"Retirement Makes You Stupid"

[michelle]

I suppose some will undoubtedly have IQ to spare. However the average among us may need to cling to all the points we have been issued.

 

[Free To Canoe]

Joining Mensa is not on my bucket list!

Great... life advice from a former hedge fund manager that stopped and wrote a book.


Probably funded by some group of employers... Wooork,,,, WoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOrk

 

[flyfishnevada]

I guarantee I'm receive a lot more mental stimulation now than I did at work. Stress IS good for, till you stoke out.

 

[scrabbler1]

For me, resurrecting some old hobbies and finding new variations of new ones (i.e. volunteer work) has been far more mentally stimulating than nearly all if not all of the stuff I did at work in the last 7 years I worked. Some of these new activities were simply applying the various skills I learned while working in new ways I liked a whole lot more. That and eliminating all the garbage time at work, especially the mindless and annoying commute, are the big benefits of ER.

 

[brewer12345]

I can buy the idea that retirees shed a few IQ points. I have never been so smart as when I was working an analytical job that felt like I was applying a blowtorch to both ends of the candle. But a concentration on IQ score misses the point. Dude is an economist: whatever happened to maximizing individual utility?

 

[Walt34]

I dunnow, I ferget all that stuff I did when I was working.

But I'm thoroughly enjoying learning new stuff about photography, composition, lighting, color spaces, gamuts and the like. I find I notice the color of light, highlights, shadows, and contrast in everyday life much more than I used to.

I did a simple portrait of DW yesterday, and with Photoshop Elements took about 20 years off and she said "Gee, I wish I really did look like that". I told her she does, to me. It made her smile.

She won't let me post the "before" and "after" photos though.

 

[braumeister]

"When people retire early they lose IQ points."

No, actually I invested them in a deferred account for use later when I may need them.

 

[Khan]

I was stuck in a bureacracy doing the same old same old, mostly in "hurry up and wait" mode. Everything was so confined and predictable. Talk about brain-drain!

In FIRE, I am finding my brain is more challenged by the variety of projects and activites that I plan and accomplish, with no interference from the cluster flies , and can actually see results in short order.

Sometimes I get lazy and do mindless things with no productive purpose, but you know what? It is MY choice to do so.

They promoted me from programmer to 'team lead'; felt IQ dropping after that.

Have more mental stimulation watching the squirrels.

 

[haha]

I think there is no doubt, if your job was intellectually demanding, you are smarter when you were doing it than when you are sleeping late and trying to decide what to have for dinner, or whether to waste time in Lowe's or Home Depot.

IMO it's similar to physical conditioning. Are you in better shape when a coach and the spur of competition has you spending hours every day knocking yourself out, or when you go off to gym a few times a week for some self-paced exercise?

Ha

 

[Ken11]

Too young to retire?...
How about... I'm too wise not to.

I am runnig into all 3 types of reactions mentioned above.
People can have such small/defensive minds sometimes.
I hope they can manage to grow out of it.
We should send em all a copy of Bob Clyatts book.

 

[chemist]

Yeah, well I'd rather be stupid than have a heart attack or stroke working.

Amen to that. My doc just took me off my blood pressure meds. Have to be retested in 3 weeks but have been checking myself at CVS and it looks like I will be off them.

Why? Less stress - plus time to exercise and eat right and lost 22 pounds.

I play duplicate bridge to stay sharp. Even if that doesn't work I'd trade a few IQ points for no heart attack any time.

 

[Nords]

We should send em all a copy of Bob Clyatts book.

I've done that, but the teacher can't get started until the student settles down and gets ready to learn.

 

[beowulf]

I have seen both types of retiree - those who choose to vege out in front of the TV all day and others who remain mentally and physically fit through a variety of actions. My belief is that the latter are far better off in the long run than the former. I know one guy who who sleeps until 11 every day, takes a nap in the afternoon and spends the remainder of the day channel surfing - he has definitely been losing brain cells.

I'm trying, for at least a few months (since March), to meld retirement and work by consulting primarily from home. Very little real stress (other than the occasional deadline) and the ability to take long breaks to go on walks, read, etc. Also taking a lot of short, several day trips when I can. Probably have to give it up by the end of the year, as the reward for doing a decent job seems to always be more work to do. And, believe it or not, clients actually get upset when you tell them you don't want to do more for them . I think they are missing the point that they need me a lot more than I need them.

As someone once said "Moderation in all things, including moderation."

 

[Major Tom]

But I'm thoroughly enjoying learning new stuff about photography, composition, lighting, color spaces, gamuts and the like. I find I notice the color of light, highlights, shadows, and contrast in everyday life much more than I used to.

I did a simple portrait of DW yesterday, and with Photoshop Elements took about 20 years off and she said "Gee, I wish I really did look like that". I told her she does, to me. It made her smile.

It's great fun learning about photography isn't it - and very rewarding when you make pictures that people love. I never quite got the hang of making people look their best in pictures, but occasionally would get lucky. It was very gratifying to give friends and loved ones pictures of themselves that they absolutely loved.

Regarding the world of color spaces and gamuts, I went as far as to calibrate my monitor and have a custom profile made for my printer so that the colors on the final print would exactly match what I was seeing on my monitor.

It's all a lot of work, but much fun learning and hey - you gotta do something between the time you wake up and the time you go to bed

 

[Tadpole]

Working threatened to make me stupid. I think it was the level of stupid in the environment.

 

[Walt34]

Regarding the world of color spaces and gamuts, I went as far as to calibrate my monitor and have a custom profile made for my printer so that the colors on the final print would exactly match what I was seeing on my monitor.

