The Case against Retirement

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roger r ...There is a Puritan work ethic that we've been driven to through out our schooling and career. In retirement some, like me, prefer to shed this perception and slow down. We're talking about changing 30 or more years of conditioning and it takes longer than a couple of months to adjust. Though this might give you a good taste of things. Others want to keep on going hard with new careers and pasttimes. For me it's been a fine new adventure.

Many people are driven. When they work, they have action lists. When they vacation, they accomplish a lot. These people are not well-suited to retirement. They need to replace their need to achieve with another goal.

[ejman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I took three vacations just before retiring, each about 2 weeks long and separated by about a week of work. It was wonderful, and cutting back on the stress that way probably made a world of difference in my mental and physical health. But just as a vacation is immeasurably better than a weekend, retirement is immeasurably better than a vacation (for those of us who are not conflicted about retiring). It's just not the same.

I took a sabbatical in 1990 to try to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my working career. What I discovered during my sabbatical is that I really enjoyed being on a sabbatical and my biggest career desire was to make it permanent. My planning then kicked into high gear for FI/ER so that I could actually do it - 7 years ago.

[Kroeran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan Ina Garten did not retire. She just changed how she gets paid.

yes thats true, though some of the facts suggest her show is a hobby that she happens to get paid for

but apart from that, it is more what her show represents in terms of fantasy and focus

home, food, husband, friends

if you look closely at how she talks about Jeffery, there is something going on there that you don't really see communicated elsewhere...in contrast to the pop culture norm being the representation of males as being stupid or abusive

and then there is the fact that you can't be a guest on the show unless you are a personal friend of hers in real life. Thats so weird, and at the same time contains a clue.

[metabasalt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa 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.

I actually remember sitting next to him at a luncheon about 1984! And it was a pleasure since I'd spent my college years in Chicago and was quite fond of him. He was pretty much as you'd expect him to be.

[metabasalt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldtrig I would love to retire but I see no way in the near future. The problem is affordable health insurance. I have BC-BS and it is good. I am of age to retire but not quite Medicare age yet. If I retired today I could keep my group insurance for the rest of my life. The problem is it would cost me $1349.00 a month .

We're in just about the same boat, down to the insurer and cost. But most likely we'll retire anyway. We have to pay a lot for insurance until Medicare but it won't wipe us out. For us it will be more psychological than anything else: why are we spending all that money when we'd get it for free if we kept working? And get additional salary and savings to boot! Well the answer to that, of course, is that our time becomes our own. I at first was quite worried about insurance. But when I saw the actual cost, as high as it is, it still seemed to me like a fair tradeoff - $1350 a month to be free! Of course we haven't yet retired. But I suspect it will be soon. And it will entail some sacrifices but I suspect that they'll be well worth it.

[kumquat]

Citizens Residents of the US always mention health insurance costs as a problem for ER and some work because it's a employee benefit.

Here in the frozen north, anything your employer pays on your behalf (ie. health insurance) has its cost cost tacked onto your income as a "taxable benefit". That means you pay income tax on the employer portion. Does the IRS do the same thing?

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kumquat Citizens Residents of the US always mention health insurance costs as a problem for ER and some work because it's a employee benefit. Here in the frozen north, anything your employer pays on your behalf (ie. health insurance) has its cost cost tacked onto your income as a "taxable benefit". That means you pay income tax on the employer portion. Does the IRS do the same thing?

Not on health insurance but they do on other benefits. For example we get life insurance provided no cost but get taxed on the benefit so it is not free, just very cheap.

[Kroeran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kumquat Citizens Residents of the US always mention health insurance costs as a problem for ER and some work because it's a employee benefit. Here in the frozen north, anything your employer pays on your behalf (ie. health insurance) has its cost cost tacked onto your income as a "taxable benefit". That means you pay income tax on the employer portion. Does the IRS do the same thing?

wonder if there is a business model consulting on yanks moving tax residence to Canada and getting on our "free" healthcare.

spend 6 months plus a day (May to October) to qualify for provincial health insurance, then bugger off to Arizona for the winter.

there is no such thing as being excluded because of preexisting conditions

Alberta has no provincial sales tax, but is expensive anywhere near the oil industry.

there is some really pretty Colorado mountain type land on the western fringe.

these are the tax rates

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/f...g.html#federal


http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/f...tml#provincial

http://www.50plus.com/Lifestyle/Brow...ocumentID=8569

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...-us-14987.html