 |
|
Responding to "What will you do?"
03-20-2009, 03:32 PM
|
#1
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,085
|
Responding to "What will you do?"
I think ever single person I've told I'm planning for early retirement asks the same question, almost word for word. "What will you do?". I usually respond by saying something like "whatever I choose to do". Are there any good clever one-liners you folks have used to respond to this question?
|
|
|
 |
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
|
03-20-2009, 03:51 PM
|
#2
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Collin County, TX
Posts: 9,296
|
__________________
There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
|
|
|
|
|
03-20-2009, 04:22 PM
|
#3
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,186
|
Unless you're announcing your imminent retirement, what's the point of telling people?
If you don't want to be asked questions about how you'll handle your new status, don't bring the subject up.
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
|
|
|
|
|
03-20-2009, 05:51 PM
|
#4
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Nowhere, 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 9,037
|
 Quote:
Originally Posted by squirt
I think ever single person I've told I'm planning for early retirement asks the same question, almost word for word. "What will you do?". I usually respond by saying something like "whatever I choose to do". Are there any good clever one-liners you folks have used to respond to this question?
|
Q: "So what are you doing?"
A: "Not a damn thing and loving every minute of it!"
Q: "Aren't you bored?"
A: "Are you trying to do that?"
Q: "How do you keep your mind active?"
A: "I'm playing vegetable these days."
and on and on and on....  ...I'm never at a loss for a one-liner.
__________________
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
|
|
|
|
|
03-20-2009, 05:57 PM
|
#5
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,501
|
The other day, I got, "Why?"
Why? WHY?  I wasn't expecting that response at all.
"Because I have a life!!" 
Wish I could have thought of a better answer.
As for "What will you do?", I tell them about how I am going to get my house ready to sell, then sell it and move north, and when I get there, how I am going to buy a house and decorate it and sleep in and go to the gym and start a garden and start playing piano again and volunteer and spend time with Frank, and on and on... usually they lose focus long before I get this far into it.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
|
|
|
|
03-20-2009, 06:07 PM
|
#6
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,645
|
My motto: work is for suckers
|
|
|
|
|
03-20-2009, 07:18 PM
|
#7
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
|
I just say "the same thing you do on Saturdays..........everyday".
|
|
|
|
|
03-20-2009, 07:51 PM
|
#8
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover
I just say "the same thing you do on Saturdays..........everyday".
|
To a large number of people this would not sound very appealing. Wouldn't sound very appealing to me come to think of it. The essence of pleasure is contrast
Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
|
|
|
|
|
03-20-2009, 09:38 PM
|
#9
|
|
Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,346
|
"Whatever I want to."
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
|
|
|
|
|
03-21-2009, 12:48 AM
|
#10
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: North of Montana
Posts: 2,769
|
What walt said!
__________________
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate conclusions from insufficient data and ..
|
|
|
|
|
03-21-2009, 01:26 AM
|
#11
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
|
I just assume they are running the question through their own experience. One neighbor said, "um, ok, if you can do it," another just grinned like a Cheshire cat.  I've known them both for 15 years, guess which one is a better friend?
What do I do all day? Well most days I have to stop for a few minutes and just enjoy the realization of not being at w*rk, not being on the way to or from w*rk, of not having to deal with, "OMG, I'm going to w*rk tomorrow," etc. The rest of the day is good to great to amazing. I leave a lot of room for serendipity and have a lot of choices handy. My days are free but have dinner with SO every evening. Sometimes i like to just go outside and then decide with way to go, there are so many interesting streets to travel on.
|
|
|
|
|
03-21-2009, 05:59 AM
|
#12
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,322
|
The topic of "what will you do" has been covered a number of times, but it's always good to revisit, since it's a question often asked. It also relates to Nord's "fog of work," since the reason this question is even raised is because somene can't visualize their life outside of work -- or, better said, work has fogged their eyes to their real life. For some, real life may much in common with their work, but the work environment has probably introduced so many constraints that they can't pursue it freely.
So, this is such an individual question that it can't be answered, because it varies so much. For me, I made a list before I retired of everything I've wanted to do but have not been able to do it, or have been constrained, due to work. I'm now going through that list, and have had to prioritize it because I can't get to everything. So, in a sense, I'm in my own fog of retirement, trying to figure out what's most important.
|
|
|
|
|
03-21-2009, 08:09 AM
|
#13
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by haha
To a large number of people this would not sound very appealing. Wouldn't sound very appealing to me come to think of it. The essence of pleasure is contrast
Ha
|
I never said I was recruiting - we need suckers citizens to continue to work and pay payroll taxes. As for me, when I was w*rking, I LOVED Saturdays.
|
|
|
|
|
03-24-2009, 08:36 AM
|
#14
|
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,719
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover
I just say "the same thing you do on Saturdays..........everyday".
|
Reminds me of Pinky & The Brain:
Pinky: Gee, Brain. What are we going to do tonight?
The Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world.
NARF!
__________________
He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it . . . It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. -- The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
|
|
|
|
|
03-24-2009, 08:44 AM
|
#15
|
|
gone traveling
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 3,864
|
Q: What are you going to do today?
A: Nothing.
Q: You did that yesterday!
A: I wasn't finished.
|
|
|
|
|
03-24-2009, 09:00 AM
|
#16
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover
I never said I was recruiting - we need suckers citizens to continue to work and pay payroll taxes. As for me, when I was w*rking, I LOVED Saturdays.
|
Don't tell anyone, RE discussions are not always about retirement, they are sometimes about not retiring. For some of us, retirement is not about not working, it is about living.
BTW, I had a post-retirement dream last night, the DOW, or was it the S&P, went up 45%! The chart was shown everywhere, beautiful young women were holding long sticks tracing the line, the way it went down and now suddenly it shot up.
What will I do today? Check RE Forums, and look at my dreams, then go out and do a couple of the things on the list. It's a little cool today but the sun is out.
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2009, 06:17 AM
|
#17
|
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Jacksonville
Posts: 637
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Want2retire
The other day, I got, "Why?"
Why? WHY? I wasn't expecting that response at all.
"Because I have a life!!"
Wish I could have thought of a better answer.
As for "What will you do?", I tell them about how I am going to get my house ready to sell, then sell it and move north, and when I get there, how I am going to buy a house and decorate it and sleep in and go to the gym and start a garden and start playing piano again and volunteer and spend time with Frank, and on and on... usually they lose focus long before I get this far into it. |
Move North  ?? You're suppose to be moving south when you retire! 
Mike
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2009, 06:54 AM
|
#18
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by wrigley
Move North ?? You're suppose to be moving south when you retire!
Mike |
In some parts, the expression, I believe, is "up nort."
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2009, 07:31 AM
|
#19
|
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,501
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by wrigley
Move North ?? You're suppose to be moving south when you retire!
Mike |
I know! I have always been a rebel.
Hmmm!! From this vantage point, just about everywhere is "up nort".
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2009, 07:55 AM
|
#20
|
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
|
...and higher above sea level.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|
Linear Mode
