how they helped you/made you feel rather than their job title or status? I truly find it hard to believe that 'most people do care' about what I did for a job. My job had a lot of responsibility and paid exceptionally well with tons of bennies. A very few may have found it interesting but 'care'?

no one gives a crap. I agree.

[bclover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Badger It's not just Suze that's giving questionable advice. I watched Ed Schott on PBS yesterday while putzing in the kitchen. He was plugging his stuff while participating in PBS fundraising. According to Ed, ONLY a Roth IRA is suitable. Period. And, you NEED an annuity. Absolutely MUST have one. The next goobnob was pontificating about a healthy diet and how the medical community had it all back asswards. Based on the sage advice of Suze and Ed, I had to ask myself if this dietary gasbag was just as wrong.

I wish Ed had stuck with the tax stuff. lol, I saw his PBS special, why is it that every women in the audience is an 80 year old white woman with glasses and white hair. Seriously like 90% of them had white hair. it was weird.

[ExFlyBoy5]

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Originally Posted by bclover Suzy Orman is a wet blanket on life. lol, I watched an episode of her show where she berated an 8 year old little girl for wanting to spend her birthday money on an American girl doll. Jeez lady, if an 8 year old can't have a little fun then we're all doomed. Never have I seen a supposed financial guru who looks at life as one long tragedy waiting to happen.

I remember like it was yesterday...1982. I was 8 years old and wanted an Atari 2600 so badly I could taste it. My Mom told me that is was a very expensive purchase and would take almost 50% of my savings to purchase it. I was on an allowance, but it had taken quite a long time to save that $100. But, I persisted in my wants and eventually Mom took me to get that oh so fancy game console, and it WAS AWESOME....well, for about a week. Then I had buyers regret and wished I had my $50 back. It was a very good lesson to learn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclover I'll disagree with a caveat, hopefully by the time you get to retirement you've gain a lot of common sense and you realize that the people who care what you do are usually morons.

Not sure if you were responding directly to me, but I am already retired and was expressing what I have experienced being retired and my "identity". As I mentioned, when meeting people for the first time, "what I do" comes up almost 100% of the time...that's a LOT of morons!

[HFWR]

The first layoff: Here are my computer files, lab notebooks, etc., including project data used for patent filings.
Megaconglomocorp: Meh...

Second layoff: Delete all files, throw lab notebooks in the circular file...

Wasn’t important then, not important now...

[Andre1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I remember like it was yesterday...1982. I was 8 years old and wanted an Atari 2600 so badly I could taste it. My Mom told me that is was a very expensive purchase and would take almost 50% of my savings to purchase it. I was on an allowance, but it had taken quite a long time to save that $100. But, I persisted in my wants and eventually Mom took me to get that oh so fancy game console, and it WAS AWESOME....well, for about a week. Then I had buyers regret and wished I had my $50 back. It was a very good lesson to learn.

Shoulda spent a few more bucks and gotten the Intellivision! My Mom got me one for my 12th birthday in April, 1982. I played it until the hand controller circuitry fried. My stepdad got it fixed for me, for my 13th birthday, I think, but it fried again. By Christmas of '83, video game prices were crashing, thanks partly to a glut of them, and my grandparents bought me an Intellivision II for Christmas. It was basically an Intellivision, just less 70's looking, and with controllers that weren't hard-wired so they were easier to replace when they fried.


Looking back though, that stuff wasn't exactly cheap. I think the original Intellivision was around $229, while the II was about $80. Games were around $25-35 apiece, although I think by 1985 they were very cheap. I still have all that stuff, with probably about 35-40 games. Some were gifts, some I bought myself, but I'd say there was easily $1200-1500 tied up in that system, total. Still, it was fun, and I still get a bit nostalgic for it sometimes. I don't think I've played any of it in about 10 years, though.

[Stormy Kromer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkinwood Ever had a teacher who you still look up to? What about a pastor? A mentor at work?

Of course, I think everyone does. I look up to them for what they did as people and would regardless of their former occupation.

I go fishing often with a retired Pastor and Physician. All my life I address these professionals by their title. Both of these gentlemen insist on being called by their first names. They both say that it's not their identity anymore and they want to be regular guys now.

I also know a retired chiropractor who insists on being called Doctor at all times, even by waiters & waitresses...….I don't go fishing with him.

[GravitySucks]

What do I do?
Travel alot.
The newly met person usually enjoys my yarns about travel more than people enjoyed my adventures in UNIX Admin and Systems Planning stories.

[Retch The Grate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 Looking back though, that stuff wasn't exactly cheap. I think the original Intellivision was around $229, while the II was about $80. Games were around $25-35 apiece, although I think by 1985 they were very cheap. I still have all that stuff, with probably about 35-40 games. Some were gifts, some I bought myself, but I'd say there was easily $1200-1500 tied up in that system, total. Still, it was fun, and I still get a bit nostalgic for it sometimes. I don't think I've played any of it in about 10 years, though.

With inflation it was definitely not cheap. I have a closet full of first gen consoles and games that I picked up at flea markets and garage sales in the mid 90s. That actually was super cheap.

[HI Bill]

I usually start conversations with strangers with "what do you do", "what's your major", or "what did you do"? For me, it's a quick way of finding out a little about a person, and getting them to talk about themselves, their interests, etc. I asked one guy recently, and he reluctantly said "I make windows". Then (without judging), I asked what type, and how he made them. Just gives me talking points, and lets me see if we might have some common interests.

[Bestwifeever]

I asked someone what he did once in an effort to make chitchat and he was insulted and attacked me—he said I asked that only to determine how well off he might be. It was at church—just the place I like to go to, to figure out random strangers’ net worth.

[HI Bill]

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Originally Posted by Bestwifeever I asked someone what he did once in an effort to make chitchat and he was insulted and attacked me—he said I asked that only to determine how well off he might be. It was at church—just the place I like to go to, to figure out random strangers’ net worth.

He he! Well, I've learned long ago that learning how much someone makes by learning their profession, and learning how much they're worth are two entirely different things! I know a 62-year old doctor living in a $2M house that's planning to work till 78 to pay it off, despite a government pension paying 87% of his former salary. As we know here, it's not about how much you make, it's about how much you save and invest!

[mh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 I experienced this when interviewing a builder. He asked what "I did" and I gave him a very plain, general "finance" answer. He wanted more details and kept asking me some very specific questions. It was uncomfortable for me and the more I tried to deflect, the more he would ask.

I suspect he was trying to figure out if you had the means to pay him.

[clifp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclover I'll disagree with a caveat, hopefully by the time you get to retirement you've gain a lot of common sense and you realize that the people who care what you do are usually morons. lol, I got my doctorate in Chemistry and when people ask what I do I tell them I bake.

I'm always interested in what people do or did, but I don't care. I find that as you get older the judging does decrease.

Ok, I have to ask do Chemistry PHd affect your baking.

The reason I ask is I often see in the recipe and especially YouTube cooking, I see something like "by gentle apply heat to such and such it releases the chemical bonds and makes it tastes, sweeter or removes bitterness.

And I'm always thinking to myself to these people really know what they are talking about. Did they really look up the chemical formulas for the food and figure this out, or are they just make stuff up?