SamHouston
Recycles dryer sheets
As I ever so slowly get closer and closer to being able to retire (somewhat early), I'm starting to notice a depressing trend among relatives, friends, and co-workers. My peer group is aging right along with me, so the subject of retirement and lack of job satisfaction is a common one we get together in groups or even just in pairs.
What I'm noticing is an attempt on the part of a farily high percentage of people to make me (and others in my position) feel guilty about being able to leave the rat race even a bit early and leave the rest of them behind laboring away in a futile attempt to catch up with us. Two of the worst culprits are my own brother and brother-in-law, each of whom have been living from payday-to-payday (and with the help of credit cards) for the last three decades. Now...I'M supposed to feel guilty that they are still struggling and are fearful of their future while my own is looking more and more secure every year.
Frankly, they're starting to get to me, even to the point of making me somewhat depressed and fearful that maybe I'm over-estimating the security of my own situation...and that pisses me off.
Have you folks run into that kind of thing? If so, did it affect you this way, and if it did what did you do about it short of getting new friends and avoiding your family?
What I'm noticing is an attempt on the part of a farily high percentage of people to make me (and others in my position) feel guilty about being able to leave the rat race even a bit early and leave the rest of them behind laboring away in a futile attempt to catch up with us. Two of the worst culprits are my own brother and brother-in-law, each of whom have been living from payday-to-payday (and with the help of credit cards) for the last three decades. Now...I'M supposed to feel guilty that they are still struggling and are fearful of their future while my own is looking more and more secure every year.
Frankly, they're starting to get to me, even to the point of making me somewhat depressed and fearful that maybe I'm over-estimating the security of my own situation...and that pisses me off.
Have you folks run into that kind of thing? If so, did it affect you this way, and if it did what did you do about it short of getting new friends and avoiding your family?