Yet Another Reason to FIRE

[ExFlyBoy5]

As some of you know, I am getting very close to being done with w*rking. I have always valued my short time on this earth more than the $$ I could accumulate. The following story helps illustrate the value of time:

Today I skipped w*rk to go run a couple of errands. One of the errands was redeeming a free oil change coupon at the dealership. I hadn't been there in a while, but today was absolutely crazy. I haven't seen it that crazy in forever. The service writer agreed it was super busy and asked if it was OK if it took more than an hour for the oil change. Of course, I am playing retired today, so I told him "No problem...take your time". Meanwhile, the service manager (looked to be in his late 40s or early 50s) was running around like a chicken with his head cut off...I really felt very sorry for the him and his staff. Well, about 10 minutes later all hell broke loose. Apparently, the cashier went to find the service manager and he had collapsed in the back of the shop. When the ambulance got there, the story had evolved into probable cardiac arrest and they had been doing CPR on him since he wasn't breathing. They took him out on the stretcher with one of the EMTs doing chest compressions. I do not know if he survived or not, but it really solidified my belief that time is definitely worth more to me than $$$ will ever be.

 

[Options]

To think, he had no idea when he got up this morning that this would happen to him at work. Years ago an elderly gentleman collapsed off his chair at a coffeehouse I was at and went into cardiac arrest. I later heard that he died at the hospital.

You are correct, life is too short and fragile to spend it at a job.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Wow, poor guy. Hope he survives.

 

[Ally]

A good friend of mine died in a motorcycle accident two weeks ago. She was my age. I know how she looked forward to retiring and being with her grand kids. You just never know how long you have.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[H2ODude]

Sudden death will get your attention. Locally a 51 yo cyclist got nailed the other morning, classic sad case of kids etc. The number of cyclists killed on our local roads is more than sobering. Few months ago an out and out texter nailed one. Scary.

 

[haha]

Sudden death will get your attention. Locally a 51 yo cyclist got nailed the other morning, classic sad case of kids etc. The number of cyclists killed on our local roads is more than sobering. Few months ago an out and out texter nailed one. Scary.

Riding a bicycle on streets shared with cars is similar to cleaning one's own gutters two stories up. Usually fine, but sometimes not. I couldn't be made to do it.

Ha

 

[Telly]

Well put, Ha.

When I had high gutters, I felt at least I had reasonable control over my environment, but there is always the spin of the big wheel.

But riding a bike on a street with cars is too many wheels for me, both physically and probability-wise. And then there are the clueless, both bike riders and drivers, who seem to try to redefine the word "accident".

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Non cyclists might imagine James Caan in rollerball, the reality is usually less eventful. Some communities are certainly more bike friendly than others - picking a friendly one is high priority on my relocation list. Care must be taken when choosing the time and route.
When riding the road in my present location, I mitigate the risk by going very early Sunday morning while the locals are still lying in a pool of vomit on the bathroom floor.

 

[Tailgate]

+1 in hopes he is ok..

I've added 'traveling on our interstate' to cleaning 2nd story gutters as risky behavior these days. My driving skills haven't yet diminished, but the ratio of 18 wheelers to construction zones and speeding/texting drivers has gotten out of hand. Weekly deadly pile ups on interstate 35 here in Tx.

 

[friar1610]

Today I skipped w*rk to go run a couple of errands. One of the errands was redeeming a free oil change coupon at the dealership. I hadn't been there in a while, but today was absolutely crazy. I haven't seen it that crazy in forever. The service writer agreed it was super busy and asked if it was OK if it took more than an hour for the oil change. Of course, I am playing retired today, so I told him "No problem...take your time". Meanwhile, the service manager (looked to be in his late 40s or early 50s) was running around like a chicken with his head cut off...I really felt very sorry for the him and his staff. Well, about 10 minutes later all hell broke loose. Apparently, the cashier went to find the service manager and he had collapsed in the back of the shop. When the ambulance got there, the story had evolved into probable cardiac arrest and they had been doing CPR on him since he wasn't breathing. They took him out on the stretcher with one of the EMTs doing chest compressions. I do not know if he survived or not, but it really solidified my belief that time is definitely worth more to me than $$$ will ever be.

This is the type of story in which I tend to put a lot of credence. However, I'm always surprised by the number of articles and books which assert that retirement is bad for one's health and is just the beginning of a period of decline brought about by the lack of stimulation in one's life that s/he can get from continuing to work and "be involved." I know that some (many?) people love their jobs and can't imagine not having them. But there certainly are a lot of people whose jobs involve so much stress that there's no way they could be good for them. Like so many things in life, I suppose "it depends."

 

[Ally]

When riding the road in my present location, I mitigate the risk by going very early Sunday morning while the locals are still lying in a pool of vomit on the bathroom floor.

The lady I mentioned above, who died on a motorcycle recently, was going with her friend to the 8 am motorcycle church service. Someone turned into a parking lot right in front of them.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

The lady I mentioned above, who died on a motorcycle recently, was going with her friend to the 8 am motorcycle church service. Someone turned into a parking lot right in front of them.

Sorry to hear that, very sad.
I am all too aware of the invisibility risk with motorists - I always make eye contact.