It's all a lot of work, but much fun learning and hey - you gotta do something between the time you wake up and the time you go to bed

I went so far as to get a Colormunki to calibrate the monitor and printer after being frustrated by the mismatch between screen and prints. It costs more than just calibrating the monitor but you can make your own profiles for every paper/ink combination after that.

And I'm still reading/rereading books on photography and Photoshop Elements. Getting deep into the software it's amazing what it can do.

I also sprung for Portrait Professional software, which won't do anything you can't do in Photoshop but it does in five minutes what would take 45 minutes in Photoshop.

It's all neat stuff, but with a steep learning curve. Hopefully that'll help keep too many brain cells from atrophying.

 

[friar1610]

Here's something that has been working my (feeble) brain recently - studying Russian.

In the early 70's I studied Russian very intensively for a year at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. I used the language in Navy assignments for a couple of years but then the skills began to atrophy.

Recently my wife and I booked a vacation on a Russian river cruise for this coming summer - Moscow to St. Petersburg. I decided I at least wanted to get enough skills back to read signs, order a beer, find the bathroom, etc. So I've found a lot of stuff on the web to download and I listen to it when I'm working out at the gym or working in the yard. In addition, I've found a site that has Russian verb conjugations and I've been spending some time every day reviewing a few verbs.

I've been really surprised how much I've enjoyed getting back into studying Russian and I suspect it ain't bad for the grey matter. I hope I will continue it even after we get back from the trip. But then again, why not try to get my high school French back for our visits to Montreal? Or my college Spanish in case we want to go back to Spain where I was stationed in the Navy?

Perhaps I've hit on something?

 

[freebird5825]

They promoted me from programmer to 'team lead'; felt IQ dropping after that.

Have more mental stimulation watching the squirrels.

I fought tooth and nail to stay hands-on in the laboratory (very mentally challenging), but the w*rk culture changed to one where you could not get promoted unless you managed contracts (snore zzzz). I told them, ok, so don't promote me.
I wrangled an agreement where I was supposed to be 50% in house and 50% contracts management, but the reality was the contract management occupied 75% of my time. Sigh.
I discovered I was losing my in-house technical edge very quickly. I FIREd myself within 2 years of that happening. See ya!

 

[kumquat]

I play duplicate bridge to stay sharp. Even if that doesn't work I'd trade a few IQ points for no heart attack any time.

Fellow bridge freak here. Keep it up. Nothing makes the brain grow stronger.

 

[FinanceDude]

I guess I am more than ready when I retire..........what I have learned on here is most think that FAs have no IQ anyway, so I have nothing to lose!!!

 

[traineeinvestor]

The lack of mental stimulation at work is one of the factors that is motivating me to retire early. If the author's thesis is correct, should I expect an increase in IQ when I FIRE?

 

[Nords]

Here's something that has been working my (feeble) brain recently - studying Russian.
I decided I at least wanted to get enough skills back to read signs, order a beer, find the bathroom, etc. So I've found a lot of stuff on the web to download and I listen to it when I'm working out at the gym or working in the yard. In addition, I've found a site that has Russian verb conjugations and I've been spending some time every day reviewing a few verbs.
I've been really surprised how much I've enjoyed getting back into studying Russian and I suspect it ain't bad for the grey matter.
Perhaps I've hit on something?

Do you have to get permission from DoD to go to those parts of the world? Oh, that's right, we're friends now.

Language learning physically affects different parts of the brain, and it forms new neuron connections. That has to help.

My daughter got interested in Russian during high school (she was friends with a foreign-exchange student). She was tremendously motivated to study on her own, and she found the Pimsleur CDs to be very helpful. (I know this because she had to spend her own money on them.) Now that she's in college her self-study helped her to validate one semester, and she just finished a second semester to be eligible to take upper-level Russian for credit.

Best of all, she finds that it gives her brain a break from building neurons for calculus, physics, and chemistry. She's made new friends. She posts to Facebook in Cyrillic.

A Navy submarine engineer fluent in Russian. Maybe someday she'll be able to turn that into a useful job skill...

I've noticed that a lot of people who "stay young as they age" are active in music. Whether that's singing or playing piano or dance, it seems to work.

 

[kumquat]

I guess I am more than ready when I retire..........what I have learned on here is most think that FAs have no IQ anyway, so I have nothing to lose!!!

Not really true. Most of us think it takes some intelligence to convert a client's [-]worthless[/-] assets into [-]valuable[/-] priceless commissions.

 

[Major Tom]

I went so far as to get a Colormunki to calibrate the monitor and printer after being frustrated by the mismatch between screen and prints. It costs more than just calibrating the monitor but you can make your own profiles for every paper/ink combination after that.

And I'm still reading/rereading books on photography and Photoshop Elements. Getting deep into the software it's amazing what it can do.

I also sprung for Portrait Professional software, which won't do anything you can't do in Photoshop but it does in five minutes what would take 45 minutes in Photoshop.

It's all neat stuff, but with a steep learning curve. Hopefully that'll help keep too many brain cells from atrophying.

I had PS Elements a few years ago, but I understand that it's a lot more powerful now than it used to be.

A quick word about Portrait Professional. Although I haven't used that particular piece of software, I've used others like it and eventually went back to Photoshop, as it was easy to overdo the "smoothing" effects and end up with a rather plasticky looking subject. Your mileage may vary, but it's something worth looking out for.

I agree with the comment you made in your earlier post concerning noticing quality and direction of light. I've always liked late afternoon light, even before getting into photography, and it's certainly great stuff for photographing in, as is generally overcast weather (nice soft light with no harsh shadows.)

Ooops, what was the main subject of this thread again.....Aaah yes, apologies for the digression

 

[Nemo2]

Retirement makes you stupid?

Naah....I was stupid long before I retired.