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Old 12-14-2009, 03:17 PM   #21
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This article is most likely right, as far as the numbers go, as to the necessity to work beyond 60/65, but I believe wrong in the desire to work. I do not doubt that when you take the people that have not LBYM and add to them the number who want to work in retirement that the majority of baby boomers will be working beyond 60. That is a different statement that the majority of baby boomers want to work beyond 60.
Rather than quote Jim Rogers on Yahoo finance today about getting up every morning and having fun at what you do - I'll go with my old buddy Sam(retired AF) who I worked with over twenty years in the Space Program:

'If they didn't pay to come here everyday - I'd have to buy a ticket to come watch.'

So even when work got boring/yucky he had the right attitude.

Hindsight says I had fun - except those times it became work - and then they layed me off - this pissing me off so much I hit the LBYM/cheap SOB button - unemployed until I discovered the ER mode and became a 'born again slacker' who posts alot on forums.

heh heh heh - cold and still snow on the ground outside - but I made the doughnut shop - two glazed/two black and an hour of B.S. with some fellow retiree's. . Tough work but somebody has to fight the elements and get their licks in - wasn't crowded either.
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Old 12-14-2009, 03:28 PM   #22
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They are one of two types - they are incapable of making decisions and keeping themselves occupied and need someone to tell t hem what to do
Agree.

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or they have little interest outside of the job so they truly do not know what to do with themselves if they don't have the job.
Agree.

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And then there are those who can't afford to.
Agree.

And then there are those who find much of their work rewarding or gratifying, despite the usual hassles and BS. A minority, to be sure - some farmers, doctors, clergy, a few teachers and other academics, researchers come to mind. Not sure what the common denominator is, if any.
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Old 12-14-2009, 03:31 PM   #23
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<Surveys show that a majority of baby boomers say they want to work during their golden years. They're going to get their wish. The key question is no longer "How early can I retire?" It's "Why retire?" >
I bet those grapes were sour anyway.
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Old 12-14-2009, 03:40 PM   #24
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While I am sure there are some people who genuinely want to work even after they reach the point when their finances render it unnecessary, I am equally sure that there are career opportunities in providing therapy to such people.

On a slightly more serious note, I can understand that people who have built their lives around their work (either by choice or by complusion) may have some genuine issues with loss of structure, loss of purpose and loss of human interaction when they eventually retire. These are far greater concerns for myself than the financial aspects.
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Old 12-14-2009, 04:27 PM   #25
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I want to retire because it will keep me from going to jail for strangling idiots.
As we say in Texas, "They needed killin'."
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Old 12-14-2009, 04:34 PM   #26
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Maybe he means that they want to keep working so they don't go bankrupt, i.e. they need to keep working. It really is vaguely written.
I've seen this written about several times and the majority who say they want to work actually need to work. The number of boomers who don't/won't have the financial wherewithal to retire, even at a reduced standard of living, is extremely well documented - hopefully everyone here realizes same. Pensions and retiree healthcare have become scarcer and scarcer.

If you actually needed to keep working to make ends meet vs retiring, in a poll for example, would you be be more likely to say want or need? Put another way, if you're wording a poll, which would you expect to get more honest answers to, want or need? (Correct answer is want BTW)

Everyone wants to retire/retire early, but fewer and fewer will be able to in the decades ahead. In that respect, the article is hard to argue with.
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Old 12-14-2009, 05:01 PM   #27
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It hasn't been a lot of fun though...living on a sailboat, fulltime RVing, living in foreign countries.
I assume you either missing a sarcastic smiley or meant "It's not like it hasn't..."
Because I'm not feeling sorry for you.
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Old 12-14-2009, 05:03 PM   #28
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Those who can retire, do.

Those who can't, either make excuses or write articles such as this, IMHO ...
I agree. Only possible way I'd work longer than I had to is if I could "downshift" to a half-time.

Actually scratch that...... w*rk s*cks...
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Old 12-14-2009, 05:50 PM   #29
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I don't know hardly anybody who loves their job so much that they are working there just because they want to. Obviously there are some professions where this is more likely as mentioned above. For instance, if I were lucky enough to be a professional athlete I would not want to retire. Some R&D types I know are exceptions because the R&D work is what they are passionate about. In other words, they get paid to work on their hobby.