 

[mystang52]

Riding a bicycle on streets shared with cars is similar to cleaning one's own gutters two stories up. Usually fine, but sometimes not. I couldn't be made to do it.

Ha

Living where I do in New Jersey (near NYC), biking on roads is a quasi-necessity if one wants to get in longer mileage. So, about every other week I will drive an hour or more just to get to some nice paved bike trails.
To the OP's point, I was cycling yesterday (yes, on my local streets) and reveling in the beauty of relatively empty streets and thankful for being FIRE'd. And I often think about those waiting 'til it's too late.

 

[brewer12345]

However, I'm always surprised by the number of articles and books which assert that retirement is bad for one's health and is just the beginning of a period of decline brought about by the lack of stimulation in one's life that s/he can get from continuing to work and "be involved." I know that some (many?) people love their jobs and can't imagine not having them. But there certainly are a lot of people whose jobs involve so much stress that there's no way they could be good for them. Like so many things in life, I suppose "it depends."

Now that I have some personal experience with this, I just don't understand the assertions that retirement will kill you. I've had 9 months off and will soon be starting a 1 year contract job. I feel like I am about to have a bag put on my head. I can already see some deleterious health effects I will have to work to mitigate.

 

[Chuckanut]

My neighbor has been retired for over 30 years. Until a few years ago whenever a storm knocked down a tree he would come over with his chain saw and ask me if I wanted to help him cut some wood to share. He used to drive his motor home to South America, IIRC. But he stopped that due to fear of lawless groups in Mexico. Over 90, he still drives, helps his wife on their daily walks, and generally holds his own.

I hope I do as well.

 

[Derslickmeister]

+1 in hopes he is ok..

I've added 'traveling on our interstate' to cleaning 2nd story gutters as risky behavior these days. My driving skills haven't yet diminished, but the ratio of 18 wheelers to construction zones and speeding/texting drivers has gotten out of hand. Weekly deadly pile ups on interstate 35 here in Tx.

+1 although I feel my driving skills have diminished, either that or I've lost my nerve. I drive 84 miles most days on I35 and it's a wonder I haven't bought the farm yet, knock on wood...

 

[nuke_diver]

For the most part you don't get to pick how you go out. A friend always used to say to me "Eat healthy get hit by a bus". I take that to heart more or less because it can be true...you can do all the right things and it might not help you live a long trouble free life. I figure that riding a bike is an example of higher risk==higher reward. Yes if you get hit by a car it's probably not going to be a good day for you. But if you don't exercise you will likely have other health issues.

For me riding is a very fun way to exercise and I cannot imagine something that would be as good that would work for me. I ride about 2000-2500 miles a year now and expect that to at least double when I FIRE and it is exclusively on the road. I accept the risk and do my best to mitigate it by trying to be extra alert...but nobody's going to get out of this life alive so I'm going to keep riding. I also think when it's your time it's your time weather you're in a car, plane, bike or just walking down a flight of stairs.

 

[haha]

My neighbor has been retired for over 30 years. Until a few years ago whenever a storm knocked down a tree he would come over with his chain saw and ask me if I wanted to help him cut some wood to share. He used to drive his motor home to South America, IIRC. But he stopped that due to fear of lawless groups in Mexico.

All those bandidos, and then you have to deal with that pesky Darién Gap.

Ha

 

[Sarah in SC]

There's a ferry now, Ha! We plan to put the bus on it when we make that trip to South America in the next few years.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I do enjoy riding a bike, but I will only do it on dedicated bike trails. Maybe it's all the risk mitigation practice I've done in regards to flying airplanes...but to me, the risk of riding on the road doesn't outweigh the benefits. I have a hard enough time not having people run into me when I'm in a 3,500 pound car!

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

 

[ChainsBeGone]

Retirement age has NO impact on life expectancy | Mail Online

I guess the moral of the inserted news link is to choose your own work exit and stay healthy. It seems to me that how we exit life is fairly arbitrary, so we need to make the most of it while we can.

My dad retired at 57 and died at 77, during those 20 years he and my mom did everything one could imagine, without millions of dollars in the bank. Neither of them ever regretted not working longer and are thankful for every day they had together.

 

[Senator]

Of course, there are always stationary bikes you ride in the house...

Back to the point, it would be a lot easier to plan if you knew the end date. All you have is a rough guess, but you know it is not likely to be past 85. And even then, your life is likely very different in your 80s.

So, FIRE when you can, not when the company tells you, you can.

Of course I wonder why I am not FIRE'd yet too.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Retirement age has NO impact on life expectancy | Mail Online

I guess the moral of the inserted news link is to choose your own work exit and stay healthy. It seems to me that how we exit life is fairly arbitrary, so we need to make the most of it while we can.

My dad retired at 57 and died at 77, during those 20 years he and my mom did everything one could imagine, without millions of dollars in the bank. Neither of them ever regretted not working longer and are thankful for every day they had together.

I have a hard time believing the premise of the study. I may not have the *actual* numbers, but if you work until the age of 80...well...I just don't buy it. There are lots of variables that go into life expectancy and for this study to just totally dismiss the idea that retirement age has *something* to do with life expectancy is just a bunch of crap.