I'm not looking for a job, and now I'm pretty sure I never will

[Khan]

My friend says we're good. We'll get together this week to figure out a different approach to solving this problem.

This topic is one blog post. I'm going to have to come up with a catchy name for the phenomenon... better than "I could SO do this job". Maybe we should call it "the retirement job trap".

This was a big shift for me. I'd always assumed that if the working conditions were perfect then I wouldn't mind working-- and the pay would be just a bonus. But then we've had all the threads here about returning to work, and how much would it have to pay for you to return to work, and what conditions would you want before you returned to work.

Along the way I began to appreciate the benefits of "writing during retirement". Like playing jazz music, it's a career you have to save up for. I can tackle as much as I want, or as little.

I think that's the biggest issue-- being in charge of setting the limits on the scope of the job. If you're working with/for someone else then you lose control of those limits. And if you're giving away the money in the first place then more money has no retention value either. When I retired I found it hard to believe that I could pass up "free money", but that's exactly what's happening. I have enough. "More" is not helping.

I'm going to do a separate post on the hazards of volunteering. At first it seems so easy to volunteer for certain groups or positions, but suddenly things change and you find yourself sucked into the power vacuum or asked to take on additional responsibilities. If you've formed friendships during that period then you're dealing with issues of "retiree guilt" or abandonment, especially if you "have the time" and others do not.

Perhaps given your reason for volunteering in the first place, working there for a brief period becomes the right thing to do-- but it's still way more work than you really wanted to have.

As you can tell, I've become a big fan of giving generously of your money-- not your time.

That's me. I have been giving money to individuals and organizations, and I may even show up at a meeting (if daytime and good weather); but will run from anything resembling a job.

 

[Khan]

"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."
--Mark Twain

 

[brewer12345]

I have been a homebrewer for almost 20 years. I have lost count of the number of times someone has told me I should open my own brewery. They cannot seem to understand that such an endeavor would take away my hobby and replace it with hard labor.

 

[kcowan]

I am good at a lot of things. Being an engineer made figuring things out natural. But whenever someone suggests that I could make money at it, I ask them what part of retirement they do not understand. Getting paid means priorities and deadlines. I put up with that at tax time. Even that is too much.

 

[Major Tom]

I have been a homebrewer for almost 20 years. I have lost count of the number of times someone has told me I should open my own brewery. They cannot seem to understand that such an endeavor would take away my hobby and replace it with hard labor.

I am good at a lot of things. Being an engineer made figuring things out natural. But whenever someone suggests that I could make money at it, I ask them what part of retirement they do not understand. Getting paid means priorities and deadlines. I put up with that at tax time. Even that is too much.

Absolutely - to both of these posts. Although I was laid off from my dream job, it lasted so long that I had plenty of time to get the thing that drove me to want to do it in the first place, out of my system (mostly). I've been told many times that I should get back into that line of work (DJ/voice-over/production) because, for many, that is how they knew me, and they think I'm good at it. Yes, I can do that line of work, but life is short, so why would I need to spend another 20 years doing the same thing?

I have a blog about my hobby of ham radio that is doing quite well. It's a niche interest, but has gotten more attention/page views etc than I expected it to. The other day, an electronics distributor asked if I would consider reviewing some of their offerings on my blog in return for free product. It felt good that they thought the blog was worthy enough for them to ask me, but there's just no way I will do it. If I start accepting freebies and putting them on my site then my hobby blog, which I enjoy writing, will lose some of it's integrity and will start to feel like a job. Why the heck would I do that?

You really need to get some more surfing time in Nords

 

[Walt34]

I have been a homebrewer for almost 20 years. I have lost count of the number of times someone has told me I should open my own brewery. They cannot seem to understand that such an endeavor would take away my hobby and replace it with hard labor.

I think that's the issue I had with not doing computer forensics after I retired. The issue was that I didn't want to deal with the marketing end of it, the mechanics of running what is a small business and all the stuff that one has to do with that. Some guys I worked with are doing that and it's working out well for them. Others not so well.