Can't think there are many people working for Corporate America in a middle management job (like me) who aren't looking forward to not working? I would rather do just about anything.
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:00 PM   #30
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I do know a few people who keep working at a job they don't really enjoy even though they don't need the money. In one case, the guy has a passion (possibly an addiction) for collecting antique Chinese jade carvings - he keeps working so he can keep collecting. I also know a few people who, in spite of being very wealthy, keep working because they are paranoid about inflation, higher taxes etc.
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:06 PM   #31
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And then there are those who find much of their work rewarding or gratifying, despite the usual hassles and BS. A minority, to be sure - some farmers, doctors, clergy, a few teachers and other academics, researchers come to mind. Not sure what the common denominator is, if any.
The only two people I've ever met who said they would do what they do, even if they didn't get paid, were both veterinarians. They loved their jobs and they weren't fresh-out-of-school newbies, either.
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:10 PM   #32
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Another group where a lot of people I've met are happy is law enforcement. Like teaching and nursing, it pays too little but seems to hook good people some of whom really love the work.
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:18 PM   #33
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Another slightly different semantic slant on the original article's wording (I should disclaim that I didn't read the thing. My blood pressure was pretty low yesterday and I'd like to keep it that way.): "I want to keep working because I want all this consumerist junk in my life and I can't figure out a way to keep paying the credit card bills without a j*b."

Meh, maybe it's not any different. Never mind.

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Old 12-14-2009, 06:31 PM   #34
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I would want to retire early if I still had my megacorp job, but I like having my own business. I will be one of the people who won't fully retire until I'm no longer able to work any more. I like the income and the mental challenge.
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:32 PM   #35
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What people say and do are very different.

One of my favorite answers "why would you retire so young" is to quote this finding of this study (I can't find the study on the net).

Percentage of Multimillion dollar lottery winner who said they intend to keep working 75%. Percentage of those who were still working 1 year latter 25%...
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:55 PM   #36
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I can think of 3 people I know that would continue to work even if they are financially independent:

1. My voice teacher. He loves his job -- opera singer. I think he will continue to sing even if he doesn't need the money. But he probably wont' be travelling so much for auditions.

2. A good friend who owns her old real estate company. She loves buying and selling real estate, and helping others buy/sell houses. She was surprised when I told her I wanted to retire before 65. She said she never wants to retire. Of course she may change her mind when she's actually in her 60s, but I think it's possible since her dad is basically doing the same thing.

3. My father, who is eligible to retire but really wants to see his projects finished. He said it would take another 2 years or so. I think he is one of those people who are completely defined by their work. I certainly did not get any of his workaholic genes.
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Old 12-14-2009, 07:06 PM   #37
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I'm not a boomer (42), and I don't agree with much in the article (though, as many of you have noted, it's difficult to form much of an opinion on an article written so vaguely), but I can see the merits of working in "retirement."

Two factors would seem to me to make the difference between pre-retirement work and post-retirement work:

1. I wouldn't *need* the money, or at least not as much money as I needed before.
2. I could chose a job without any consideration of career goals.

With those considerations, I think work might feel a lot different. I wouldn't care if my co-workers were making more than me. I wouldn't be bothered if someone takes credit for one of my ideas. I wouldn't fear making a stand or taking a risk, because I wouldn't fear losing my job. Beyond all of that, I probably wouldn't even take a job that required me to make stands or come up with brilliant ideas (and they're only brilliant when they make the boss more money). I'd pick something that interests me and work at it until it doesn't interest me anymore.

Now, I wouldn't want to work full time, but a nice, easy, interesting, non-stress inducing part time gig ... I could see that.
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Old 12-14-2009, 07:18 PM   #38
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There is no doubt that there are folks that would prefer to work for multiple reason, some just because they like it. There is an elected official in Texas that is in his 90's wife and kids passed away, and his work is now his life. He plans on running for re-election. However, these people really, imho, seems like the exception rather than the rule.

If you figure that the majority of Americans have less than a college degree, about 75%, than you figure most Americans do not fall into management, professional, or educators bracket. Some percentage of this group are most like small business owners and some of those certainly never want to retire. But I find it hard to believe that the average Joe would rather dig a hole in downtown Houston in the summer heat, than be retired and be sitting on a dock fishing in the same heat.

What I took away from the article is that 'not retiring' is the new pyridine. Now may be the new pyridine because the majority that need too, along with a minority that want too, will continue to work, but IMHO, it is not because the majority want to.
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Old 12-14-2009, 07:58 PM   #39
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Forgetting the financial aspect of retirement, I don't think one should even consider retiring unless you have something to do to keep you busy. You have to have a second life, be it a hobby like golf or fishing, etc. or have the desire to volunteer your talent and service to help others. You can't just decide that you are going to retire because it's time, or it's the thing to do or because your wife wants you to. You better have a plan or you could go nuts. Many people go back to work for the sole purpose to reduce the boredom. I've been retired 21 years and have never missed work one bit. Got my hobies and now can't wait to get up in the morning and get going.
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Old 12-14-2009, 08:12 PM   #40
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Studs Terkel said it better than anyone I've heard in his 1972 book, Working. He deals with the two seemingly oopposite sides of working: the degrading, destructive side and the side that is meaningful and nourishing. Mostly interviews with a group of people from all walks.

The Chicagoans in the group probably remember him. A great read.
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