I enjoy photography but loathe the idea of doing all the business-end stuff that goes along with the marketing, seeking/keeping clients, equipment amortization/depreciation schedules and all that stuff. From reading about pro photographers, I get the sense that they spend 1/4 to 1/3 of their time behind a lens. The rest is running a business.

Several people have told me that I could make a good living house painting. (I'll spend two/three days prepping a room's wall surfaces before opening a can of paint, and that's what makes the final job look good.) But just because I'm good at something doesn't mean I like it.

So I'll continue doing what I'm doing until I don't feel like doing it anymore.

 

[Tadpole]

Gee Nords I thought you worked harder than anyone I know of to maintain your status as a bum. Don't let me down now.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I'm going to have to come up with a catchy name for the phenomenon... better than "I could SO do this job". Maybe we should call it "the retirement job trap".

I'm thinking a morph of "nature abhors a vacuum". "Your friends and acquaintances abhor your not working." "Hey, you're not doing anything (that I consider worthy to me/society)...." "Get a job!"

Ah, I have it: "Working Sucks: How To Avoid the Vacuum"

Edit: Or "why" or "when" to avoid....

 

[Nords]

The other day, an electronics distributor asked if I would consider reviewing some of their offerings on my blog in return for free product. It felt good that they thought the blog was worthy enough for them to ask me, but there's just no way I will do it. If I start accepting freebies and putting them on my site then my hobby blog, which I enjoy writing, will lose some of it's integrity and will start to feel like a job. Why the heck would I do that?

Another way to handle that would be to warn the manufacturer that you're tough but fair. They don't care, they're just taking it out of the marketing budget.

After you review the equipment, you give it away to the lucky prizewinner who wins the contest on your blog.

This way you'll have plenty of readers and someone will always want the free stuff, even if it's crappy.

You really need to get some more surfing time in Nords

25+ feet on the North Shore, 1-3 feet on the south shore, 75 degrees in the water. This has been a tough week for geezer surfers, but I have high hopes for Friday...

Ah, I have it: "Working Sucks: How To Avoid the Vacuum"

Perfect!

 

[Surfs_Up]

Nords,
I feel your pain. I also have people that try to suck me back into the working world all the time, and I usually say thanks, but I only like to work on things (I own). This has worked quite well on several occasions. Having control/management of deadlines and due dates that are personally prescribed is the way to go.

By the way, tomorrow, I'm going to meet a friend for a few days to surf a perfect right hand reef break on a small island off the Pacific coast of Panama on my friends boat...low 80s water temp, mid 80s air temp. Many times in the past we surf (alone) at this spot or a few other guys out. The great recession has kept the crowds down over the past several years.

Surf

 

[Free To Canoe]

Good post Nords.

It reminds me of Bob from Pasadena. He used to live in his garage, talk with whoever came to visit and drink beer. One of his hobbies was to play dead for search and rescue dogs to find him up in the mountains.
Bob used to wake up at dawn and go around to the neighborhood construction sights and "inspect" the progress. I suggested that maybe he could get paid to do his daily inspections. People might find the updates valuable. He said that getting paid for it would make it work and stongly implied that the experience would then be tarnished beyond repair. I did not fully understand. I guess I still do not "know" his point of view but I am much closer to understanding him now than I was years ago.

 

[Nords]

By the way, tomorrow, I'm going to meet a friend for a few days to surf a perfect right hand reef break on a small island off the Pacific coast of Panama on my friends boat...low 80s water temp, mid 80s air temp. Many times in the past we surf (alone) at this spot or a few other guys out. The great recession has kept the crowds down over the past several years.

Excellent! Is that a liveaboard or do you go ashore at the end of the day?

Our "Bob" is Uncle Bob at White Plains Beach, who shows up there every morning near dawn to deliver the surf report for a local website. Of course if the report at White Plains is good then the doesn't get to the other beaches for a couple hours...

 

[Surfs_Up]

Excellent! Is that a liveaboard or do you go ashore at the end of the day?

We go ashore and stay at my friends house on the mainland, 15-20 minute boat ride out to the islands.

Being surfers, as you know, we want the flexibility to be able to (postpone) all projects and to-do lists when the surf is good. Friday-Saturday are lining up to be head high to a few feet overhead here.